Unfinished Appearances & Outfitting Reflections

Every now and then, I've made an outfit that leaves me with mixed feelings. I've let those sit for a few weeks then revisit them and reassess the work I've done. Sometimes they've made it to this blog. Sometimes they haven't. Sometimes an outfit's sat there indefinitely because something feels off, but has the potential to be finished without any indication as to how. And that would be this outfit. The Watchman of the Northern Lands, which was posted last month, was the redesigned product. I still have this original version saved to an outfit slot, still not quite sure what to do with it, but my hopes of completing it have dwindled. Since Material Middle-earth is a blog for outfit ideas, I've uploaded it should someone want to make something out of it.

I often start with a piece, a theme, and a color in mind. That color, believe it or not, has often been dictated by what I've uploaded to my blog. If I've used one color too often, I'll avoid using it for a while. I hadn't used red or crimson in several months, so I gave them a whirl. I think there was too much red this time, which drowned out the other colors. Also, I've been so obsessed with making dwarven appearances for dwarves that it felt forced. I was a little too rigid in my requirements there. This was also an outfit that appeared completely different in the dressing room too! The metal plates on the sides of the gauntlets weren't so white and the metal fingertips weren't so grey. Once I brought the outfit into the sunlight, these color differences weren't so subtle. All in all, a classic case of expectations versus reality.

These are problems I've often encountered during the process. This time, however, I reached an impasse with this version. Clearly, this wasn't exactly my best work. I haven't considered it a failure either. After all, I did take elements from this and make another!

I've also realized that I rarely show what my outfits have looked like before "finalizing" them. There's a whole process between conception and publication, one that's required constant tweaking. I've often made outfit creation look easy by only posting the end result. It's seldom like that. It's a constant struggle, actually. Swapping a piece here or there. Changing all colors after I've already dyed the entire ensemble. Scrapping it and starting over. All the frustrations, the stumbling, and the fumbling. Those are the things I generally don't show. But, every now and then, it's good to speak a little about the outfit process itself!

There are also other things I've taken into account. Not as important to this particular entry, but still worth mentioning.

There's hair and other facial options, all of which are provided by LOTRO's barber NPC. When I feel satisfied with my character's clothing, I like to find a hairstyle, color included, that matches or at least works well with it. In some cases, the removal of facial hair if it's clipped into or obscured the chest piece. By clicking the dwarf racial tag on the sidebar (or click here), you'll see different barber options being used. And this is the same dwarf too!

Then there's location, too. I generally try to find something appropriate to the outfit. Clearly, this location did not fit this featured look, but this was more about the clothing itself. Lighting intensity, lighting color (natural or not), time of day, landscape...these are all major factors in my presentation. Often, they "sell" the appearance and make it more believable.

And when every factor listed here has been taken into account, it's easy to see why I've posted an outfit once every other week.

Shoulders: Blademaster's Shoulders (Red, Champion class vendor in the Twenty-first Hall)**
Back: Cloak of the Grey Mountain Stalwart (Crimson, bartered from the Adventurer's Quartermaster in Skarhald for figments)***
Chest: Chestplate of Stonehelm (Crimson, T12 Metalsmith barter recipe)****
Hands: Blademaster's Gauntlets (Red, Champion class vendor in the Twenty-first Hall)**
Feet: Blademaster's Boots (Red, Champion class vendor in the Twenty-first Hall)**

Main-hand: Great Axe of the Khazad-dum Vaults (Periodically appears in the LOTRO Store)

**Although they may not have the gold trimmings, the Brazen Call skinss from the skirmish camps under Moria Cosmetic Clothing - Heavy have almost the same appearance.
***Also drops from the Adventurer's Steel-bound Lootboxes.
****Also shares the same skin as the heavy chest drops in the T1 Ered Mithrin group instances.