Melody of the West

My grey ship has arrived and it's time I sail into the west, away from LOTRO's shore and towards Valinor.

Four years ago, I started dabbling in cosmetics. Three and a half years ago, I began to share outfits with some close friends, embarrassed to admit I played "virtual dress-up," as I had once put it. Three years ago, I began sharing them with all of you...and it's been a glorious three years.

It's with a heavy heart I make my final cosmetic entry here at Material Middle-earth. I thought it appropriate to end on an outfit using the same location and similar colors as my very first--sea blue and the elven homesteads in Falathlorn--which can be viewed here.  Even though this blog opened with a cosmetic contest I held for Forgottten Darkness in April 2012, it wasn't until June that I mustered the courage to post my own creation.

There have been 150+ posts here, ninety percent of which have been outfits. The other ten has been about beta previews and updates regarding cosmetic additions to the skirmish camps. I honestly never expected to reach that number. From June to December of 2012, I was an outfitting machine. I had a new outfit every two to four days (some of which I think are absolutely ugly...and it's not because I was new to this) and I quickly burned myself out after making fifty-something outfits. I returned in April 2013, just in time for a server fashion contest and the release of the Wildermore zone...and then a computer hardware failure left this blog suspended until September. I returned again and managed to ahdere to a weekly posting regiment on Saturdays, which has worked very well. I've never felt any pressure to make an outfit or haphazardly throw one together under that system.

Secret Melody - Nathrien of Gladden

This particular ensemble has been sitting in Outfit 7 since the Isengard instance cluster was released in 2011. I don't know why I never posted this and neither do I know why I let this use up valuable outfitting space for an extended period of time. Either way, I needed to rotate it out of my wardrobe and get this robe combination preserved on my blog. Makaia from Style of Middle-earth (stop by and say hello to her!) had gotten a sneak peak of this before it disappeared into the recesses of my cosmetic vault. Sometimes, I wish there had been an eighth outfit option...or the thirty-nine RIFT has! I had grown reattached to this for the short time I was actively using it.

Flower Girl - Pennycandy of Gladden

My hobbit mintrel is a character I have no intention of leveling. I had created her for one reason originally--Turning of the Tide's own Hobbits to Isengard event, which I held back in September 2013, long before Sapience held it for each server. To tell the truth, Forgotten Darkness of Gladden was the first community, that I know of, to run that event in early 2012. Community events or not, I decided to keep little level 8 Pennycandy and use her as an additional model. So far, she's provided me with a significant amount of practice in clothing hobbits casually. I highly doubt I'll have any battle-ready outfits for that race.

Simple Fashion - Tunic Ideas Pt. 2

Over the past few weeks I've discovered more tunics across several characters that haven't seen the light of day or received a good dusting off. These are many specialty tunics in the game, ones that either don't merit year-round wearing due to their seasonal nature or are overlooked because they come from a zone skipped during the race to level cap. Today, I'll shed some light on cosmetic gear falling into those categories.

If you missed the first "Simple Fashion - Tunic Ideas," you can follow the link provided.

Shoulders: Strong Eastemnet Skirmish Pauldrons (Rivendell Green, T8 tailor recipe)
Chest: Rohirrim Tunic and Trousers (Rivendell Green, Riders of Stangard token barter reward, kindred standing)
Hands: Gloves of the Eorlingas (Default, Rise of Isengard pre-order cosmetics)
Feet: Treiglur-lhopan (Walnut brown, Rise of Isengard instance cluster drop)

Midnight Magic - Andalost of Gladden

At first glance, you may think this outfit is black. In fact, the main dye use here is steel blue. Because this robe has a darker base, steel blue actually transforms into an alluring midnight blue. (Finding a background that didn't make it appear a true black wasn't easy.) Once U13 went live, I started experimenting with the new dye color despite not having it yet. I figured that I'd make a couple of outfits ahead of time, that way I could start displaying them once I had the recipe. This is one of those preemptive creations. I have a couple more on the way, each working with lighter shades of steel blue.

Simple Fashion - Dress Ideas

It's been about a month since my first "Simple Fashion" installment. This week, I'm bringing you some ideas for various dresses obtained in the game. Last time I checked, there around 40 dresses in LOTRO, most of which are long-sleeved, short-sleeved, or sleeveless versions of the same dress. If you discount the alternate variations, you're looking at, maybe, sixteen distinct dress skins between in-game rewards and the LOTRO Store. Honestly, it would be nice to have more in the game, even if it means you see them casually worn or used in RP settings.

Just like last time, no big stories or multiple screenies of one outfit...only three outfit ideas focusing on dresses. And for clarity's sake, I turned off the bloom effect in each of the pictures.

Head: Urdol-helm (Indigo, Isengard instance cluster reward)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Mighty Verse (Indigo, Moria Minstrel trainer barter item or Lalia's Market)
Chest: Elf-queen's Dress (Indigo, LOTRO Store or Spring Festival random gift-box reward)

Aurora Maiden - Lanael of Gladden

I think in this latest stretch of my cosmetic compilations, you'll be treated to some outfits I never quite felt finished until recently. I started playing LOTRO in 2010, just after it went free to play. Not quite sure what I was doing at that point of the game, I bought a couple of cosmetics from the store in addition to the Lone-lands and North Downs quest packs. I used one of those store items here, the Cloak of the Northern Lights, and this was only time it's been used in any of my outfits successfully. It still hasn't felt quite right anywhere else because of the rainbow of colors and the limited dyeability. Even so, I love to just look at it in the dressing room window!

Blue Serenity - Nathrien of Gladden

Whenever I find myself stumped cosmetically and never know what direction to take, sometimes I'll ask in kinship chat for a random piece of gear or a specific color. Believe it or not, getting a random response actually helps me focus. If it's a color, I'll hunt for pieces that dye well. If it's specific gear, I'll search for similar stylings or matching set armor. It's certainly a challenge but it's also fun to let someone else provide you with the foundation of your next creation and not deviate from it.  At a friend's request, I focused on ered luin blue.  : )

Kheledûl Contessa - Lanael of Gladden

Originally, I had planned out the nine outfits that would lead to the retirement of Material Middle-earth. With the recent change in plans, I've been able to sneak several additional ones into my posting schedule. The one you see here this week is one of them. : )

The outfits featured here have been rather extravagant the past couple of months. I've been asking myself if it's absolutely necessary to fill every available cosmetic slot when I make something. Looking back at the past few posts, I've pretty much used every space. I've tried to follow the adage less is more, but it doesn't always work. Based on experience, filling spaces for the sake of filling spaces has resulted in fashion overkill. This week, I've opted to keep this one simple and let the beauty of this Long-sleeved Dwarf-make Dress speak for itself. If anything, Brosh's Cloak was included because it matched the stylings and coloration of the dress so well.

Spring Series - Greenfields Party-goer

If all goes well, the Spring Festival should be coming up soon...by that I mean sometime in late April or early May. Anyway, I've been thinking about the Feast of the Greenfields, which was added literally as a tribute to St. Patrick's Day back in 2009. The handheld Bullroarer's Tankard, the Greenfields Clover Hat, and clover patch are all that comes to mind. St. Patty's Day is on the 17th, and in lieu of the festival that gets pushed back later each year, this outfit is a tribute to the "Eat, drink, and be merry!" March holiday. Except that this tribute is being done Hobbit style! On the 17th, log into the game with a few friends and kinnies, take the group down to the Shire and celebrate with a pint!

Mithlond Mariner - Emeridir of Gladden

The Mariner's Hauberk--only obtainable during the Yule Festival from a Bree-land giftbox--has been my most sought after hauberk. I still have 400+ "universal" tokens on several of my characters from 2012 when we had to grind three tiers of deeds for war-steed cosmetics. I broke down and spent some this festival on the boxes to grab this particular piece. If you weren't lucky enough to get this piece in previous years, keep in mind that you'll have to wait for next year's Yule Festival! Oh yes, keep an eye on the auction houses too!

Curious Scholar - Faewynn of Gladden

Back in early 2011 I had assembled this outfit. It was noble, elegant, refined, intelligent...and the Robe of Leisure was 30% off due to a store coupon. Oh how I miss sales like that! There are still a few pieces that I haven't purchased from the store and I haven't seen any sales lately in the cosmetic department. The robe was, at one point, my most used item because of how dye friendly it was--and still is. I don't know how many outfits I used it in or how many times I changed the color, but nothing seemed to work very well. But, I finally settled on something that eventually was shelved and collected dust for about two years.

Winter Series - A Long Expected Yuletide

Why not kick off the Yule Season with a very simple and easily obtainable outfit? Well, mostly obtainable. The Fine Elven Circlet can only be earned from the Anniversary Festival gift boxes. If you don't have it, there's no need to worry! This cosmetic set still looks wonderful without it. With a little work for the upcoming Yule Festival, you can earn most of these easily without having to worry about instance grinding, leveling or endgame. Versus seeing these festival exclusives on stationary models found on the LOTRO forums and blogs, I wanted to give you an idea of how these look combined and in motion. And if you're a first timer to this season in LOTRO, you've got a wonderful idea of what to expect!

This year, the Yule Festival will run from December 18th, 2013 to January 14th, 2014.

Thane for a Day - Morghann of Gladden

It wasn't until the release of the Wildermore on Bullroarer that I was able to find an appearance worthy of a Thane. After all, my captain had recently completed building Hytbold and the closing quest chain to go with it. It's not often I'm in a role-playing mood, but walking around with the title "Thane of Hytbold" without the proper accompaniment felt wrong. Lo, and behold! Here came the medium Wildermore Armour recipes, providing me with an elegant, gold-trimmed tunic dyeable in the most heavenly ways! Even the Wildermore Pauldrons are lovely!

Elven Blossom - Nathrien of Gladden

It was by chance that I had found the Lissuin cosmetic pieces on the AH this month. Normally, I would have spent a portion of my time gathering tokens during the Spring Festival this year, but it was nearly impossible at the time. You see, my PC hadn't been repaired yet and my laptop could barely handle LOTRO. I had to cash in half of my Badges of Taste from previous festivals to grab the war-steed pieces, as those are bound on acquire and can't be purchased elsewhere. The rest of the new cosmetics would have to wait, and with some patience, I hoped to find them on the AH...and I did. For thirty gold, I purchased the Lissuin Robe, Lissuin Dress, and the Lissuin Cloak. The hooded version of the cloak still eludes me.

Yule Tidings - Winter Series

Winter Hope - Morghann of Gladden

My, my, how long it's been since my last post. Life has kept me busy between looking for a full-time job, working part-time at 4 AM several days a week, and leveling my characters with the fantastic Rohan content. I've also been working hard at designing events for the holiday season, like a kinship Secret Santa, a horse race followed by a mounted fashion show, and kinship colors with a possible uniform to follow. It's been tough finding time to design an outfit, however I managed to find some to set aside! With Winter just around the corner and the upcoming Yule Festival (Dec 17 to Jan 2, tentatively), I thought I'd bring some holiday elegance and a short a short tale from a character of mine. Though there isn't a Christmas, Hanukkah, or Boxing Day in Middle-Earth, the upcoming season is still a reminder to come together, show kindness, and be merry :)

Autumn Series - Spirit of Lasse-lanta

Musical Series - Joyous Bagpiper

Autumn Series - Apple Harvesting