Therefore, most Bardings are really a set of three pieces, and you can mix and match these pieces for your Chocobo to wear. The appearance tab will show you the current colour of your Chocobo, as well as the barding equipped on its head, body, and legs. Once there you’ll see three tabs: Actions, Skills, and Appearance. Head to the Companion Window under Character > Companion. I’ve organized the bardings into categories based on how you go about obtaining them, so you can see which ones are easy to pick up, and which ones will require more time (or money) to collect.
You might also be a completionist looking to get as many of these bardings in your collection as possible. While barding is typically a type of armour, for gameplay purposes it’s purely aesthetic and doesn’t affect your chocobo’s stats or survivability in any way. The second customization is to change the barding it wears. The first aesthetic option is to change the colour of its feathers, which requires access to a Chocobo stable, either from a private estate, FC estate, or apartment building. As soon as you unlock your combat buddy you actually have the ability to change its appearance without requiring any further quests.
If you’re the kind of player who’s interested in glamour, I’m betting that probably extends to your Chocobo companion as well, and you’d prefer to give them a stylish look that complements your own attire.