I dont get it…if anything pants seem more practical to move around in for spellcasting. Why are robes such a big thing for spellcasters?
Is it just the comfortable breeze?
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You’re essentially questioning an ancient trope of fantasy fiction here.
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Because they typically provide the most intellect.
so clothes won’t strangle your magic flow
More comfortable and less heavy.
Much easier to concentrate on casting a spell.
Unless you’re Undead, or have a strong sense of concentration, I highly doubt anyone could successfully cast one spell wearing plate.
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My guess it’s some thing they got from D&D when it comes to spell casters. If you really delve in to it you’re going to see a ton of stuff that WoW “borrowed” from D&D. Silvermoon is just one great example.
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People have been wondering that for a long time.
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I was just coming to post that.
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The WoW Devs watch a lot of Lord of the Ring, they were possibly making a reference to other Fantasy RPGs.
Many reasons off the top of my head
-most of the time in fantasy the magic users aren’t on the front lines. Less likely to get stabbed means you don’t need much armor
-a lotta the time the magic users are portrayed as not very combat saavy and nerdy. So some might not even be strong enough to deal with it
-you could make your robes magical
It’s just a old tradition that still gets carried around in fantasy as a means to “balance” out stuff like magic so that it’s not stupidly op.
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Because I like dresses.
They make me feel pretty.
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What are you talking about? 
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If you’re going to enchant clothing for protection, it’s far easier to enchant a single item, such as a robe, than to enchant multiple items - especially if you don’t know how well the various spells will play with each other.
And they wear cloth (and in some cases (historically) leather), it’s because iron is traditionally the bane of magic, so metal armor would interfere, and other armor that isn’t iron-based is very expensive.
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I’m also picturing old monastic orders where clergy and priests wore vestments to highlight various things: from their status to what season the church was in. These same orders were some of the first organizations that published literature and taught others. (This appears to be true for both “western” and “eastern” cultures)
It also might attest to old fascinations with Greek scholars and togas?
/shrug
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They aren’t robes, casters actually wear giant colostomy bags, casting tends to make them incontinent…
Judges wear robes.
Popes do too.
We wear robes for graduation from school.
Many religious figures wear robes of a recognizable hue and pattern.
Kings sometimes wear them.
I would say that there is a cultural association between robes and power, wisdom, and accomplishment.
On a related note: University professors not only wear robes (academic regalia) to graduation, they also have to be VERY careful that their regalia denotes their area of study, the school they went to, and the particular degree achieved. This is done through colors, stripes, cut of the pieces, and even the kind of hat! It’s a whole secret language.
So there you go. Robes denote learning.
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Ironic that I am learning about how robes are focused around learned folks whilst I am not wearing robes.
I feel robed of something here.
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why is this even a question?
everyone should wear robes.
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Yeah I think everything fantasy (in modern times) goes back to Tolkien’s world.
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I think this is a good point. If I spent my life learning to be a magical combatant I doubt I’d have much time to train in armor to have the endurance to fight in it in battle.