My last caster glamour has been bugging me for awhile, since it was the last of mine that wasn’t black and white in some fashion. I tried dyeing the Strife Vest Pure White, but the transition to the black of the Star Velvet Bottoms was too jarring, and they didn’t look right in white. If Black Mage and Summoner had their weapons on the right hip (as Ninja does, say) to obscure the sudden color shift, it would have worked, but they don’t. I’ve been periodically browsing body pieces, but there are very few caster ones that have the color scheme I was after.

One of the best looking ones, the Chivalric Doublet, is already in use for my healers, and I didn’t want to double up on that. I tried the Direwolf Robe of Casting, but it felt a little too stuffy for Alahra’s style. I thought about using one of the various crafting coatees, but that didn’t really fit the general vibe the rest of my glamours have right now either. The new Songbird Jacket was the wrong style (even if it looks really nice!), the Best Man’s Jacket just didn’t excite me, and the Spotted Spencer was just way too loud (I was really close to trying it just for fun, though).

In the end, I decided to give the Augmented Shire Philosopher’s Coat a whirl again.

Glamour Components
Head: Elegant Rimless Glasses (Jet Black) | Body: Augmented Shire Philosopher’s Coat (Pure White) | Hands: Claws of the Beast (Jet Black) | Legs: Star Velvet Bottoms of Casting (Jet Black) | Feet: Songbird Boots (Jet Black)

I spent awhile last month trying to use the coat, and mostly just ended up frustrated with the way Pure White Dye works. The grey on the sleeves does still bug me, to be honest, but I found that if I dispense with gloves entirely, I don’t notice it as much, since it’s not clashing with whatever gloves I choose (which naturally, would need to be black). With the Claws of the Beast in play, it seems I’ve finally, to some degree, broken out of the mold that’s shaped most of my last several caster glamours.

I intended to move away from the Star Velvet Bottoms, too—I figured I’d use a pair of thighboots like I normally do with caster and healer robes, but I couldn’t find a pair that I liked. I tried both of the usual suspects, but neither one inspired me. The Shire ones are way too bulky (though it’s one of those weird cases where I like them on other characters and can’t stand them on Alahra). I couldn’t find anything in particular that fit the coat better than the Star Velvet legs after that, so I just kept them.

I did change the shoes: the Songbird ones fit alongside the Star Velvet fabric better than the Archaeoskin Halfboots that I’ve been using forever. Even if I never get around to using the Jacket from that set, I imagine I’ll get some mileage out of the boots for a good long while to come.

No clue where I’m headed next. I’m fiddling slightly with healer stuff, thinking about alt glams for Ninja and Ranged DPS, and also have gears running on initial glams for Red Mage and Samurai at level 50. Maintenance and Diadem tomorrow mean I may not have a lot of glamour time, but sometimes I get the itch even when there’s new content to do, so we’ll see.