Plenty of warriors (greeks, romans, celts, egyptians, etc) wore the same or even a lot less, but yeah, to my modern eyes it looks a little silly.
I know the Romans took to wearing knee length "pants" like the Gauls when they were in cold places, personally I would have dug it if the Imperials did the same. Oh well.
My girl said the same thing. But the Imperial armor looks just as silly to me. I'm not dissing or complaining about the game, just an opinion.
I hated it so much I took the light Elven armor from the first Thalmor's I ran across. It's too bright and shiny for my Dunmer Drallam, but I'm only a level 11 right now so it's the best there is atm.