From the Making of Fire Emblem: 25 Years of Development Secrets book comes a small snippet on page 81 regarding how Chrom’s design was meant to resemble Ike’s (with a bit of Marth).
You can find much more from this book on the compilation post here.
As you can imagine, the process of doing all this (scanning, editing, translating in some cases, etc) took a lot of time, and I am unemployed… so if you like what I did, then please donate! (the button can be found in the top right of the page)
Enjoy!
I believe this was already known (or assumed), but here is this page translated anyway (by request)!
kantopia 
Wearing a cape is actually part of an old fencing/dueling technique (with rapiers and such). You hold it in your left hand and can use it to trap your opponent’s weapon. Now, of course, no fire emblem character actually uses it like that, but I could imagine, say, Eirika (whose technique really just screams “rapier” even if she’s not using one) doing that.
They should make a character who uses it like that! Would look so elegant. xD
Chrom is a very nice character, and i personally enjoyed doing tactics for him ingame. Though many people shun the game for its simplicity plot wise (not i), i still think Chrom is one of the best lords.
There’s nothing wrong with you having enjoyed the game/plot/characters : ) I am glad you found some enjoyment in them!
Y’know, now that I look at it, Chrom does kind of look like Ike, doesn’t he? Then again, almost every lord in the series has blue as their hair color, except for a few. And a cape! You can’t forget the awesome cape, as impractical it would be in real life, especially if it’s a long one. Then again, it’s a video game, so logic doesn’t apply!
Yes, Eliwood/Roy and Ephraim/Erika (light blue/teal? xD) stuck out for that reason! Thinking logically may make you dislike many things in games, so best not to think too hard on it. : )