Simple Fashion - Robes, Pt. 2

When I was blogging prior to 2021, I was obsessed with filling every outfit slot. If something was missing, I felt naked or that an outfit felt incomplete despite it looking fully functional. Sometimes I had an actual theme for my character's appearance, but most of the time I shoehorned circlets (still obsessed to this day) and cloaks when they weren't actually necessary. Since my return, I've been leaning towards simpler outfits. This would be the third "Simple Fashion" entry in four months, as opposed to six entries between 2012 and 2021.

The downside to this particular posting category is that I burn through outfits at a rapid pace. Personally, as much as I've love making these, I've never felt the need to give each one their own blog entry with lengthy exposition or pictures from multiple angles. These outfits these have always been intended as quick ideas to inspire the community. 

Anyway, after ten and a half years, enjoy the second set of "Simple Fashion" robes!

Head: Fine Elven Circlet (Default, Anniversary Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Disused Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer (White, reward from the quest Mean, Old Big Bloodtusk)*

Chest: Robe of Leisure (Dark mossy green, LOTRO Store)

Feet: Westemnet Campaign Shoes of Fate (Dark mossy green, crafted from the Westemnet Campaign Shoes tailor recipe)

Echoes of Eventide

Eventide, a poetic word to describe the time of day between late afternoon and evening. In this case, specifically, sunset.

With the exception of the cloak and circlet, this is the first time I've used many of these pieces. I had purchased the Ultimate Edition of Before the Shadow before I left LOTRO in early 2022. Two cosmetic sets came with the top tier package, the Valiant Armour of the Dúnedain and the Armour of Flowing Silver. I didn't have the chance to experiment with those sets back then, nor was I able to explore the alternative leveling path through Cardolan and Swanfleet. I've been prioritizing this blog and uploading new outfits over experiencing the new story, but I hope to create a new character and adventure through the new intro zones.

Simple Fashion - Dresses, Part 3

Honestly, I'm surprised that I never posted another installment for dresses before leaving in 2021, especially under the Simple Fashion tag. For those of you new to Material Middle-earth, my Simple Fashion category is designed for mostly minimalist outfits using as few cosmetics as possible. Most will use two or three pieces and, on the rare occasion, four. In addition to dresses, I've tackled hauberks, tunics, and robes. To find all of those easily, either click the Simple Fashion tag at the bottom of this entry or follow this convenient link here, covering everything created under this umbrella category over the years.

Without further ado, here are three dresses.

 

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Turquoise, Farmers Faire barter reward)

Shoulders: Ascot Scarf  (White, Farmers Faire barter reward)

Chest: Picnic Dress (Turquoise, Summer Festival barter reward)

Shadow of the Vale

 

Between 2012 and 2021, I've uploaded over 200 outfits to Material Middle-earth. I'm still astonished by that number. It wasn't always a labor of love. Not all of these outfits came together easily or naturally. There were some that were a genuine struggle that took days or even weeks to feel like they were complete. And there were some, though not very many, that never felt worth uploading.

This particular appearance was one of them. I don't know why—in fact, I don't remember why—I left this one in a folder labeled "Unfinished Ideas" in 2020. In that folder, there are screenshots of outfits that never made it beyond the in-game dressing room panel. Perhaps it took the full three year absence to appreciate the unique blend of contrasting styles and armor types seen here.

Outfit Variations

In recent weeks, some old and beloved friends returned to LOTRO. I've enjoyed questing with them, trying to balance my time between the normal and legendary servers. We agreed to stay on the same page, leveling or progressing the story only when we're together. It's been wonderful experiencing the well-written and timeless story of LOTRO again. And, more importantly, having a new alt meant having eight new outfit slots!

Whenever one person stepped away for food or some other reason during those sessions, I've gradually squeezed in some new-ish appearances during those downtimes. (The Subscriber Town Services item gotten from the VIP vendor, with instant vault and wardrobe access, has been a blessing!) I call these "new-ish" for a single reason. These were previously shared outfits that I've repurposed by altering color schemes and changing a few pieces. Making new outfits has been an ever increasing struggle and I've got to keep the creative juices flowing somehow. After all, I've made more than 250 custom appearances over nearly nine years! Not all of these repurposed outfits have been spectacular, but I thought I should share a few here. This blog has been about ideas, after all!

Before I list the pieces and the source outfits, I wanted to mention the legendary servers again. It's been a slow process with that "Story Pace" debuff, but I managed to reach level 100 and unlock all six special account-wide cloaks. Each cloak was earned through completing specific quests from the Epic storyline. I've been working with them recently and hope to have new outfits centered on said cloaks. As to when? I haven't a clue. However, I've been excited this past week to finally check something off my secret blog wish list!

 

Source Outfit: Recollections of the Last Alliance

Head: Circlet of Lorien (Default, Midsummer Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Strong Shoulder Guards of the Reclaimed City (White, reward from The Fallen King Renewed)

Back: Cloak of Many Worlds (White, comes from the World Consolidation Gift Box)

Chest: Reinforced Hauberk of the Last Alliance (Black, reward from Rescue Rangers)**

Hands: Strong Gauntlets of the Last Alliance (Default, High-enchanter vendor in Mordor)

Feet: Thick Sabatons of the Last Alliance (Default, High-enchanter vendor in Mordor)

**This skin can also be bartered through the High-enchanter NPC in Mordor.

Nightshade

Many of my readers have noticed over the years how bright, colorful, and cheerful my outfits have been. I've always liked bold and brilliant purples, blues, greens, and reds. In fact, that's become a defining characteristic of Material Middle-earth. Unfortunately, that hasn't sat well with a multitude of readers. I've been getting messages complimenting me on what content is shared, but also requesting more natural and adventure-worthy outfits. I've also gotten a few rude messages that I will not repeat here. One went as far as to say I've made "outfits worthy of a carnival or circus." Of course, there have been other more modest reactions between those examples. And then there's the general pattern of comments on the official LOTRO forums' outfit thread.

I greatly appreciate my followers, both old and new. I always have and I always will. I've taken my incoming messages seriously, even if I've never gotten a response to my reply (and I have my suspicions about that...*coughjunkmailcough*). And I've also taken feedback and other criticisms to heart as well.

The Gloaming

Oh, the memories working with these base colors! The last time I worked with black and orange, I was creating my Thrang-themed series and it's a difficult color scheme to coordinate effectively. Recall my "Silver Dawn" outfit from two weeks ago? The one featured this week is the near opposite, the dusk to that dawn theme. It took close to a week to complete this, even if it's a bit over the top.

The biggest obstacle was finding gear that was orange with areas that could be dyed black or black gear with areas that could be dyed orange. That brought to mind the Reforged Rift gear from the Summer Festival and the Ceremonial Gloom-bane set from the Cosmetics vendor at the skirmish camp. The former wasn't an option, as I missed the festival and had none of those skins. The Gloom-bane set worked somewhat, but it was too plain looking. If I'd wanted a simple black and orange outfit, they'd have worked...but I wanted to add another splash of color. That left me with very little outside the various crafted or bartered gear from the Mordor expansion. I found the "Pathfinder's Artifice" recipes, the ones that cost 75 silver signets to acquire and require a Fragment of the Gorgoroth Dungeons to craft, ideal. By default, they come with deep purple undyeable areas and look great when dyed black or orange. I was lucky to still have those fragments in storage. Whereas the "Silver Dawn" outfit had a lot of lightly colored, soft, and rounded pieces, this outfit, in the end, embraced a dark, harsh, and jagged look.

An Autumn Fashion Show

Autumn is my favorite time of year. On one hand, there's the cool crisp air, freshly picked apples, and the symphony of colors as the leaves fall from the trees. All images of peace and relaxation. On the other hand, there's the tricking and treating, conjuring spooky images and atmospheres, and wearing costumes ranging from the lighthearted and adorable to the gloomy and ghastly. And then there's my favorite event--LOTRO's Fall Festival and all of the wonderful rewards that come with it. Each of the outfits below features a barter reward from the festival.

As some of you may know from Twitter or the Issue #132 of the Beacon, Rangers of the West, is hosting the server-wide fashion contest, Frights of Fancy, on Sunday, October 27th. Both Makaia of Style of Middle-earth and myself will be presiding as judges. There are two main categories--"Scariest Outfit" and "Autumn-themed Outfit." We also had a third theme planned, the "Look-a-Like," but after much debate, it was dropped from the program. This part would have had players dressing up like major characters from the lore, specifically from the time period between The Hobbit and Return of the King. Seeing as Gladden's not the busiest server, we didn't want to risk having too few people for too many categories. (This could be brought back if we have enough interest on the forums! *cough cough*)

Even though I can't enter the contest, I plan on dressing the part on my Minstrel and changing outfits with each theme. The first outfit, featuring an elegant red dress, falls into the Autumn one. The second outfit, featuring a black dress embroidered with barren branches, fits in the Scariest one. (This is a modified version of an old outfit.)  And the third outfit? This is my interpretation of Eowyn, for the scrapped Look-a-Like, before she secretly joins the ranks of the Gondor-bound Rohirrim.

Enjoy the festivities! I hope to see many fellow Gladdenites at next weekend's fashion show!

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Sunset Orange, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders (Orange, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Ost Galadh)**
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Sun (White, Fall Festival barter reward)
Chest: Long-sleeved Summer Dress (Red, Summer Festival barter reward)***

**Shares same skin as the Shoulder of the Lady's Grace, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Lothlórien for an elf-stone from Dâr Narbugud.
***Sunset Orange is a wonderful alternative to red. The dress looks slightly, but noticeably brighter.

Master of Raven-lore & Happy Anniversary

Since days seldom remembered, the Dwarves of Erebor have shared a special friendship with an ancient, wise, and unique breed of ravens. These ravens resided at the aptly named guardhouse of Ravenhill, built upon the Lonely Mountain's southwestern ridge, approximately five hours journey from the Mountain's gate. They also had the ability to speak Westron, the common language of Middle-earth. In chapter fifteen of The Hobbit, it's vaguely inferred by Balin that the dwarves also have the ability to understand raven-speech. However, it's never explicitly stated if they've retained that ability, lost it, or if the dwarves have been away for so long that they're simply out of practice. The only named person to have remained in proximity of Ravenhill was Dís, Thorin's younger sister and Tolkien's only female-identified dwarf, who functioned as caretaker.

Not much is specifically known about the ravens of Ravenhill. During the days of King Thrór, here resided the well-known raven Carc and his unnamed wife, a brief tale recounted by Thorin after Smaug's death. Having been away from The Lonely Mountain for nearly 170 years, he learns that Carc has died and the ravens are now lead by his son, Roäc. Roäc, as his father before him, functioned as a messenger. To Thorin and his company, he delivered glad tidings and portents of death. And at Thorin's behest, he spread word to Dáin II of the Iron Hills. And after that, as far as I've been able to tell, the ravens remain unmentioned in the lore.

Simple Fashion - Hauberks, Part 2

The Simple Fashion series has returned this week with three classic hauberks. It's been years since I've seen these used in LOTRO. And it's been years since I've used these as well. Actually, I don't think I've ever used the Hauberk of Rhûn before. That particular cosmetic has collected dust since I purchased it back in 2012, not knowing what to do with it. I bought it with the intention of using it someday, but I'd never have expected it would take six years for that to happen!

Anyway, I've decided to keep this week's blog entry short and sweet. Enjoy the outfits below!

Of Stars and Signs

Don't worry. Unlike my last outfit post, which somewhat introduces this outfit, I'm not going to drop another massive wall of text. Last thing I need, or anyone else for that matter, is to become a broken record and recount the lengthy and painstaking origin of this outfit. (If you missed it, you can find that tale here.) Needless to say, I was excited to add half the pieces here to my collection once I finally got my hands on them! Next on my list is the Faramir's Faithful set, but that requires one hundred and twenty Morgul Crests to collect. In my two years of killing warbands, I only have nine or ten of them! (Maybe I can start convincing kinnies to do T2C Osgiliath or Pelennor?)

I'm starting to get off topic, so it's back to the outfit at hand!

Legion of Thrang - Draig-lûth Forgemaster

This will be most likely my final Thrang-themed outfit. Like I described in my previous entry, the limited pool of cosmetics that work with these glowing and sparking weapons made outfitting truly a struggle. This particular look of a Draig-lûth (Dragon-clan) Forgemaster took almost a week. I'm highly satisfied with how far I've been able to explore using these weapon skins. In fact, I wasn't expecting to make more than one, but I think we all know how I get when new shinies are dangled in my face! Of all the Thrang outfits, I'd declare this one to be my favorite...although I've swapped out the two-handed axe for the two-handed sword at this point. As fun as it was the use the axe, it didn't glow as much as the sword! (That and my Champ's LIs are swords!)

Legion of Thrang - Gúlaran Fell-summoner

I've loved how the rewards from the Armory of Thrang boxes have forced me to get creative with my latest outfits. They've been a welcome addition to my repertoire of cosmetics, considering how much my creativity has lessened in recent months. I doubt I'll make something for each of the selectable weapons, as they've been a tad expensive. I've only collected four of them--out of a possible thirteen--and that alone set me back a whopping 3600 Ashes of Enchantment. I picked the short sword, staff, bow, and the two-handed axe. At this point, three of them have been featured. The axe will soon make an appearance, I promise.

Back to the outfit at hand, before I find myself getting distracted again!

Twilight Huntsman

Having spent enough time working on Mordor dailies, I've been able to acquire some of the latest crafted armor recipes. By all rights, I should have had them sooner, but if you know me I'm a much of a housing nut as I am a cosmetic blogger. I've lavishly spent the majority of my Silver Signets of the Thandrim on housing decorations in recent months and have been able to create a Mordor-themed house. Usually, it's the other way around, but I had enough outfits lined up that I could afford a change of pace, take a temporary respite from outfitting, and focus on the visual weapons guide.


That respite, unfortunately, wasn't much a of a respite after all. Mom had fallen and broken her ankle, which forced me to take a semi-hiatus from LOTRO until mid-May. I still logged in to screenshot a few weapons and at least say hello to my kinship, but I wasn't able to do much else while caring for her. Naturally, Stronghold of the North had just released just before her accident. I've been desperately trying to play catch up, focusing on content, while my blog quickly burned through everything I'd scheduled. I've gotten to a point where I've been able to shift my focus here again.

Legion of Thrang - Master of Shadow and Flame

You may have guessed it, based upon the title, that this outfit was inspired by Thrang, one of the major bosses from the Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu. That particular fight was isolated from the level 50 raid, made scalable, and was introduced as a temporary stand-alone instance for the duration of the Summer Festival this year. From the rewards, either by lucky drop or by spending ten vault tokens, you could collect your own two-handed Thrang's Sword, which features a tip that glows red-hot as if it were pulled from a forge. Whenever you land a blow with it, it sparks wildly, casting embers into the air. Also, the sword leaves behind a small stream of embers so long as it's visibly equipped.

Although this outfit doesn't feature the two-handed sword, it does showcase the one-handed version and Thrang's Bow, which can be acquired from the Armory of Thrang box at any time. This box is found, rarely, in Gorgoroth Lootboxes or at the Keeper of Mysteries vendor in Mordor for 900 Ashes of Enchantment. Eleven other selectable weapons can also be found in that box.

Ashen Wastes

As you may have noticed, I purchased the Ultimate Fan bundle for Mordor. I was doing very well resisting the call of the new and exclusive cosmetics, but as the release date grew closer, I caved and purchased it. So far, I have no regrets. Two sets of exclusive cosmetics--the Alliance and Ash Plains sets--and their respective steeds and war-steed sets, the High Elf, the Aria of the Valar (made a High Elf Captain you'll eventually meet), a housing item that takes the user deep into Mordor, and other things. The expansion content and packages haven't disappointed me yet...and neither have the landscape cosmetics! The new Mordor skins have breathed much needed life into the pool of clothing options.

Shimmering Song

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join a T2 Tower of Orthanc raid as a healer. It was with an experienced group that knew most of the challenges inside and out. Wing by wing, we defeated each of the bosses and climbed our way to Saruman. For the first time since Rise of Isengard, I was able to complete this raid on T2. Also, for the first time, I saw a broken cloak clasp drop...and I was lucky to win the roll. Having been a serious raider back at level 75, I had a full collection of Draigoch cloaks tucked away. Not knowing if or when I'd see another cloak, I chose to upgrade my favorite Wyrmscale Blademaster's Cloak to the Shimmering Blademaster's cloak.

Autumn Attire

It's certainly been some time since my last entry. I've been playing LOTRO quite a bit lately, taking time to work on my characters' gear and catching up on both the new zones and completing the epic story. I found myself falling farther and farther behind my friends and kinmates the more time I spent getting cosmetically creative. Believe it or not, most of my characters have been muddling through with the old statted level 95 gear since Western Gondor was released. I found myself unable to do group content at 105. I obstinately resisted the essence gear from its initial release until Update 19, which was a major mistake. I've come to realize that the essence grind is real. Same goes for stocking scrolls of empowerment. It's a much larger commitment than any level cap gear grind I've ever put myself through and the amount of time I've had to dedicate has been astonishing.

Now that I feel comfortable where I am in terms of character progression, I thought I should post a little something. In fact, since it's been so long, I have THREE autumn-themed outfits to present. Hopefully, I'll be back with more before the winter holiday season!

And I have a ton of outfits on my Beorning to post too! But that's if I ever find time to get out of Moria and get her to level 65. I have specific places in mind for screenshots...and I won't settle for anything less!

In the meantime, here are three autumn-inspired creations!

Head: Ceremonial Circlet of the Graven Word (Bullroarer's green, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Rift set)
Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Seven Stars (Sunset orange, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Annuminas set)
Back: Pack of the Yield (Sunset orange, Farmer's Faire barter reward)
Chest: Tunic and Trousers of the New Bloom (Sunset orange, Spring Festival barter reward)
Hands: Pelennor Bracers of Wrath (Sunset orange, Vol 4 Epic quest reward)**
Feet: Ceremonial Nenuial's Boots (Walnut brown, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Medium Annuminas set)

**Shares skin with any of the medium gloves from the Eastemnet Armor Quartermatser found in Rohan

Tempered Pathfinder

Every now and then, I like to take a break from making those fancy, overly detailed, and sometimes complicated outfits. Much of LOTRO's gear is covered in large emblems, swirls, leaves, golden trims and accents, and intricate patterns. There is nothing more aggravating for me that having to coordinate racial motifs or making sure that high decorative skins can refer to each other. This week, I'll be sharing an outfit on the simpler side, one with armor skins that have a simple design and dye almost entirely one color. If anything, I used the studs on these pieces as a unifying motif.

Red Arrow of Gondor

Turbine's ability to reskin old cosmetics has been hit or miss the past couple of years. Festival robes. War-steed caparisons. Various crafted items from the Eastfold and Westfold tiers. Sometimes there have been amazing successes, like the Robe of the Five Rivers featured in my previous entry. Sometimes there have been complete and utter failures, like the aforementioned 2013 and 2014 festival robes. Then there have been those that leave you feeling neither impressed nor unimpressed, but somewhere in the middle. Forlong's Ill-fitting Armor, another skin earned from multiple quests in Eastern Gondor, fell into that third category.