Sith apparel

Sith apparel was the term given to the general attire of members of the Sith Order in all its forms. Unlike the Jedi who did not believe in material possession, the position of Sith Lord was highly individualized and the personal attire of each Dark Lord reflected this.

Although similar to the clothing and armor worn by the Jedi Knights of the Galactic Republic, Sith apparel was in fact much more personalized to the wearer than its Jedi counterparts; for many Sith, their armor and robes were an integral part of their identity. For users of the dark side, their clothing and armor usually involved some measure of physical protection, such as traditional armor plates, cortosis, or even self-contained life support systems. Many Sith were most easily recognized by their distinctive garb and often used this to further intimidate or impress their foes and allies alike.

History

The Old Sith Empire

"Marka Ragnos, great Dark Lord, wear this victory helmet during your battles in the afterlife."

―Ludo Kressh

The personalized Sith armor worn by Naga Sadow

The first Sith Lords were fallen Jedi that enslaved the Sith, a species hailing from the Stygian Caldera. This resulted in a mixed-race population with mixed cultural traits. The apparel of the Sith Order combined inspirations from both the Jedi, the guardians of justice and freedom in the Galactic Republic, and the Sith.

Unlike their Jedi forefathers, the Sith Lords enjoyed flaunting riches and outstanding signs of their wealth. They adopted a fastuous fashion full of bright colors such as green, light red or purple, with ornamented parts of golden armor. They also favored extravagant headdresses, war helmets and capes accented with eccentric necklines. Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh were good examples of this. Most Sith Lords would feel pleasure and a sensation of power through the jealousy and greed their material possession aroused among their peers. This attitude was still present amongst the Sith millennia later—Master Qordis was known to wear only the finest silks and most expensive jewelry, and he possessed luxurious apartments on Korriban.

Many Sith robes were Force-imbued in the making, so that they could be used to enhance or assist one's ability to channel the dark side of the Force and call upon more strength or wisdom than they naturally would. Some of those artifacts were still intact and usable at the time of the Old Sith Wars, such as Aleema Keto's or Crado's robes, and the dreaded Helm of Dathka Graush. Around 5000 BBY, some of the Massassi warriors who accompanied Naga Sadow on Yavin 4 were also known to sport specialized combat gear that allowed them maximum agility in dense jungle environments.

Battle armor

"Yes, you shall wear the armor."

―Unidentified Sith spirit, to Warb Null

Warb Null built his own set of Sith armor.

The Sith Lords of the Old Empire each wore personalized battle armor designed to strike fear into their enemies. Each Sith Lord tended to have their unique set of armor, though standard models were known to exist. The Sith armors traditionally consisted of metal plates worn over dark robes, and were usually covered in sharp spines to be used as weapons. Some time prior to 3998 BBY, the young Onderonian metallurgist Shas Dovos made his own suit of Sith armor out of steel plates, following the instruction of an ancient book. Dovos later merged with his armor, turning him into a new and powerful being known as Warb Null.

Millennia later, Darth Vader's heavy suit would follow this tradition of donning intimidating and fearsome-looking protective coverings. If the latter followed closely the making process of the ancient armors, it's quite possible they were made through the use of Sith Alchemy, in order to augment the user's physical strength and vitality.

The Old Sith Wars

After the Dark Lords Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma established their Brotherhood of the Sith, the first order to their new students was the Jedi pogrom, in which the apprentices were commanded to strike down their Jedi masters. As such, very few of them had the chance to change their Jedi garments which led to a yet less uniformed Sith Order.

Kun went on with the tradition of the battle armor, as he himself wore one. Sith warriors wore robes designed with a hood which could conceal the wearer's face, keeping them from being identified. Some Sith Robes also came fitted with basic armor made of cortosis. These robes shared some similar fashion features with the Jedi Adventure Robe and the Ceremonial Jedi Robes.

Order of the Sith Lords

Two of Palpatine's Sith robes

The Sith Lords that came after the establishment of the Rule of Two were in hiding and generally favored simpler black garments. Their concealing black robes made them appear as if they were creatures of the night.

Darth Sidious favored monk-like robes made of harsh zeyd-cloth. His prefered robe was black, with a raised waffle pattern on it and long sleeves that reached to just below the wrists. This gave the illusion, by the time of 4 ABY, that Palpatine, the alter-ego of Sidious, had merely been a simple man. Along with his black robe, Palpatine possessed several sets of Sith robes. One set was similar to his favored black robes but was made of a burgandy material. Another was made in a burgundy velvet-like fabric, ornamented with Sith symbols. Palpatine publicly wore it in front of the Senate when he addressed his Declaration of a New Order. Indeed, he knew nobody in the rotunda would recognize the origin of these clothes, and he estimated the time of hiding had come to an end for the Sith. Another was a gray robe with a large hood, a black velvet capelet and puffed sleeves as seen when he battled Yoda. When the reborn Sidious went on a trip to Korriban in 11 ABY, he adorned a shorter, more practical variant of his well-known black cape, complete with capelet and a long, straight walking stick.

When Darth Vader needed to be put in the suit that he would later be known for, Darth Sidious insisted on creating an intimidating look and completed the design with a cape and tabard reminiscent of the traditional Sith garb.

Behind the scenes

Sith robes production design

As George Lucas envisioned the Sith as the dark counterpart of the Jedi, their robes were mainly designed as black versions of the Jedi apparel. The under-robes for the costume of Palpatine as an Emperor were in fact a Japanese kimono of black raw silk, as revealed in Star Wars: The Magic of Myth book. Ben Kenobi's inner robes were also made of the same material, but in a beige version. Darth Maul's attire was sewn from a hand woven fabric called Indian Homespun which had been dyed black by costume designer Trisha Biggar.

Tales of the Jedi design

Though the timespan covered by the Tales of the Jedi stories kind of fits "Star Wars' Middle Age", the style of the costumes rather reflects Antiquity. As for the Sith, they seem to be widely inspired by ancient Babylonian or Egyptian fashion; for example, Naga Sadow's and Darth Andeddu's headdress are quite similar to Pharaonic deshret and khepresh crowns. Also, rather than be limited to dark colors, the robes of these ancient Sith were quite vibrantly colored, extremely opulent.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi — The Golden Age of the Sith
• Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi — The Fall of the Sith Empire
• Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novel
• Star Wars: Dark Empire
• Star Wars: Dark Empire II
• Star Wars: Empire's End

Sources

• Star Wars: The Magic of Myth

Notes and references

In other languages

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