Break away fasteners are a thing now. Line it with some Kevlar fibre and some good thermal insulation/fire resistance and you have an amazing utility device.
In public, it billows behind you, making you look dashing and heroic. When the shit hits the fan, instant bullet resistant cover for civilians. A way to shield them from the heat of a fire, or a small explosion. You could even use it offensively to tangle or deceive an opponent!
It won't stop a direct shot, but it would help against ricochet and shrapnel.
Back during the Napoleonic wars, silk underlayers were highly sought after. They could limit the damage a musket ball could do.
A spider silk based cape could definitely help projectile damage, while still being able to billow. The challenge would be making it fire and heat proof as well.
That works but the fastener can't be metal. Come across somebody with magnetic powers or for some reason the metal gets heated up and welds to itself... Bad times. But I think you're onto something.
Agreed on the metal clips. Getting garrotted by your own safety system would be extremely detrimental in a fight. Though saying that, if you're in a fight with a metal telekinetic, you're either screwed, or strong enough to not care about the clip.
Unfortunately, it would likely be detrimental to my ongoing work situation.
Though saying that, the BBC had a guy who would turn up to work dressed as a wizard (think harry potter style). He was the reason Teletext continued for so long. He was the last one left on the team. They retired Teletext the day after he retired himself.
I'm still not sure I have the force of personality to not just look like an idiot try hard however. 🤷♂️
Tempting... Unfortunately, I don't think I could pull it off. You need a certain... force of personality to pull off something like that. I'm just not outgoing (or skilled!) enough to pull off a full Thom Merrilin look.
I remember early 2020, there was a small push to bring capes back, before something else took over every discussion. Something about blue jays or crows or something