[Ciaphas Cain]

It made sense that ObiWan would dress like an Arab on a desert planet. By why the Sam Hill are the Jedi dressing like goat-herding hermits when they are back on a civilized planet?

It's more like a "warrior-monk" aesthetic. Elements of samurai, and Knights Templar. That's what one of the concept artists for the prequels told me a long time ago anyway.

[BenLurkin]

Uh......to me they look neither like monks, nor samurai, nor Knights Templar. I always figured Lucas was just being too lazy to come up with something different.

There’s a lot I would have done differently beyond having the Jedi knights dress as, well, futuristic knights. The Force would have remained spiritual — and not biological. The Empire would have been established decades, if not centuries earlier. Lord Vader would have been an actual Lord in the feudal sense. Han Solo would have had a more detailed backstory. And more.

But I’m just a Joe in the cheap seats. The people in charge of Star Wars are wildly successful with their product, and there is no arguing with that success.