Vanity

I'd like to take a break from our usual Magery programming, and discuss !!!FASHION!!!

The Dungeon sets for mages prove to be mostly an exercise in sadness.

Dungeon Set 1 (or Magister's Regalia) is a futile attempt to try and visualize a high level armor set. It's garish red and purples produce a horrendous effect that seems designed to hurt loved ones in the ugliest possible fashion. Seemingly concieved by a four-year-old, it would fit in very well... worn by the evil Wizard in a children's story book. An excellent clown suit, by the way. Definitely a set to get for the cynical!

By comparison, the Dungeon Set 2 gets everything right where D1 got everything wrong. It has the same visual skin, but the colors transform it from something garish to something (shall we dare say it?!) SEXY! D2 has a much darker ambience to it, and the dark blues mesh SO WELL with the deep purples of the Set. The Sorceror's regalia oozes "Cool" in the same way a diner hamburger oozes grease when poked with a spoon. You know you shouldn't.. but you just can't resist the calories! *Giggle*

Now, for the D3 sets, there are actually two varieties, and seem almost as disparate as D1 and D2. Incanter's is just... AWEFUL. It seems to try and snag the dark ambience of D2, but completely loses the effect by adding ORANGE of all things into the mix. Orange is a very difficult color to pull off, clashing with pretty much any color imaginable. The Incanter set fails admirably, and ends up looking, regrettably so, "Fugly".
Mana-Etched is a HUUUGE turnaround! The colors are a PERFECT match, and the pattern on the robe and the shoulder piece gives it such a smooth feel. It is visually appealing, with one excpetion. What is UP with that headpiece? Like a mini-UFO flapping around up there. This ruins the effect on anything except gnomes. On gnomes, its just ADORABLE!!

So now let's hit up the Tier gear! (OMG RHYME!).

Tier 1 follows the same type of design as D1 tried, but actually manages to pull it off. Whereas the colors on D1 were terribly matched with the pattern, the T1 gear actually fits! The pattern offsets the disparate colors rather nicely, generating a sense of controlled chaos with the viewer. The headpiece and the shoulders combined is just... Haaawt. It works. It so does. Definitely feels a lot better on females, it just feels... off on a male character.

T2 (not the movie, jerkwad) goes in a whole different direction. It is all about deep blues and purples, generating a very... well, magely effect. The feel of Netherwind is one of the magically endowed, and actually feels a bit... overdone. It's like one of those parties you go to, where one person is juts trying WAY TOO HARD to fit in that it becomes extremely awkward so that everyone gets uncomfortable, and so the person tries even harder, and the situation just gets totally out of control until everyone is shifting and mumbling and the person trying is near tears and the music starts playing Achy Breaky Heart, but then someone starts quoting the Bee Gees, and then it all goes to hell... very, very Awkward. Like that sentence!

T3 kinda/sorta follows the route that T2 went. Its obviously high-end gear, and looks the part. BUT. It manages to pull the whole "I'm a mage, obviously" thing without overdoing it. It just fits so perfectly together, that you'd be a fool to think it doesn't look awesome. I do have one gripe with it, however. The way the headpiece shows up, it looks far to much like a wee little snow parka. Just looks wrong.

T4 is a miracle in clothing engineering. It has only two simple colors, some easy blues combined with some dull gold shadings, mixed with a smooth pattern. It just feels so RIGHT! It's simple, it's sleek, it's sexy. It doesn't say anything, it just glances at you sidelong, demurely, inviting you in to touch it. Like a kitty!

T5, too, is an excellent design. It goes a much darker red and black route, but keeps the same sleek feel of T4. It builds on it, though, adding a feel of simple elegance. It adds complexity, but without looking like it did. A wonderful visual set, it's simply lovely in design and execution.

And then we see Tier 6... something went wrong here. We seem to have gone backwards. This set has the potential to be attractive, but goes about it all the wrong ways. Like a woman putting on far too much mascara and lipstick, and wearing a push-up bra and wearing a tank top four sizes too small. It has the right intentions, but just. Didn't. DO. It right. The effect is one of desperation, leaving the viewer with a sense of "I'm cool right? RIGHT?! Say I'm cool!"

And that is Mage Fashion for this week! I hope you'll join me some time in the future, where we discuss the ramifications of blood elf hairstyles on the Mage PvP gear!