Am I missing something with Royal Leathers?

[Sparks]

As far as I can tell, Royal Leathers, armor which has the light, leather, and skimpy tags, has the highest armor rating of all chest armor in the game, beating even other unique metal plate armor other than mail curass (which also beats several 'legendary' plate armors). It lacks specific physical resistances but I'm not sure how much that even matters. It just seems weird to me.

 

[WolframL]

It depends entirely on what you're looking for in your armor. If you're playing someone who can take advantage of the Light tag or has Sexiness as a major stat then the Leathers obviously look really good. If you're playing a Champ whose main job is party tank, you'd want something like Conqueror's Breastplate instead which has almost as much Armor, equal Ward and causes you to generate more Threat with its special effect. Lamellar Armor is another Light armor that's extremely good with a broad mix of resistance boosts, so if you're not specifically looking for the bonus to Sexiness that Royal Leathers provides it's one of the most solid Light armor choices in the game.

So yes, Royal Leathers are an extremely good armor, but it's not going to be the best fit for every situation.