It was correctly observed, though, that in Tolkien’s work,Kortoso wrote:The Vikings were known to wear a jacket that would be practical, at least for my range.
The recent cold snap in Virginia got me thinking about layering, though, so I was curious to see what sort of options were available in the text. After a few Ctrl-F’s through the Material Culture Database, I was able to find a few instances of jackets and coats (but probably not all of them, so don’t take this to be an exhaustive list!), not worn instead of cloaks, but in combination with them.Greg wrote: cloaks are prevalent. That's part of what makes this so fun and challenging...making it work in the context of Tolkien's imagination.
The Hobbit, Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party wrote:Dori, Nori, and Ori brought out flutes from somewhere inside their coats
So, dwarves wear coats and/or jackets in addition to the cloaks they hung up upon arriving.The Hobbit, Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party wrote:he fastened [Thrain’s key] upon a fine chain that hung about his neck and under his jacket.
The Hobbit, Chapter 5: Riddles in the Dark wrote:[Bilbo] was through, with a torn coat and waistcoat...
The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs wrote:[Sam] flung his circlet, belt, and rings on the grass, and looked round helplessly, as if he expected to find his cloak, jacket, and breeches, and other hobbit-garments lying somewhere to hand.
The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs wrote:[The hobbits’] new weapons they hung on their leather belts under their jackets
Hobbits also wear jackets in combination with cloaks. I find it interesting that in The Hobbit, Bilbo is described as wearing a coat and waistcoat (which makes me think of the 18th-19th century-style clothing the hobbits wear in the films), but in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is described as wearing a tunic instead of a waistcoat.The Lord of the Rings, Book II The Ring Goes South, Chapter 3 The Ring Goes South wrote:Bilbo put it on him, and fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his old weather-stained breeches, tunic, and jacket.
“Jackets and cloaks lined with fur†makes me think of the picture of the Fellowship done by the Hildebrandt brothers:The Lord of the Rings, Book II The Ring Goes South, Chapter 3 The Ring Goes South wrote:All were well furnished by Elrond with thick warm clothes, and they had jackets and cloaks lined with fur.
I don’t agree with all of the HB’s artistic choices (what is up with Strider’s hat?!), but they committed to the fur-lined jackets. I suppose, grammatically speaking, it could be that only the cloaks are lined with fur, or it could be both. It could also be that some of the members of the Fellowship had jackets and some had cloaks, but given the previous examples of cloaks and jackets being worn together, it seems more likely that everyone got both.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information about what sort of coats and jackets might be used. I like the style of jacket Kortoso posted (which appears to be based on the Hedeby klappenrock jacket fragment and/or images from Viking helmet plaques), especially for dwarves, but that’s just a personal aesthetic preference and not backed up by the text.