I didn't take much notice of it during Oblivion but it came to my attentions after I noticed it got votes on a Skyrim thread asking what previous TES armor would people like to see return.

Is there any lore connected to the armor?

Does it mention anywhere which race or province designed it? [as we now know other armors like Elven & Glass are Aldmeri. Chitin armours are Dunmer / Falmer, steel, leather & ebony are more Imperial / Nord .....etc etc]

I'm sure it can't be yet "another" Altmer armor as they already have Elven and Glass (glass being a top armor). Is it an Imperial armor as the game is set in Cyrodiil and Oblivion artwork had pictures of a man wearing it. I did wondered if it is supposed to be a High Rock armor as to me it does seems to have a slight elven finish (which could just be me imagining it) and Imperial are pro-heavy armor.

It doesn't look very Orcish and Orsimer specialise in and wear heavy armor so it doesn't make sense to be theirs. It wasn't in Morrowind so we know it isn't Dunmer. I'm sure it doesn't look very Bosmer looking at Bosmer art (I'm guessing Bosmer are more tribal looking and their top armor is Aldmeri). We haven't seen Argonian or Khajiit but I find it hard to picture their local armor to be like it. I'm guessing Redguards are more Sahara looking Hammerfell Garb clothed warriors & maybe the more exotic Dwarven armor is originally a Hammerfell design (some Redguards cherish Dwarven ruins).

Is there any lore connected to it or do we just assume it is an armor omostly native to Cyrodiil?

I always assumed that it was an Ayleid style, and the mithril pieces that you find in-game are ancient relics recovered from their ruins. It's got the bird motif that the Ayleids were so fond of, and it only appears (at least in that style) in Cyrodiil. In my head, that's what I still believe about Elven armor as well, Skyrim be damned.

Alternately, I think there's a monkeytruth lying around somewhere about it being an Imperial design and being made from loops of tightly-wound moth silk.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1226932-on-silk/page__fromsearch__1