Guest: Daerundros of Laurelin

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Daerundros said about her outfit: "Gold and white are a color combination that often fits together in harmony, like two sides of the same coin. A mixed blend of items, this outfit is designed to provide comfort while still retaining grace and elegance. After a few months of not coming up with any suitable outfits, I got bored of an old outfit I did for Daerundros and decided to create a new one in more brighter, cheerier colours. I like to think this is the type of outfit one would wear outdoors on a sunny day in Rivendell or Lothlórien. The shoulder pads are perhaps the most attention-attracting element for the outfit, as they are arguably the most striking feature. I intended that from this point on the rest of the outfit would come to the viewer's attention, as one looks down at the chest piece, then the gauntlets, then the leggings, and finally, the boots, all of them heavily accented with stylized elven features. It is heavily inspired by the Golden Mallorn trees of Lothlórien, but also pays tribute to the white city of Gondolin."

Daerundros is a very stylish elven lady, who has submitted some very elegant outfits in the past. Now she's back with very noble attire for her huntress.

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Fine Elven Campaigner's Armour, white dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Resplendent Steadfast Leggings of Lothlórien, white dye (T6 crafted)
Head: Balladeer's Hat, default dye (Moria minstrel level 60 set)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders, white dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Hands: Footman's Gloves, gold dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Songmaster's Shoes, white dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Back: Cloak of the Boar-clan Warrior, white dye (Dunland quest)

Guest: Aisana of Elendilmir

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Aisana is an elven hunter, who is devoted strongly to the forces of light. As a young child, she had a dream of majestic deer who revealed a prophecy of her life - to kill the servants of evil in order to protect the pure. Since then, she's spent a lot of time protecting those in need, but the place she often returns to is her beautiful home, Lothlórien. There she sometimes spends a little time dressing up - she's seen a lot of darkness, but deep in her heart she is still a little girl who wants to be charming.

I love this guest submission really much. Even though the screenshots quality is not very good, I see an amazingly well matched outfit, which is battle ready yet still elegant. Unfortunately Aisana has a really old computer, but she managed to capture the atmosphere of Lothlórien perfectly and used daylight to the screenshots' advantage.

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Town-saver's Jacket, Ered Luin blue dye (Warden Rift level 50 set; ceremonial version available from skirmish barterer)
Legs: Elven Warrior's Leggings, Ered Luin blue dye (T5 crafted)
Head: Threadbare Hat of the Dunland Healer, Ered Luin blue dye (Dunland quest)
Shoulders: Town-saver's Shoulders, gold dye (Warden Rift level 50 set; ceremonial version available from skirmish barterer)
Hands: Irman's Gloves, black dye (Barad Gúlaran - Udúnion drop; shares appearance with world drop Gauntlets of the Sun-lands)
Feet: Enduring Boots of Fleetness, rose dye (world drop; many other boots share the appearance)
Back: Fine Quiver, Ered Luin blue dye (Anniversary gift-box)

Guest inspiration: Lúthien Tinúviel by Noniell

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Noniell said about her outfit: "I wanted to capture the image of Lútien Tinúviel herself and the glory of Beleriand. I decided to use sea blue dyes and it turned out to be a great idea, because it matches perfectly to the Steed of Minas Ithil. I hope you can see the mirrored starlight and the grace of the Valar on her face! :)"

Noniell sent this outfit to me in May, almost 4 months ago, but as you all probably now, I'm totally unreliable in my posting schedule. However, even after such long time, I still remember how lovely impression this outfit left in me when I first saw it, and I decided to publish it as the first guest submission after my blogging break.

I love the sea blue, white and silver details all combined and perfectly matching the beautiful horse. This simple outfit consists of just three pieces, but they all "click together" as they were really made to be worn by Lúthien riding her beautiful horse (probably gifted by Beren). All Noniell's screenshots bring up the feeling of serenity to me, and I'm grateful for that :)

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Long-sleeved Elven Dress, sea blue dye (Rivendell reputation barter, requires Kindred status)
Head: Winged Circlet, sea blue dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter)
Back: Cloak of the Windsinger, sea blue dye (Store)


Mount: Steed of Minas Ithil

Guardian of Imladris

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

The southern passage into Rivendell is called the Gates of Imladris and establishes a clear bastion of civilization and safety in an otherwise wild land. Nevertheless, the Elves of Rivendell guard this approach carefully, and it is not entirely safe for travellers to approach unannounced - those who pass this way with ill intent in their hearts are rarely seen or heard from again.

Sidgrid is a guardian of Sindarin origin. Her family had kept out of politics and wars for generations, being scholars of the times old forgotten. However, their firstborn child had spirit of a warrior, and they didn't object to her joining the Guardians of Imladris. She began her training as a very young elf back in the Second Age and finished it far sooner than her brothers in arms. Over the centuries, she became the leader of the Guardians, who are the key to keeping the pass to Rivendell safe. However brave and experienced, she is still an elven lady and even her unpiercable armour shows that.

An elven female guardian - that's quite an unusual combination. Hard to dress as well - elven maidens tend to look comical in bulky heavy armour, it squeezes them so they look like they were wearing an oversized can. Here I wanted to create a distinguishable heavy outfit, which would look protective and feminine at the same time.

I wanted to use the Helegrod items which are now available in store as cosmetic armour. When I started matching the Dragon-scale breastplate dyed Ered Luin blue, I realized the shoulder part of the piece is violet... I was like - what?! In the default red dye, I've never noticed that, although I don't understand why - now when I look at the chestpiece, the violet is striking my eyes :) However, I started searching for a complimentary colour and ended up with pastel green.

I also used a hooded store cloak - I have to say I hate this kind of hoods and use them very rarely in my outfits. However, here it seemed fitting and served much better than any of the helms I've tried. The whole outfit ended up being cheerful and battle-ready at the same time, I hope.

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simply rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Breastplate, dark green dye (Store)
Legs: Leggings of Orod-na-Thôn, dark green dye (world drop; also available from Rivendell heavy armoursmith)
Shoulders: Hardened Steel Dunlending Pauldrons, violet dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Gloves of Forbidden Love, grey dye (Great River quest)
Feet: Rusted Boots of the Dunland Berserker, dark green dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Hooded Cloak of the Silver Birch, violet dye (Store)

Emotes:
./charge
./look
./roar
./lookaround
./swordsalute
./kneel

Home, sweet home

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Sidgrid is still a very young elf, only a few hundred years old. As one of scarce elven youth, she is a little bit spoiled - however, she works very hard in her studies in order to please her family and satisfy her hunger for knowledge. She is the best rune-keeping apprentice dwarves of the Blue Mountain have seen in recent years and enjoys time spent in snowy land with her friends and teachers. Nevertheless, when she returns home to Duillond for holiday, her heart fills with joy.

Here we caught her setting off for a morning walk with her dear companion, rare Perlino horse named Buttercup by her dwarven gal friend in Thorin's Hall. There are just a few things more beautiful in the Middle-earth than Ered Luin in sunrise and Sidgrid, along with Buttercup, can never get enough of it. It's even worth to wake up early, and that's a lot for our spoiled little girl :)

...and when the sun goes down again, Sidgrid gets back to practice - for the runes are not only tools for her, but also company in which she can reflect upon the day she's spent roaming the flowerbeds of her homeland. Time when she has to go back to school at Thorin's Hall is still far away, so she can enjoy all the delights of Duillond and not think about anything else. What a peaceful holiday :)

A few days ago I tweeted happily that I won a Perlino Steed in @CraZyMuffinIPC's giveaway. I was excited because as an European who spend all her luck in lotteries last year, I had no hopes I could get my hands on this mount. I also promised I'd make a matching outfit, so here it comes, as the final outfit for Galloping Gala celebration. This wonderful event ends today and it was a great fun to concentrate on mount matching outfits all time long - they provide a great inspiration for any outfit fan.

Back to the Perlino Steed - I felt a little like when I had been searching for matching outfits for the Steed of the Rune-keeper (1, 2) back then - I simply couldn't find matching pieces for the lighter shade of blue on horse's blanket. I didn't want to match darker shade of blue, because the steed seems optimistic to me and dull navy wouldn't do it good justice. I also experimented with bright red the horse carries as gems, but on the outfit it was very disturbing. So I settled down with complimentary shade of Evendim blue.

I didn't want the outfit to be gloomy or monotonous, so Fine Shirt and Trousers came very handy - the shirt & pants combo is very lively decorated. It might create impression of unbalance when dyed in bright colours, but I think in blue it serves well. I chose the cloak to match white patterns on the sleeves and common light shoulders from Skirmish camp to bind with the shirt's warm-coloured hem. I'm quite happy about this outfit, considering how easily it can be assembled.

Edit: I realized Helegrod level 65 armour pieces would match the steed nicely with undyable blue parts. However, I couldn't use them because I only have the ugly hunter set and am out of basically any skirmish currency except for marks :(

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest and legs: Fine Shirt and Trousers, Evendim blue dye (Bree outfitter)
Head: White Rose Circlet, default dye (Spring festival)
Shoulders: Esquire’s Light Shoulders of Eruilan, Evendim blue dye (Skirmish light armour barter)
Back: Elf-lord’s Cloak, Evendim blue dye (Store)

Mount: Perlino Steed (PAX East 2012 giveaway, lotteries)

Emotes:
./look
./yawn
./dowse (Treasure Hunt event)

Dawn

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

There are times of peace, and there are times of war. It wasn't long ago when young elf Sidgrid thought she would never see the faces of her loves ones again. In the battle of Orthanc, she was badly injured just before delivering a killing blow to Kalbak, slowly passing out while her fellowship was rejoicing. Right after they found out, they rushed with Sidgrid to Rivendell, for this was the only place where she stood a chance in hands of elven healers.

Luckily, they were as fast as wind, driven by will to save their friend, and managed to hand her over to healers very fast. A few weeks have passed since then and Sidgrid is now enjoying her peaceful recovering in the Last Homely House. After a long time, she can smell flowers, feel the sun on her cheeks and watch sunrise. Dawn has always been her favourite part of the day. After a new dawn of her life, she feels it that way even more.

I've always been in love with this cloak - even when there was only hooded version available. Velvet texture and great depth of any dye used on it made it one of my favourite cosmetic pieces. With the Great River, hoodless version became available and I rejoiced :) I knew I must create an outfit featuring it soon.

I also wanted to create a gentle, feminine outfit for my elf. Pink has never been my favourite colour (although they say it's the new black :), but it fits the sunrise scenery of Rivendell and let the velvet textures stand out.

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Elven Cloth Jacket of Vigour, white dye (world drop)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, rose dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Hat of the Concerned Elf, rose dye (Great River quest)
Shoulders: Padded Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer, rose dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Scout's Gloves, rust dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Rhydhid-lhopan, sienna dye (Great River quest)
Back: Cloak of the Unwelcome Guest, rose dye (Great River quest)

Emotes:
./lookaround
./think

Guest: Galadhrim Sentry by Cúlinwen

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

"I had never known anything but the Golden Wood; the lands beyond the edges of Lothlórien were closed to me, just as the borders themselves were closed to any outsider who dared to venture under the eaves of the forest.  The wardens of Lórien were ceaseless in their vigilance, their eyes keen and their hands swift and silent on the drawstrings of their bows. They were the guardians who kept this hidden land safe, who preserved its sacred and changeless nature as if to defy the passing of the ages."

  ~ Cúlinwen Amarath

This outfit is gentle and practical at the same time. You would never spot the sentry before lying on the ground with an arrow pierced through your heart. That is if you would be the enemy of course - elves of the Golden Wood welcome friends and cherish them. However, those who mean harm to the forest are tracked down and driven away, by all means necessary.

Chest: Scout's Weathered Leather Tunic, grey dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Dunland Marcher's Leather Helmet, default dye (Dunland quest)
Shoulders: Gwir-palvais, grey dye (Drop from Isengard instance cluster)
Hands: Fingerless Gloves, grey dye (Yule festival)
Feet: Threadbare Boots of the Dunland Healer, grey dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Plain Cloak, grey dye (Outfitter vendor)

Starlight

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

A Elbereth Gilthoniel
silivren penna míriel
o menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
o galadhremmin ennorath,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
nef aear, sí nef aearon!

O Elbereth Starkindler,
white-glittering, slanting down sparkling like a jewel,
the glory of the starry host!
Having gazed far away
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Ocean!

A Elbereth Gilthoniel, Elven hymn to Varda

This is one of my submission to the Fashion Week 2012. It's basically a variation of this outfit, but in different colour scheme. I sent to to category Formal Extravagance, which awards "Extravagant in Starlight" forum title, and I took the title literally as theme for the outfit. I love the Elf-queen's Dress because of gentle tones it dyes into, and also because parts of it sparkle in appropriate light. I tried to use this and dyed the dress gold. It doesn't shine as much as in white, but adds a warm gentle feeling to the outfit.

Do you like this outfit? Please let me know in the comments! :)

Chest: Elf-queen's Dress, gold dye (Store)
Head: Baladeer's Hat, Ered Luin blue dye (Moria level 60 minstrel purple set; shares appearance with lore-master's and rune-keeper's Moria pieces)
Shoulders: Gwir-palvais, Ered Luin blue dye (Drop from Isengard instance cluster)
Back: Cloak of the Ibis, Ered Luin blue dye (Store)

Thuringwethil, Woman of Secret Shadow

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

"Once we were many, now I alone remain. This is the book of my nights that I write in my seclusion during long days in my silent hall which sunlight never enters. For I am vampire, the vampire I suppose these days, the last of my kindred. 
There was a time, in the Spring of Arda, when I enjoyed the feeling of warm light on my wings. The light of Illuin and Ormal and nothing less, and the light of the oldest stars. I was a spirit of the air, a servant of Manwë. A faithful servant I was and as messenger swifter even than Eönwë. I wore white wings like a swan. I weep now to remember my innocence, yet if I lived those times again I would make the same choices."

Thuringwethil's Memoirs, fanfiction.net

Thuringwethil was a Vampire servant of Sauron at the beginning of the First Age. She was his messenger, known for changing form into a bat to find valuable intelligence. For this, she is thought to be a Maia. However, she was caught in the battle between her master and Lúthien at Tol-in-Gaurhoth ("Isle of Werewolves"). She was probably slain by the Hound of Valinor, named Huan. He brought Thuringwethil's hide to Lúthien, which she used to sneak to Angband ("The Iron Prison").

I never knew vampires were mentioned in the Middle-earth's lore, until a reader of this blog,  Beorneoth, mentioned it in the comments on an outfit I've created based on wish for vampire theme. I was excited to find that Tolkien indeed mentioned vampires and werewolves in Silmarillion. It's a huge pity they didn't survive the First Age, but who knows - maybe Thuringwethil's brood is still hiding in the deep caves sunlight never penetrates and waiting for the right time to change the course of the war. 

As I mentioned earlier this week, I've created this outfit with remote inspiration from the True Blood series. In the Season 4 finale, Jessica appears disguised as a Red Riding Hood during Halloween's night. It's one of the most beautiful costumes I've ever seen - although it doesn't really shine on static pictures. The real beauty strikes when she moves, covered in the velvet cloak. Cloak of the Galadhrim available in LOTRO resembles it very much. Unfortunately, I don't know of any red & black top which could simulate the lace corset, so I used red & violet combination instead. I also love the body shape which this outfit creates on an elven maiden.

This is also my first outfit to promote LOTRO Fashion's colour of the week during the Fashion Week! If you want to recreate it, grab a free crimson dye off the store with our exclusive coupon code!

Do you like the outfit? Please let me know in the comments! :)

Chest: Elven Cloth Shirt, crimson dye (Light armoursmith in Rivendell; short-sleeved variant)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Shoulders: Padded Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: Rhydhid-lhopan, violet dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Cloak of the Galadhrim, crimson dye (Quest: Vol. II, Book 7, Chapter 9: The Worries of Lord Celeborn)

Wish: Gothic ٧ Vampiric outfit

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

"She lives beyond the grace of God, a wanderer in the outer darkness. She is "vampyr", "nosferatu". These creatures do not die like the bee after the first sting, but instead grow strong and become immortal once infected by another nosferatu. So, my friends we fight not one beast but legions that go on age after age after age, feeding on the blood of the living."

Van Helsing in Dracula (1992) movie

Last year, I got the most unusual outfit wish. Weldon asked for a gothic or vampiric outfit for his elf maiden Draculetta. He mentioned he knew it's not exactly LoTRO lore-compliant, but he is very much into gothic subculture and all his characters are named after famous female vampires from movies and TV series. I was thrilled by this request, because as you might have noticed, I enjoy working on outfits which are atypical, maybe even a little bizarre within Lord of the Rings world. Here are some basic requirements Weldon outlined for the outfit:

• red and black colour scheme,
• no raid pieces if possible,
• demonstration of vampiric nature.

He also sent me a picture of Draculetta's current outfit, which she used to switch with red set from Isengard pre-order.

It took me a lot of time to reply, as I just had one of my blogging breaks. However, after about a month of rude ignorance (although non-intentional) I sent him two designs:

Here I went for a little masculine style, leaning to the Underworld style of female vampires. If the pants and top could be leather, it would be just perfect. Hellish cloak added to the atmosphere.

The second design differentiated only in use the cloak, but it made a big difference. Here I took a very slight inspiration of True Blood's Jessica outfit in the Season 4 finale - here's just a little sneak peek:

Weldon was very thrilled about both designs and he found particularly "Jessica outfit" wonderful. I sent him a list of items used, but unfortunately we found out he out-leveled the Cloak of the Galadhrim (which is the only cloak with rich velvet design ingame). So we were left with the first design to work on.

And here comes the result!

I'm pretty "template persistent", but here I dared to change the font to add a bit of vampiric style to the outfit presentation. Pity I can't make just one particular post with black background :) Anyway, a long time has passed since Weldon made his wish and he approached getting Cloak of the Galadhrim with one of his alts, so he might be able to recreate that one too.

And one more teaser from me - I fell in love with True Blood's Jessica inspiration, so I will post another outfit of this style later this week. Hope you will like it, as well as Draculetta's one! :) Please let us know your opinion in comments!

This outfit consists of:
Chest: Scout's Armour, black dye (T6 crafted; available under different times among T6 crafted medium gear)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, black dye (Dunland quest; also available from Dunlending reputation barter as Dunlending Leggings of Diplomacy)
Head: Fine Elven Circlet, default dye (Anniversary gift box)
Shoulders: Padded Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Hyrde-folme, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: Rusted Boots of the Dunland Berserkers, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Flames of the Deep, crimson dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift cosmetics)

Note: In the original design I made, different gauntlets and boots have been used - named: Reinforced Leather Dunlending Gauntlets, Polished Boots of the Dunland Shieldman (both available from Dunland quests)

Wish: Matching outfit for the Steed of the Rune-keeper

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

I was very honoured when Ketani, a Casual Stroll to Mordor's contributor asked me for an advice with outfitting. I know that she is a person with very good fashion taste herself (one of her Yule outfits also placed high in our Yule Outfit Contest 2011). She won a Steed of the Rune-keeper for her lovely elven lady Prolixity. Although she usually has outfits which match her mounts very well, this time she was struggling to find the right combination. She sent me her temporary horse-matching outfit, where she went for complimentary white (which can never spoil anything :).

This was already a decent outfit in my opinion, but Ketani was far from satisfied with coordination of the outfit with the horse. She also sent me a few pictures of other horse-matching outfits she wore, and I realized they were really much more superior to this one. She was also looking for the outfit to be usable in battle situations (not only while showing off the pretty mount :) and wanted the back of the outfit to be interesting. Well, character's back is what we generally see the most ingame :) However, cloak wouldn't work because of heavy luggage the horse is carrying. Ketani also mentioned she's not looking for an exact match to the mount's colour scheme, because that would be most probably impossible, so we were considering complimentary shades most of the time. I sent her first two designs:

    

I used the Sage's Pack because it was fitting for a rune-keeper, interesting and not "too long" as a cloak would be. With the robe, I was hoping to reach a complimentary shade to the horse, but as I don't have this steed myself, I could compare only to screenshots. Ketani tried these two out and unfortunately, the colours were quite far from matching. However, Ketani liked the idea of using a robe and found the wonderful Great Hoary Aurochs Robe:

We discussed the colour scheme a bit in e-mails and Ketani mentioned she is willing to try out any colour except for yellow and turquoise. Despite avoiding turquoise, she mentioned she likes sea blue. As she mentioned it, it clicked to me, tried this dye on the robe and thought it really worked well! So I sent Ket a modification of her design and also different robe stylized in a similar way (but this was more colourful and striking):

    

Ketani tried the third design (aurochs robe in sea blue) and found out the colours worked really well with the horse! From this design, she changed bracers I used for fingerless gloves and the final version of the outfit was born :)

This outfit consists of:
Chest: Great Hoary Aurochs Robe, sea blue dye (T5 crafted)
Head: (Lesser) Arrow of the West Helmet, umber dye (Ost Dunhoth hunter level 65 set)
Shoulders: Fated Westfold Campaign Shoulders Pads, umber dye (T7 crafted)
Hands: Fingerless Gloves, umber dye (Yule festival)
Feet: Strong Westfold Battle Boots, sea blue dye (T7 crafted)
Back: Sage's Pack, white dye (Store)

Ketani also built a version of this outfit to wear in town when she feels like wearing a cloak. In this modification, it becomes a beautiful feminine winter outfit.

In this version, Ket used circlet Hat of the Ancient Tongue (part of Mirkwood rune-keeper set), Warm Winter Cloak (Yule festival reward) and dyed the items purple.


And now, a final view of the outfit on the beautiful, yet unmatchable horse :))

Please let us know what do you think of the result! :)

Guest: Daerundros of Laurelin

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

An outfit so sickeningly cute and revolting, it is no wonder that the person who wears it is constantly ridiculed and shamed for his bad taste in fashion. It was offered as a Lottery sweepstake prize and landed in the hands of the unknowing Daerundros, who was forced to wear this outfit an entire day. Shame and embarassment followed as her fellow elves laughed at her the entire day, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the day was over and she could change into her normal clothes.

Daerundros said about her outfit: "I decided to do something with the pre-order cloaks from Moria, the first being Selarthil's outfit with Cloak of Durin's crown. I quite liked how it turned out to be one of the wackiest outfits I have ever created. My friends thought it looked revolting and disgusting, but it was a true goldmine of jokes I tell you! Here we have an angry and reluctant Daerundros posing, obviously not pleased, for the camera. She smashed the camera after photoshooting was finished."

Chest: Elven Shirt of Fate, turquoise dye (world drop; also available from Light armoursmith in Rivendell)
Legs: Heavy Padded Leggings, rose dye (T2 crafted)
Feet: Strong Calenard War-boots, turquoise dye (T7 crafted)
Back: War-cloak of Isildur, default dye (Moria pre-order)

The Little Match Girl

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

"Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast."

Hans Christian Andersen: The Little Match Girl

The Little Match Girl is a very sad story and I don't really want to make Sidgrid bring it alive (I equipped her with warm headgear, boots and mittens to be sure!). I was even hesitating about using it for the title and the introduction, as this outfit isn't truly shabby, except for the cap. In the end I decided to mention it, as I wanted to express that I like the concept of Christmas in LoTRO - how they made us choose between helping poor people and gaining no fancy rewards on the first sight, and obtaining beautiful cosmetics for the cost of letting poor Little Match Girl suffer.

The cloak is one of two new Yule festival cloaks. I had opportunity to play through this year's Yule festival for the first time today and this cloak seemed to be less used compared to the other one, despite its beauty. I think the reason are undyable parts of dull pink and grey (only the ornaments change colour upon dying). The "dull pink" is exactly the shade which most of cosmetics usually dye in rose, and therefore are very rarely used in this colour (even for girly outfits). This gave me wonderful opportunity to create a match which hopefully pleases the eye even though the shades aren't really popular :)

Do you like the outfit? Please let me know in comments!

Chest: Burnished Dunlending Chestpiece, rose dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Shabby Stocking Hat, default dye (Yule festival)
Shoulders: Fated Westfold Campaign Shoulders Pads, rose dye (T7 crafted)
Hands: Oven Mitts, grey dye (Skirmish barter - Rift cosmetics)
Feet: Ajokoira Shoes, grey dye (T5 crafted)
Back: Warm Winter Cloak, default dye (Yule festival)