In a lot of media the archer/hunter character is either wearing a hood or a bycocket hat (robin hood hat). I understand the use of hoods but the hats always looked a little too "costume-y" to me. I have seen images of them being worn back then, I'm just wondering if it was more a fashion statement and if the serious hunter would have worn a hood instead.
I'm also wondering about cloaks. While I know they were definetly used, I'm not convinced that they were practical for archers/hunters. Surely they would get in the way. You always see them in fantasy but then that's fantasy. You never see them being worn in pictures of military archers.
So yeah, were they really that practical for outdoor work? Or merely a fashion statement/show of wealth?
Or could it even be a hollywood thing where, despite there being evidence of their usage, their popularity wasn't as great as the movies would have you believe? e.g - The back quiver.
Thanks.
Lars Dattar has done a truly heroic effort to find contemporary depcitions of bycocket hats in Western European art: http://larsdatter.com/bycokets.htm
Dattar finds that bycocket hats seem largely to have been depicted as outdoorswear, especially for mounted hunters, in the early 14th century. Also, the modern costume version of a bycock hat usually has a much smaller brim than the original 14th-century versions.
On the subject of cloaks, Chaucer depicts a very stereotypical English archer wearing a green cloak and hood in the prologue of the Canterbury Tales. As you correctly assumed, a cloak would be impractical to use a bow in, so they'd take their cloaks off in an actual fight. But while traveling, it's a very practical garment. Chaucer's description of the yeoman shows that he is an extremely practical individual who's being taken on pilgrimage as his master's bodyguard. All of his possessions are high quality, because he's a dedicated professional, but he's not showing off or trying to demonstrate wealth or status. He's just wearing what he needs.