Hauberk Week: Patched and Ready

Hauberk Week comes to a close with the delightful Patched Hauberk.  Please go see Ivy’s variation (which is probably not based on Hobbit hijinks) on the same item.  I also want to thank Ivy for the great idea to collaborate on a week of outfits.  I’ve had a ball, seen some great traffic and talked to some new readers.

The Patched Hauberk is available from skirmish camp cosmetic vendors.  It’s a fuzzy, mangy sort of thing, and I love it.  The colors are very warm, burgundy and rust, so I decided to contrast that with a cool indigo.  And Hobbit hijinks.

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“Well, boys, I’m off.”  Thrumbo Brandybuck did a slow pivot in place while his mates hooted and pounded full mugs of porter on the table.  Over by the bar, Rosalee the serving-girl laughed so hard she could barely keep her her tray of soup bowls from sliding.

Hauberk Week: The Mariner

Oh, how I love thee, Mariner’s Hauberk.  And it’s day four of Hauberk Week — check out what the Ivy‘s doing with the same item!

Again, I love this hauberk.  I love the vaguely Elven feel to it (note to self:  level an Elf past 24, you Man-centric creature), and I love how it’s not so much a sailor’s outfit as a tribute to the sea and birds.  That led me immediately back to yesterday’s Gondorian sellsword, and so today, we have a huntress of Dol Amroth.

If you wanted to take the Dol Amroth swan idea further than I did, a white-dyed Cloak of the Dove or a lovely blue-dyed Swan-cloak would fit the bill admirably.  Expect to see more Dol Amroth here in the future – I know a couple of characters on Landroval who have gone all out in interpreting this gorgeous, ancient city.

But I used a hunter as a model, and think quivers are underrepresented in outfits, so!  The Fine Elven Quiver suited Silevren’s outfit well.

(From The Return of the King) “And in the morning the banner of Dol Amroth, a white ship like a swan upon blue water, floated from the Tower, and men looked up and wondered if the coming of the King had been but a dream.“

(From The Return of the King) “But beyond, in the great fief of Belfalas, dwelt Prince Imrahil in his castle of Dol Amroth by the sea, and he was of high blood, and his folk also, tall men and proud with sea-grey eyes.“

Tomorrow is the last day of Hauberk Week (*tear*), and to finish it all off, Ivy and I are both tackling the Patched Hauberk.  Play along in comments or on your own sites if you like!  Thanks!

Hauberk Week: The Sellsword

Hauberk Week with Ivy continues with Day 3!

Today we’re both exploring variations on my much-loved Sellsword’s Hauberk, available in the LOTRO Store.  It’s a dramatic sort of item with large black portions that do not dye.  I love it because I really enjoy simplicity and elegance, and this hauberk has both (if you consider a mega sword down the front of your body elegant, which it sounds like my bananas self does).

I decided to pair it with white, to give the hauberk a sort of stark Gondorian feel.  In my mind, this character is an Eastern-born man who, rather than join the Gondorian military in whatever fashion, chose instead to follow the mercenary’s path.  His color scheme speaks of home, but there’s a symbol of his profession, not a White Tree, on his tabard.  I kept the rest of it fairly simple except for the dramatic Vibrant Calenard Battle Gauntlets, which I just love.

Tomorrow, Ivy and I both play with the Mariner’s Hauberk.  And since I’ve already used my black dye for the week, I’ll have to pop out of my comfort zone for that one!  Stay tuned!

Hauberk Week: Eastern-cut

Hauberk Week with Ivy continues!

The Eastern-cut Hauberk is one of those interesting items I saw in the Bree-town Outfitters right off, bought a few times, and never really embraced.  Why?  Because it wasn’t until I started my close-up screenshots that I realized the weird design, right front and center, is an oliphant.  Seriously!  Gaah!  I am now much more interested, which is why I tossed a bucket-full of crimson dye at the whole affair.

I like what Ivy’s done with it, with subdued dye on the hauberk and more contrasting accessories around it (on an adorable Hobbit, too!).  Me — I wanted a big crimson oliphant.

I do not have all day to stand in one place and be photographed, lady.

The Wood-wanderers’ Cloak continues to be one of my favorites.

See? SEE? Oliphant? I cannot express how often I play this game and fiddle around with cosmetics. I’m a 5-year player. And still, this is the first time I’ve noticed the flipping oliphant.

Tomorrow is the Sellswords’ Hauberk, and I am DANG excited about that one.  Even without an oliphant.  Feel free to play along in comments, and go see Ivy!

Hauberk Week: Dwarf-make Hauberk

Wooo!  Five days of hauberks, GO!

Today, both Ivy and I design outfits around the Dwarf-make Hauberk.  Her variation on a theme is right here!

I went for bright colors and strong shapes to accompany such a bold hauberk.  The primary dye is Evendim blue, while the most distinctive additional pieces are the Cloak of Durin’s Crown and the Ceremonial Rift-Defender’s Helm.  I’ve seen beautiful outfits using the hauberk in black and red, but something about the snowy background and the grey stone of Thorin’s Hall really called for blue to balance the Ranger green, umber(ish), white, and orange details.  Yes, orange!  Look at the small stripe below the shoulder-piece, and you’ll see that little flicker of color.

Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!

Check back tomorrow when Ivy and I take on the Eastern-cut Hauberk, and feel free to play along by posting your own outfits with these hauberks in the comments.  Thanks!

Dress It Up: Early Boot Patterns

This upcoming week is Hauberk Week with The Ivy.  Huzzah!

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Here are the basic “Dress It Up” rules:  Dress it up however you like, on either gender, any race, in any fashion, and leave a comment with a link to your outfit, whether it’s on your own blog or in one of the many photo hosting sites.

Do you have at least one level 75 powering your outfit choices?  Now that you have access to the splendid new Isengard boots as cosmetic possibilities, do you ever – ever! – use the cosmetic boots available at the low-level Outfitters?  I used to use them all the time!  They were my go-to boots, the sort of cheap summer sneakers you can buy at Walmart at 3AM and know you can easily destroy while walking around in the lake the next day.  That sort of thing.

But since Isengard, I haven’t touched them.  How about you?

First, to jog your memories (all are undyed):

Soft Stitched Boots

Soft Leather Boots

Padded Leather Boots

Light Buckled Boots

Glossy Leather Boots

A few possibilities there, right?  Subtle differences.  So what about you?  Ever use them in any of your current outfits?

Friday Poll: Where do you get your cosmetic items?

Friday poll time!

We have a lot of sources for cosmetic items these days:  the Store, raids, skirmish marks, and so on.  Do you use any of these more than the others?  Do you stick to quest-only, to skirmish-only, and skip the Store?  Do you use every source you possibly can?

 

As you might imagine, I’m going to click on “Omnivorous.”  I have cosmetic items from just about everywhere!

How about you?

Seen on the Streets: Attanamir

First things first:  as much as I love fashion blogging, I love writing more.  My in-character writing blogs (I have two; if you’re curious, see the About page.  I’m too shy to flog them here) are a source of constant joy to me, as are the roleplay blogs of many of my friends.  If you’re interested in starting to write in your character’s voice, an excellent Landroval thought-starter is Pumyra’s RP Prompts.  This week’s is, “A catch-phrase your character uses often.”  If you choose to take advantage of this, or have a writing blog already, leave a comment!  It’s a joy to read other people’s creativity.

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Speaking of lovely writers and roleplayers, today’s Seen on the Streets is a great example of both, Attanamir.  Attanamir is a young man, a scholar and adventurer with a dark background and a somewhat dark countenance.  We chose the Old Forest as a setting despite its horrific lighting because the character wanders and studies there often.

I really admire Atan’s sense of color and his CLOAKS, holy cow.   The cloak in the second outfit is the Cloak of the Mallorn; in the third, it’s the Warm Winter Cloak, which looks just stunning in black.  I asked Atan about the character’s aesthetic, and his response was that he builds his outfits around a few much-loved pieces.  In the second and third outfits, the sashes on the chestpieces (the Ceremonial Town-Saver’s Jacket and the Shirt of the Mighty Verse, respectively) seem “foreign” to his eye,  and therefore emphasize the character’s Southron blood.

Image-intensive post, folks.  Whee!

Thoughtful, stoic.

The Dawn-warrior

Usually I come up with pithy narratives for these, whether comedic or not.  Today…dagnabit, I just really dig the cloak.

The High Herald’s Cloak is just so cool.  Gryphons!  Heraldry!  It seems to call for heavy armour and a heroic stance, so that’s exactly what I did.

The gryphon (griffin) as a heraldic device is a popular one, appearing on both individual and institutional coats of arms.  Check out the Knowlsley Metropolitan Borough Council, or any of the other hundreds of images that pop up under a search about gryphons in heraldry.

Today’s model greets the dawn in fitting colors of gold and rust and grey mail.   I love the look of different heavy armour types blended together to give a warrior a more authentic appearance:  he isn’t perfect and polished in ornamental mail ready for review.  Instead, he wears the pieces he could find or make or was issued, all of a theme, but not all of a whole.

I cropped out his opponent, since it doesn’t look terribly heroic for him to two-shot a Bambi twenty levels lower. >.>

I just LOVE this cloak. The portions that look umber here are the only parts that dye.

• Shoulders:  Shoulders of Gamil Filk, dyed gold
• Back:  High Herald’s Cloak
• Chest:  Survivor’s Armour
• Hands:  Chainmail Gauntlets 
• Legs:  Sturdy West-land Leggings of Resilience, dyed gold
• Feet:  Dwarf Steel Boots of Might, dyed rust

Seen on the Streets: Thranin Alehammer

I had a hoot with this one.  My spokesDwarf Gundri was still wandering around Esteldin considering outfits when I nearly ran over a very…bright…Dwarf.  Thranin Alehammer can be seen from three mining-tunnels away!

Thranin is a guardian, a Dwarf of axe and shield.  He’s the son of Thranli, a rune-keeper, but Thranin showed little aptitude for learning, so turned instead to the guardian’s way.  As he put it, “Things are simpler when you don’t have to remember more than hack…slash…block…kill.”

Thranin caught my eye because I’m currently obsessed with hauberks, and I like how the undyed portion of his Leather Hauberk is reflected in his beard, while the red portions are echoed in his pauldrons and hat.  Also, except for his boots, his entire outfit can be acquired by someone under level 30.  Finally, I love how the chin guards of his helm angle inward and his beard outward.  It’s a really pleasing detail.

When asked about his preference for reds, Thranin first answered: “Why red? Well, you dunna have to clean it as often after battle. The blood just sort of blends in.”

Also on red: “And it brings out my eyes…or so I’m told by the ladies. Well I assume they are ladies…you know how dwarf lasses are.”

This is after he /flipped for me. An airborne dwarf is something to see! Also, I really enjoy his use of the Sturdy Prospector’s Pack.

“For power and profit!” he cried at the end of our screenshotting session.