The robes of state were an elaborately layered robe. It featured an outer robe with a collar in the colors of the owner's family over a gray under-robe. Some Chiss officers wore a black long tunic similar to the robes of state. There existed a version of the robe with a white outer robe, a military shoulder belt, an utility belt equipped with a holster, and tall boots.
In 27 BBY, Syndic Mitth'ras'safis, core name "Thrass," of the Eighth Ruling Family wore a short gray and burgundy robe and tall boots. In the same year, Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano, core name "Formbi," of the Fifth Ruling Family wore an elaborately layered gray robe with a yellow collar and yellow highlights. In 22 ABY, Formbi wore long, flowing robes of state in subdued shades of yellow with gray trim.
In 28 ABY, four representatives of the ruling Four Families, "Bronze," "Rust," "Gray" and "Copper-green," wore bronze, rust-red, silver-gray and copper-green head-to-foot robes that respectively reflected the colors of these families. At some point, a Chiss wore a flowing white robe and tall boots.
The robes of state first appeared in the 2004 Star Wars novel Survivor's Quest, written by Timothy Zahn. The robes were pictured on the cover art for the The Essential Legends Collection reprint of Outbound Flight, which will be published on August 15, 2023. The picture depicted the robes of Syndic Mitth'ras'safis with the yellow color of the Chaf family instead of the patchwork of gray and burgundy color of the Mitth family he wore in the novel.
- The New Essential Guide to Alien Species