Galactic Style Guide – Coats & Robes

Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, the series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! Somehow it’s been about a year since we’ve had a Style Guide entry dealing with soft kit, so this time around we’re diving into another category of somewhat ‘swishy’ garments – coats and robes!
As we ran into a similar semantic issue when we looked at capes and cloaks (distinct from today’s subject due to their lack of sleeves), before we get ahead of ourselves we should probably try to nail down the differences between these two.
So, how exactly does a coat differ from a robe? To be honest, it’s a blurred line. After collecting and scrutinizing the references for this entry, the answer seems to be a combination of 1) the amount of tailoring the garment has, 2) the wearer’s activity level, and 3) perhaps the degree of closure: thus Robes tend to be longer and flowier (less tailored), worn closed, and folks who wear them tend to do more standing around. Coats tend to be somewhat shorter, more tailored, worn open, and those wearing them do more while wearing them. Or perhaps robes are less utilitarian, while coats serve more functional purposes, like protecting the wearer (from cold, dirt, etc.)? As I say, it’s a complicated spectrum to navigate, and the boundaries are more than a little unclear, but I’ve done my best to group them here, hopefully to show the differences.

First up we have what I’m calling ‘true robes’:

As you can see, these kinds of garments are typically floor-length, have large sleeves, and are VERY popular with the galactic political class, which in the late Republic also includes the Jedi – in the Chancellor’s office scene, note that of the 17 characters present, only 2 or 3 are wearing something less than floor-length! Also it’s worth pointing out that of these examples, Valorum and Senator Organa’s robes could be considered extra-long coats, as they are worn open and have somewhat less baggy sleeves.

This ‘large garments for leadership’ visual trend even applies to nonhuman societies too. The representatives of the Gungan council also wear long robes; though Boss Nass’s is right on the line between our two categories: while it’s less-than-floor-length (= coat), it’s worn closed (= robe), but also has narrower sleeves (coat). What would you consider it? Drop your best guess in the comments 🙂

Next we have what I’ve grouped together as Coats, though I hope you see how there may be some overlap with robes. Note that they are long (but not dragging the floor), their sleeves are much less ‘wizard-like’, and they are worn open, while the characters wearing them are (generally) more active: here we have respectively a pilot, drug dealer, upstrata bodyguard, farmer, and top military brass.

One subcategory of coats we can pick out is the duster, a style associated with one of Star Wars‘ chief style influences, the Western genre. These often incorporate a rear ‘riding slit’ for use on horseback. From Alinger’s SWCOT, we know Han’s Endor duster was a linen/polyester blend, and those worn by the commandos was cotton.
Kyle Katarn’s duster is an interesting case, as it is only seen in three cutscenes before gameplay levels but does not appear in cutscenes after these levels, which leads me to conclude that this may be a traveling outfit. Curiously, the coat does not appear in any of Dave Dorman’s artwork for the Jedi Knight novella, which appears to have been created using onscreen props and costumes as reference. It also is a rare example of a coat using different colored components (the collar’s fall is a lighter brown).

And as another subcategory of coats (possibly overlapping with long jackets?) we have parkas, which are designed for protection from the cold, using hoods (fur-trimmed), an upright inner collar, a closed front, and quilting for insulation. Note that unlike our other examples, these are much shorter – only knee-to-thigh-length.

We also have a fair amount of coats worn by post-Disney characters, especially in the excellent series Andor and Skeleton Crew – Jude Law even gets to rock not one but TWO pirate coats!

So there we go, I think that’s most of them! Because the best venues for immersive cosplaying (i.e. Disney parks) are in hot climates and prohibit robe-length garments, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than one or two folks portray a political-class Original Character. However, a shorter coat is a great way to embody some of that active-character energy sought by many, and I’d love to see folks move beyond vests and jackets. If you’re up to integrating a coat into your denizen look, what can we take away from our sample above?
As always, I hope you’ll note that all of our coats and robes are muted colors, and generally made of a single color (i.e. with minimal colorblocking) – it’s hard for a character design to function iconically if garments are made of a patchwork of three (or four, or more?!) colors – though such details are a little more common among the upstrata. Additionally, it should come as no surprise that none of these examples have any text, patches, or logos on them, and while a stray snap or button may sneak in here or there, they are almost all fastener-free! They’re also pretty much all free of technology – it’s perfectly fine for a robe or coat to just be a robe or coat: multiple comm badge greeblies, ammo loops, and other such over-detailing flair simply aren’t necessary!

What do you think? Is there any coat- or robe-clad character I’ve overlooked? Drop a c0mment to let me know who I need to add in or reconsider, or come discuss the ins and outs of long layering with us at the SWLH facebook group! See you next time!

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