The more I sat on my last glamour attempt for Red Mage, the less satisfied I was with it. While the Scion Adventurer’s Jacket does have a certain Red Mage flair associated with it, it didn’t seem very suited to melee combat (which will play at least some part in Red Mage’s gameplay). I’ve been thinking off and on about what I might do. Options are pretty limited for level 50, of course, and that’s made it pretty tough for me to find something I wanted to use. I considered the Leonhart jacket, but I couldn’t figure out anything I particularly liked with it for a casting look.

So, I’m experimenting for now, and there’s at least one look I think is worth talking about, even if I’m not convinced I’m going to keep it just yet…

Glamour Components
Head: Elegant Rimless Glasses (Raptor Blue) | Body: Augmented Ironworks Doublet of Casting | Hands: Claws of the Beast (Jet Black) | Legs: Valentione Skirt (Jet Black) | Feet: Scion Healer’s Highboots

The Ironworks Doublet is something I’ve been trying since late 2.x to glamour around, and I’ve had a lot of middling success with it. It’s a really striking piece, and rather unique in style among Caster gear in particular, but as with most Ironworks gear from the end of A Realm Reborn, it tends to be really hard to work around. Since the body piece is cut rather high (above the navel), you’re fairly limited on what leg options you can use, and it’s also pretty tricky to find pieces that go along with it that aren’t from the Ironworks Casting set itself.

I’ve tried various leg pieces over the past couple years with it, like the Bridesmaid’s Tights (which have embroidery that doesn’t really work), and more recently I liked the way the Songbird Skirt looks with it when dyed Jet Black (it ends up with a black and white scheme that pairs well with the doublet’s sleeves), though fabric-wise it’s not the best fit. I’ve most always ended up using the Valentione Skirt because of its fabric, but because of the striped tights, its use all but demands taller boots.

And as it turns out, Casters simply don’t have a lot of options in that arena. Every option has pros and cons, more or less. The Bogatyr’s Thighboots have undyeable red (and while you can dye the body to match, you lose the black on it, which then creates a sort of mismatched look). The Expeditioner’s Thighboots are the closest to a neutral pair, but (and maybe this is just me) the horizontal straps on the boots seem to clash with the overall “vertical” vibe that the carbon fiber has on the doublet. And the Scion Healer’s Highboots—which I’ve ended up using here because their overall style seems to mesh the best with everything else—have the non-dyeable red soles,which are out of step with the rest of the look.

This is one of those glamours I may come back to even if it doesn’t survive the next month before Stormblood, since something as simple as a new pair of boots could make it work much better than it does right now. I think the Doublet works really well for Red Mage, honestly, as it’s somewhat of an “armored” look, making it a better fit for occasional jaunts into melee, so I’d really like to make this one work.

The next few weeks will probably involve more attempts at Red Mage and Samurai glamours, and probably some looks back at older ones for other jobs, since everything else has been finalized (I think, anyway). I’ll probably toss in a few Retrospectives here and there, too, though I’ve said most of what I want to say about the expansion now, I think, so I’m not sure how many there will be.