How many FDR-in-a-wheelchair photos are there at all?
The Western rain ones are usually rubberised canvas or oilcloth, not heavy wool. A lot of those being military surplus, I think. “Flimsy plastic” would be your gloss on it, the GIS I linked to shows all kinds.
… You do realize you just referred to the Andes as not being “western”?
“Western” as in stereotypical Old West cowboy gear is what I think was meant.
Like in “Country and Western” music.
I guess you can tune a piano, and even tune a tuna, but you still can’t tune a fish.
I would not consider the pre-Columbian Andes to be Western, no. You did say “original”.
ETA - although even if you’re talking modern Andean, that wouldn’t be Western in the way it’s usually used - Latin America is generally excluded from the “Western World”. Crazy, I know…
I think the cape is practical for Batman because he often swoops in on criminals to take them by surprise. The swirling cape makes him look bigger than he is, and criminals often shoot or swing at the swirling cape rather than a part of his outfit with him underneath it. If it didn’t swirl, neither of those effects would happen. 
I imagine he trained to fight with the cape so he’d be used to it and anticipate which way it would go when he moved a certain way.
COOL?
“Cool” makes people think “Man, I wish I could hang out with them! Wish my friends were here; they’d be SO jealous!”
I think the word you’re looking for is “intimidating.” As in: “Uh-oh, I’m in for it now! Wish my friends were here, to get me out of this!”
I wore a hooded cape instead of a veil for my January wedding. It was part to keep warm during outdoor pictures. It was part to fit with the snowflake theme of the wedding. It was part to cover my shoulders in church. It was part because I didn’t want a veil.
So it had a purpose for me. Not something I’ve worn since, but for one day of my life, a cape was practical.
A standard way of defending against knife attacks (if you have the time beforehand) is to take off your coat/jacket/cloak and drape it around your left arm, and then pull off your belt and double it up and hold it in your right hand. Then you try to trap the knife in the dangling folds of the garment and whip the belt buckle across his face. I was told by the guy who taught me that it derived from Spanish knife fighting - I have no idea if that is true or not.
It is surprisingly difficult to cut or stab thru loose heavy fabric. Another advantage of a cloak is that it is a hell of a lot cheaper than armor, so some peasant soldier stood a good chance of having a cloak that was halfway useful in a fight instead of armor that was way out of his price range.
Regards,
Shodan
I see nobody has remembered what it’s like to sew items by hand. Making a cape would be far, far easier than sewing a jacket or coat.
A black cape also breaks up a human silhouette as he skulks around in the dark.
See post 32.
Except this person.
Additionally, capes on superheroes, particularly flying superheroes, suggest wings. Obviously, as in the case of Batman, it’s not just flying superheroes who have capes, but in his case wings go with his “bat” theme. Plus, his early outfit was more clearly designed as wings than his current one.
One of the most famous capes hasn’t been mentioned yet: Dracula’s. Obviously, he’s got the “bat” thing going on too, but the cape became the standard depiction for Dracula because of the stage play version (the stage play had an impressive life apart from the book and movie versions). The Dracula of the play was dressed in a cape or “opera cloak” with a high, stiff collar, for a scene where Dracula disappeared. To accomplish this effect, the actor would turn his back to the audience, which would hide his head behind the collar. He would then slip out of the cloak and duck into a trap door, allowing the empty cloak to collapse to the floor. The cloak with the high collar became forevermore associated with the Dracula character.
:)Nor has ZORRO been mentioned.
Z
Just came across this pic of Goering in a cape with a Luftwaffe eagle on at least one side: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-E03059%2C_Berlin%2C_Pergamon_Museum%2C_Ausstellungsbesuch_Hitler.jpg
By the same people who also do such things as exclude Europe, or any non-English-speaking country.