Clothing is one of the greatest expressions of oneself that a person could have. It allows for each person to be their unadulterated selves and show it to the world.
Some organizations require their members to wear the same thing. This is called a uniform. Organizations such as military forces, police, private schools, camps, etcetera require uniforms.
It’s the same thing in the Star Wars universe. Whether you’re a part of the Galactic Republic or the Galactic Empire, once you fall into one of their associations then chances are you’ll be given a uniform.
The Jedi and the Sith, of course, were no different.
The Sith were known to wear black capes adorned with cuirasses. To accessorize, they sported belts with many pouches for all their various needs.
To top it all off, the Sith Apparel had buckles on the belts that showed off the Sith symbol.
On the other hand, the Jedi Apparel is composed of more muted, natural tones such as browns, tans, and pinky-nude tones.
In addition to that, they have a multipurpose belt that has compartments for all the Jedi’s needs, including easy carrying of the lightsaber.
This begs the question, can the Jedi wear black?
Keep reading as we dive into the article to answer this question and more.
Table of Contents
Can Jedi Wear Black?
The use of black robes seemed to be something that members of the dark side would prefer.
This is mainly because the Sith have been seen to favor using black and red. For that reason, an association has been made that black and red are the colors of the dark side.
But this isn’t exactly true. The Jedi are allowed to wear black if they so desire.
Granted, many of them opted to stick to their regular brown Jedi Robe as opposed to wearing a black one. Still, they could have worn a black robe or black outfit if they wanted.
There are some Jedi who decided to wear black robes instead of the regular brown ones.
The most notable of these is none other than the man himself, Anakin Skywalker. He did this before he went over to the dark side and became Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Seemingly following in his father’s footsteps, Luke Skywalker also flaunted a black robe as a replacement for the usual Jedi Robe.
Now, it’s known that Anakin and Luke both chose to wear black, but why did they do it? Was it even allowed?
Well, the resolution of this question is a bit more complicated than it seems.
So without further ado, let’s dive into the answer.
Why was Anakin Skywalker Allowed to Wear Black?
From the minute they enter the Jedi Order as Padawans, the Jedi are made to follow a set of rules.
Rules that dictate what they eat, what they do with their minds, and how strongly they associate themselves with others. This set of rules is known as the Jedi Code.
As strict as the Jedi Code is, it says nothing about what the Jedi must wear. Therefore, in theory, they could wear whatever they wanted.
With this in mind, it must be noted that the outfitting of the dark side was to be in contrast to that of the light side.
This is why the Sith wore black and the Jedi wore more natural tones.
In the case of Anakin, he was a Jedi that defied the norm from day one.
His wearing of a black uniform is somewhat symbolic of his future decision to abandon the light side and fully embrace the darkness.
Although he was not the first Jedi to wear black, nor was he the last, Anakin’s choice of apparel can be seen as foreshadowing for events to come.
Why Did Luke Skywalker Wear Black?
As mentioned before, Luke Skywalker is the son of the Dark Lord, Darth Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker. Thus, it’s been speculated that he has the darkness of his father lingering within him.
In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Luke is seen to be wearing a black outfit.
It’s speculated that this symbolizes Luke’s potential to fall into the lifestyle of the dark side of the Force.
It also shows that there is a possibility that at some point, it may become difficult for Luke to fight the negative emotions that would cause him to become like his father.
Luke, however, is built differently. He is able to use techniques native to the dark side, such as Force Choke, without becoming a part of the dark side himself.
In addition to that, the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was able to not only defeat Darth Vader but save Anakin Skywalker’s wandering soul and pull him back to the light side.
He did all of this without having murdered the Sith Lord. Moreover, he was able to resist the advances of Emperor Darth Sidious to become a part of the Galactic Empire.
Still, Luke was able to stand firm to his beliefs and knew exactly what he did and did not want for himself. Therefore, he wasn’t able to be swayed by anything.
So much so, at the end of Return of the Jedi when he resisted the Emperor, his black coat opened to display the white clothing he wore underneath.
Conclusion
Even though they may seem incredibly strict as per the Jedi Code, the Jedi did have some leniency in various areas–one of which is the clothes they were allowed to wear.
They were allowed to wear whatever they pleased, however, there was the standard uniform that most chose to wear.
Even though they had this freedom of choice, the Jedi had a clear preference for browns, tans, and more natural colors.
Yet there were still those who chose to wear black, which was usually worn by the dark side’s Force users.
Anakin and Luke Skywalker are amongst the Jedi who chose to wear black. Although they may have had different reasons for doing so, they stood out regardless.