Ice kept the outfit for us. In September 1991, two German tourists came upon a man held in the glacier ice near the Tisenjoch pass in the Ötztal Alps, about 3,210 meters up, and the clothes he wore up there were still with him: a bearskin cap, leather leggings, shoes padded with soft grass like socks, and a cloak of woven grass. Ötzi the Iceman lived more than five thousand years ago.
The plan for cold mountain air hasn't changed much since. Something long. Something with a hood. Something between you and the wind. We traded the grass for micro-mink and faux fur, then covered the outside in art you can pick out across a snowfield.
This guide covers the winter cloak from the inside out. How warm a lined hood keeps you once the wind finds you, the colors that glow against snow and streetlight, what goes underneath when the forecast drops below 32°F, and why people have wrapped up in cloaks every winter since long before the word "outerwear" existed.
How warm is a faux-fur-lined winter cloak?
Warm enough for snow when you layer underneath, and its first job is standing between you and the wind. A Magus Fawn winter cloak wraps a faux-fur lining around your whole outfit, with a hood that pulls forward over your face, and a Madriax customer wrote of staying "incredibly warm" after getting caught in the snow.
That snowy review belongs to our hero, the Madriax Men's Festival Cloak ($250). Its back holds two deep-blue mandalas, one above the other, each beaded at the edge with tiny points of teal, and below them the color sinks into a violet nebula and then a grid of hexagons sprinkled with stars, like ice crystals locking together at the hem. Mandalas are circles you meditate into; this one is for the long, quiet walk home under a winter sky. Buyer, the name on a March 2023 Madriax review, wrote: "I was in the snow accidentally and stayed incredibly warm thanks to this cloak!" The same review gives the pockets a cheerful mention too.
The Madriax and every other cloak in this guide are built alike: micro-mink poly outside, at a listed fabric weight of 200 g/m²; faux fur inside, in your pick of black or white; a hood cinched by heavy drawstrings; a double zipper closing the front. Four pockets come along for the ride, a deep one at each side plus two stash pockets inside (one zips shut). Sizes run XS to 5XL in a unisex fit, each one made to order, and all six designs here have both a men's and a women's listing built the same way.
Wind is the part of winter you feel first. The National Weather Service builds its wind chill index on how fast wind and cold pull heat from exposed skin, and when we ran its published formula, a 30°F night with a 15 mph breeze came out at a wind chill of 19°F. The same page says bright sunshine can lift the wind chill by 10 to 18 degrees, which is why a snowy afternoon feels friendly and the same street after sunset feels like a new season. Zip the cloak, pull the hood forward, and that long lined layer sits between the breeze and everything you're wearing.
What color cloak is best for winter?
Icy blues and firelight oranges both shine. Periwinkle, cobalt and silver echo frost and snow light, so they look born for the season, while orange, gold and red read as a hearth against grey streets and white fields. Magus Fawn's winter cloaks come in both moods, and deep grounds like Madriax violet carry you between them.
Snow light: Blue Cosmic Flower of Life. The Blue Cosmic Flower Of Life Women's Festival Cloak ($250) is the blue a snowfield turns at dusk. A fine white web of overlapping circles, the Flower of Life, runs over pale periwinkle and glacier blue, and deep indigo curls branch outward from the spine like feathers of rime on a fencepost. Zipped to the collar with your hands in the side pockets, it's the calmest coat on any winter sidewalk, and the men's version makes a matching pair for two.
Ice dragon: Electric Dragonscape. On the Electric Dragonscape Dragon Print Women's Festival Cloak ($250), a silver dragon, horns and all, coils across the back, and its scales keep going right up over the crown. Cobalt, glacier blue and violet facets flash like a frozen waterfall when the light hits. In the old stories dragons guard the gold; this one guards your warmth in the line outside a winter warehouse party, hood up, scales glinting under the streetlights.
Hearth: Liquid Fire. Some winter cloaks bring their own fire pit. The Liquid Fire Women's Festival Cloak ($250) melts scarlet, tangerine and gold into rivers that loop around violet, teal and black, the way coals shift color when someone stirs the embers. On a grey city afternoon it's a walking campfire. Open, with the black lining framing a jewel-toned outfit, it turns a cold night into a warm color story.
Lantern glow: Orange Mushroom Flower of Life. The Orange Mushroom Flower of Life Men's Festival Cloak ($250) carries the same warmth in a quieter print: rows of rounded, cap-like forms in pumpkin orange and smoldering red, mirrored left to right like a forest floor in late autumn, touched with leaf green and with a spiral medallion set low on the back. It's the color of a lantern seen through bare trees, and it turns a slushy December sidewalk into a harvest festival.
How do you layer under a cloak in the snow?
Go from thin to thick and let the cloak be the final layer. Begin with a long-sleeve base layer, then a sweater or hoodie, then warm leggings or joggers and boots with good grip. Zip the Magus Fawn cloak over everything, hood up. If the middle layer is bulky, size up so the zipper still closes without strain.
Government winter advice keeps it short. Ready.gov tells anyone heading outside to "wear layers of warm clothing," and a cloak makes a natural top layer because it wraps over everything beneath it. Our FAQ's advice for coats and cloaks is to size up, "sometimes even 2 sizes up to fit extra layers under." Wearing a puffer under it, or sitting between two sizes? Email your measurements to art@magusfawn.com and we'll match you to a size; replies usually land within 1–2 business days.
Dress for the walk home, not the noon sun. Because bright sunshine can soften the wind chill by double digits, the outfit that feels perfect at 2 p.m. on a snowy festival day needs one more layer by 8. Let the pockets do the planning: mittens and a spare beanie in the deep side pockets, phone, keys and transit card behind the zipper inside, where snow can't reach them.
For the cabin, the yurt or the long bus ride home, the cloak's cozier cousin is the Angel Catcher Teal hooded blanket with ears ($150). At the center, teal wings open on either side of a Flower of Life, ringed by ice-blue star medallions on charcoal knotwork, like a rose window seen through falling snow. Think poly fleece at a listed fabric weight of 300 g/m², one generous size (4XL), cat ears perched on the hood, a front quarter zip and an oversized front pocket.
How long have people worn cloaks through the winter?
For thousands of years. Ötzi the Iceman wore a woven-grass cloak high in the Alps more than 5,000 years ago, Romans traveled in the paenula, and Norse myth even gave its mightiest winter a name. A cloak does an overcoat's job, keeping off the weather, and Magus Fawn cloaks add sleeves, a zipper and art.
The job description hasn't moved either. Wikipedia's entry on the cloak defines it as a loose layer worn over your clothes that does an overcoat's work and keeps the weather off you. Ours do that job too, which is half of why "cloak coat" suits them; the sleeves are the other half.
Rome dressed up its cloak over time. The paenula, a closed, poncho-like wrap, started out on soldiers, slaves and commoners. By the 3rd century fashionable Romans had adopted it for riding and travel, and a law of 382 made it the everyday dress of senators. From the road to the senate in a couple of centuries: a cloak with ambitions.
The Norse gave winter itself a name. Fimbulwinter, from the Old Norse for "mighty winter," is three winters in a row with no summer between, the prelude to Ragnarök in the old poems, and in the Nordic countries the word still describes an unusually harsh winter. Fenrir, the monstrous wolf of the same mythology, plays a key role when Ragnarök arrives.
Which brings us to the wolf. The Crimson Fenrir Wolf Men's Rave Zipper Cloak ($250) sets Fenrir's head across the back, teeth bared, black on black and wrapped in curls of crimson smoke, with a pale moon hanging above him in the full artwork. Our favorite reading: the wolf walked in out of the mighty winter and chose to keep you company. Hood up in a snow squall, it's a saga on your shoulders.
Ordering and caring for a winter cloak
Every cloak is made to order. Production runs 7–11 business days once you order, and delivery adds 6–14 more, so plan on as many as 25 business days. For US delivery by Christmas Eve, order by Tuesday, November 17, 2026. Orders of $70 and over ship free within the US; outside it, rates begin at $10. Every sale is final, so let us check your size first; it takes one short email.
Snow care is simple. Shake the flakes off at the door and hang the cloak to dry. On wash day, run it through a cold machine cycle with similar colors and no bleach, then hang it up (a low tumble works too). No iron, no dry cleaner. Because the print is dye-sublimated into the fibers, the colors won't crack or fade. The full routine lives in our guide to washing a festival cloak.
Five thousand winters later
A cloak against the cold is an idea at least five thousand years old: one layer over everything, between you and the weather. Ötzi wore his in grass. Roman senators wore theirs to work. Yours can carry a dragon, a wolf, a snowfield at dusk or a fire pit that never goes out. Pick the one you want to see glowing against the snow.
Find your winter cloak: winter rave outfits · women's cloaks · men's cloaks · all festival cloaks · hooded blankets
Keep reading for the cold months: what to wear to a winter rave, can you wear a cloak every day? and our winter love story, Frost on Steel
Frequently asked questions
What is a cloak coat?
A cloak coat is a long, hooded outer layer that wears like a coat, with sleeves and a front that closes. Magus Fawn cloaks work that way: a double front zipper, four pockets and a black or white faux-fur lining, built for city streets and snowy fields alike.
Can you wear a cloak in the snow?
Yes. A long, lined, hooded cloak suits snowy streets, ski towns and winter festivals, and a Magus Fawn customer once wrote about staying warm in the snow in one. Layer underneath, zip it up and pull the hood forward. Brush the snow off before it soaks in, and hang the cloak to dry afterward.
How do you keep your hands warm in a cloak?
Use the sleeves and the pockets. Magus Fawn cloaks have full sleeves and a deep pocket on each side, roomy enough for mittened hands or a pair of hand warmers. Keep a spare pair of gloves in a side pocket and your phone behind the zipper of the interior pocket, so your hands only come out when they need to.
What does Fimbulwinter mean?
Fimbulwinter comes from the Old Norse Fimbulvetr, meaning "mighty winter." In Norse mythology it is three winters in a row with no summer between, the prelude to Ragnarök, and Nordic countries still use the word for an unusually harsh winter. Our Crimson Fenrir cloak carries the great wolf from that same mythology.
Written by Magus & Lylyth Fawn, the Los Angeles artists behind Magus Fawn. Magus makes VR and digital visionary art and produces Psy EDM. Lylyth makes fractal digital art and runs design and customer care. We've been selling wearable art since 2020 (4.8★ from 147 reviews as of October 2026), and every piece is made to order here at magusfawn.com. Come say hi on Instagram @magusfawn.
0 comments