A robe is a loose-fitting outer
garment
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
.
Unlike garments described as
cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
s or
cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...
s, robes usually have
sleeve
A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips.
The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...
s. The
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word ''robe'' derives from
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
''robe'' ("garment"),
borrowed from
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
''robe'' ("booty, spoils"), itself taken from the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
word *''rouba'' ("spoils, things stolen, clothes"), and is related to the word ''rob''.
Types
There are various types of robes, including:
* A gown worn as part of the
academic regalia
Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary (and sometimes secondary) education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree (or similar), or hold a status that entitles them to assum ...
of
faculty or
students, especially for ceremonial occasions, such as a
convocations,
congregations or
graduations.
* A gown worn as part of the attire of a
judge or
barrister.
* A wide variety of long, flowing
religious dress
Religious clothing is clothing which is worn in accordance with religion, religious practice, tradition or significance to a faith group. It includes clerical clothing such as cassocks, and religious habit, robes, and other vestments. Accessories ...
including
pulpit robe
The Geneva Gown, also called a pulpit gown, pulpit robe, or preaching robe, is an ecclesiastical garment customarily worn by Ordained Ministers and Accredited Lay Preachers in the Christian Churches that arose out of the historic Protestant ...
s and the robes worn by various types of
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s.
* A gown worn as part of the official dress of a
peer or
royalty
Royalty may refer to:
* Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc.
* Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family
* Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...
.
* Any of several women's fashions of French origin, as ''
robe à l'anglaise'' (18th century), ''
robe de style
The robe de style describes a style of dress popular in the 1920s as an alternative to the straight-cut chemise dress.
The style was characterised by its full skirts. The bodice could be fitted, or straight-cut in the chemise manner, with a dro ...
'' (1920s).
* A gown worn in
fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...
and
role-playing games
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
by
wizards and other
magical character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
s.
* A
bathrobe worn mostly after bathing or swimming.
* A gown used to cover a state of underdress, often after rising in the morning, is called a
dressing gown
A dressing gown, housecoat or morning gown is a robe, a loose-fitting outer garment, worn by either men or women. They are similar to a bathrobe but without the absorbent material.
A dressing gown or a housecoat is a loose, open-fronted gown ...
. They are similar to a bathrobe but without the absorbent material.
* (Informal usage) Any long flowing garment; for example, a
cassock is sometimes called a ''robe'', although a cassock is close-fitting.
* A cured animal hide with fur or hair still attached, often from a
buffalo, either worn or used in the home for warmth.
See also
*
Abaya
The abaya "cloak" ( colloquially and more commonly, ar, عباية ', especially in Literary Arabic: '; plural ', '), sometimes also called an ''aba'', is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in par ...
*
Academic stole
An academic stole is a vestment used by various organizations to denote academic achievement. Its use includes membership of a professional organization, a high school valedictorian award, and adorns the academic regalia representing some univer ...
*''
Black Robe'' – film about a robed
Jesuit priest
*
Buffalo Robe
A buffalo robe is a cured buffalo hide, with the hair left on.
They were used as blankets, saddles or as trade items by the Native Americans who inhabited the vast grasslands of the Interior Plains. Some were painted with pictographs or Winte ...
*
Clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
*
Kaftan
A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's ...
*
Kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...
*
Mantle (royal garment)
A royal mantle, or more simply a mantle, is a garment normally worn by emperors, kings or queens as a symbol of authority. When worn at a coronation, such mantles may be referred to as coronation mantles. Many princes also wear such a mantle. S ...
*
Seamless robe of Jesus
The Seamless Robe of Jesus (also known as the Holy Robe, Holy Tunic, Holy Coat, Honorable Robe, and Chiton of the Lord) is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during or shortly before his crucifixion. Competing traditions claim that the ro ...
– Biblical relic
*
Senegalese kaftan
A Senegalese kaftan is a pullover men's robe with long bell sleeves. In the Wolof language, this robe is called a ''mbubb'' or ''xaftaan'' and in French it is called a ''boubou''. The Senegalese caftan is an ankle length garment. It is worn with ...
*
Thawb
Thawb ( ar, ثَوْب "garment"), also spelled thobe or tobe and known by various other names in different regions, is an ankle-length robe, usually with long sleeves. It is commonly worn in the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, North Afri ...
*''
The Robe
''The Robe'' is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later ...
'' – 1953 American film
*
Tricivara – Buddhist monastic robe
*
Wrap dress
A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that covers ...
References
External links
*
{{Clothing
Academic dress
Judicial clothing
Nightwear
Costume design
Religious clothing
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