Feather cloaks have been used by several cultures. It constituted noble and royal attire in § Hawaii and other Polynesian regions. It is a mythical bird-skin object that imparts power of flight upon the Gods in § Germanic mythology and legend, including the § Swan maidens account. In medieval Ireland, the chief poet (filí or ollam) was entitled to wear a feather cloak.
The feather robe or cloak (Chinese: yuyi; Japanese: hagoromo; 羽衣) was considered the clothing of the Immortals (xian; 仙/僊), and features in swan maiden tale types where a tennyo (Japanese: 天女 "heavenly woman") robbed of her clothing or "feather robe" and becomes bound to live on mortal earth. However, the so-called "feather robe" of the Chinese and Japanese celestial woman came to be regarded as silk clothing or scarves around the shoulder in subsequent literature and iconography.