Yeah the skirt thing looks pretty absurd.

This is where CA's argument that perfect historical accuracy would harm gameplay goes out the window. Instead of saying "he can't afford a horse", why can't they tell the truth, that "he chose to dismount". In what way would writing that detract from gameplay? After the incredible amounts of effort that must have went into those graphics and all the other features, why can't they just do a little bit of research to make the game that big bit better by making it historically accurate?