British Cagoules

In the United Kingdom rain is inevitability.   For this reason people there own a fold-up raincoat known as a cagoule. They bring the cagoules with them everywhere …to the beach, to the market and to the pub. That is because you never know when it is going to really pour.

Cagoule is spelled many ways including cagoul, kagoule or kagool. Ironically this popular and quite necessary British item comes from a French word that means “hood”.  In the United States it is often just called a fold-up raincoat. There is also a U.S. version called Pack-a-Mac that stands for “pack a Mackintosh.”  Mackintosh is another British words for raincoat.

In essence cagoule refers to a weatherproof coat with a hood that does not have lining.  Usually the cagoule is about knee length but they can come in longer or shorter versions.  They were first invented by Storm Ltd. in 1954 but became very popular the early 1960s when wearing see-through plastic or vinyl versions of this rainy weather protection was popular.  The inventor was a former Marine named Noel Bibby but the company owned by Peter Storm became the large scale manufacturers of this clothing item.

The cagoule is largely famous for its ability to be rolled up into a very small package and stowed away.  Usually the design has an integrated hood although some designs have been known to have a hood that snaps on.  In the United Kingdom snaps are sometimes called ‘Poppers.”

The cuffs are usually elasticized or pulled tight with a drawstring to prevent water from getting inside the sleeves.  In most versions there is a pocket integrated into the design as well in which the entire raincoat can be stuffed.

Cagoules have become a bit of a fetish in England. It is very enchanting to see couples wearing matching cagoules beneath which they also wear matching outfits.  Cagoules have also been known to be handed out as emergency wear at British summer weddings.

Nowadays the official cagoule is owned a company called The Outdoor Group which sells the cagoule under the name Outdoor Equipment in the English chain known as the Blacks and Millets shops.

One of the heights of cagoule fashion is to buy one for yourself and also your dog. That way the two of you can match as you parade proudly and dry down the wet U.K. streets.