Not all druids follow the notion that one must live a life of peaceful coexistence. After all, the animal kingdom is full of conflict and conquest, predator and prey, as well as battles for dominance. Some druids feel, therefore, that to truly emulate nature one must do so fully, including tooth and claw. The problem there is that druids are, by nature, generally on the squishier side and so they needed armour that would protect their vital areas better than their normal robes.
Soon, many druids began wearing these robes made from the bark of Ashenfall trees. The first incarnations were deeply unwieldy, taking on an ungainly and unfashionable cylindrical shape – little more than tree trunks with holes for the arms and legs. They were effective insomuch that attacks rarely got through, but they made it somewhat difficult to retaliate.
Later the wizard Lavernius realises that with a few tweaks, the addition of some elegant fine cloth, one could fashion the splitbark armour into a far more glamorous form. She took to decorating her robes with glittering gemstones and silver filigree, making her stand out from the crowd. An excellent distraction in magical duels, but a terrible spotlight for local thieves.