The mind of a scholar is a terrible thing to waste- especially if it’s a well dressed one. Not only do these intellectuals have to keep us from dying to easily avoidable AoEs, but they have to do it all while making sure their thigh-high socks stay in place. Have you worn thigh-highs before? Well let me tell you- keeping them from falling down just walking around is a chore, let alone while running away from adds!

That’s right my bright scholasticates! It’s time to take your nose out from behind those dusty tomes and bask in the spotlight. Take your quills from their inkwells, folks, because if my calculations are correct, we’ve got some great glams coming your way faster than Garuda can “accidentally” cast her knockback.

This petite intellectual has calculated all possible outcomes and has come to the conclusions that glamours can’t get much more cute than this!

There are a  lot of pieces within the scholar artifact gear lineup that remind me a lot of Colonial era attire, and this glamour delves deep into the heart of that.  Benjamin Franklin would never have been able to discover electricity if he wore something like this, because he’d be too busy admiring how good he looks in a mirror. He’d be so enthralled by the delightful flounce and pounce of the feathers atop the Ivalician Chemists Monocle that he’d be a few minutes late to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“You were supposed to be here an hour ago, Ben” – “Sorry my monocle tassel got tangled and I needed to fix it” – “I do like the shape of that hat, though.” – “Thanks, *hairflip* it’s new.”

The Augmented Scholar’s Boots feed into this colonial feel the most, especially when left undyed. You’ve got the basic clasped shoe at the bottom with the white sock that would feed into any typical pant leg. For males who want to replicate this look but want to stay away from the garters that this miss has opted for, you really can’t go wrong with a pant choice here. Both slimmer and fuller bodied bottoms are tapered in nicely by the belted bands of the boot.

The Skallic Jacket of Healing is used to “modernize”… ”Final Fantasize?” this look. Its many belts and bands coordinate nicely with those same features below the waistline, and the leather accessories meld quite well with the hard leather structure of the hat!

The last two patches in game did a great job toning down the Garleans from being just generic baddies to making them somewhat relatable and not completely terrible people. I equate it to how people always say the Empire is bad in the Star Wars universe. Yes, the Empire is bad. Yes, the Death Star needed to be blown up. But somewhere on that Death Star was a guy named Rick who was just trying to make ends meet and to fund his son’s way through college. We defeated the Empire- but at what cost? Now Rick’s kid is going to have to get a student loan and face crippling debt for the rest of his life. RIP, Rick.

Anyway- where I was going with this was that I now kind of equate slightly steampunk-feeling glamours with Garlean ones without the guilt of supporting our enemy. This well dressed fellow here combines sophistication and magitek seamlessly, while keeping that dark, neutral color scheme that we’re used to seeing from the Garleans.

Take the Savant’s Aethercell Gloves, for example. I mean look at them! They’re by far the most visually interesting gloves FFXIV has ever offered us and they’re a gift from the magitek gods. Not only are they badass hand cannons, but they are classy, badass hand cannons. Just look at the frills up top! Hand cannons with lacy frills! These are the gloves the terminator would wear if he also liked to do high tea!

That was a weird tangent, but you should know that happens often around here by now. Shortly after I committed myself to wanting to do a Garlean inspired scholar, I knew that Uwagi #55 was the chest piece that had to be paired with it. After all, it’s the attire we’re used to seeing high ranking Garlean’s donning in most of their cutscenes up to this point. It’s only right.

The delightful pair here, for me, was the Royal Breeches. I don’t find myself using the bottoms terribly often, yet kept them in my possession for the exact same reason: they’re very busy. Uwagi #55 has amazing detail work along its trim and at the waist line, but is relatively basic otherwise- making it a great top to pair with this particular pair of pants. Even better- is that the two white nodes at the knees easily tie into that similar feature on the jacket’s belt, making the look very cohesive.

Sometimes it can be hard to visualize scholars as anything but a basic intellectual or just something cute overall since you’re followed around constantly by pastel colored fairies, but they’re perfectly capable of dark and brooding looks as well. Case in point: this plague doctor.

The level 60 artifact gear sticks out from the other two sets, not just because of it’s steampunk-like features, but also because the overall look is a bit more disheveled and less clean-cut; which adds in some much needed versatility for a class that heralds mini-skirts and thigh highs. The Savant’s Overcoat still has a nice almost victorian structure to it, but what sets it apart are the dark feathers shrouding the shoulders that give off a “bird of prey vibe.” Pair it with the Plague Doctor’s Mask and your glam is already off to an ominous start.

Now, there are certainly items you could use to go farther down the unkempt route, however I’m big on balance. The Anemos Orator Cuffs helps keep the overcoat from looking too distressed by adding a pinch of formal flair back into it. Plus they’re just beautiful, and I die for a flashy pair of cufflinks.

Perhaps you are more of a traditionalist, or like the more inherent school-girl side for your healer of choice. Nothing wrong with that at all! Gather your textbooks and adjust your glasses because class is now definitely in session!

There are certainly a few professor-type robes available to us in this game, with the Scholasticate Coat being one of the most versatile. Sure the coat dyes whatever color you wish, but maybe running a lengthy side quest isn’t your jam? Maybe during your journey to level 70 you just so happened to hoard your Sharlayan Preceptors Coat instead. I mean… who could blame you? Look. At. That. Plaid. Bow. PLAID. We’ve gone to plaid! (10 points awarded to whatever Harry Potter house you’re in if you got that Spaceballs reference. Anyways, moving on….) There aren’t nearly as many “patterned” items in this game as you might like to think- so this patterned bow is a huge deal to me and dang it- it needs to be celebrated!

Now I know the rest of the jacket is not the most flattering shade of green and could seem quite difficult to color coordinate. But gods bless that patterned bow for giving us a great guide for a workable colorscheme! That vibrant shade of orange of the Anemos Orators Bottoms peeks out slightly, and is a delightful pop of color to the otherwise neutral outfit.

We’ve got the high hats (but maybe not the arrow collars) for our last scholar look that definitely makes you think he’s a gentleman ready to spend every dime for a wonderful time.

Here our dapper fellow shows the myriad of different textures our wardrobes are capable of within this game; and that it’s totally acceptable to layer them all on top of one another to create one hella cool glamour. Here the leather bits of the True Linen Gloves of Healing blend in seamlessly with the detailed tabard work of the Eikon Cloth Acton of Healing. The top by itself is short sleeved- which can make a lot of glove options look incredibly awkward depending in the length. My own preference is to go long, or almost nothing at all to prevent the look from appearing too disjointed.

Now with this look being so detail and texture heavy above the waist, it’s a smart practice to tone down the look from the waist down. That doesn’t have to mean that you use the most plain-jane items possible, just dial it back from an 11 down to maybe a 6. Here we utilized the Augmented Shire Preceptor’s Hose to start to neutralize the look. The pants are still texturally interesting, but you don’t have the frills or detailed line work that you do on his chest, or the metal work of the Savants Top Hat. The slow transition back to subtlety culminates with the Gyuki Leather Boots of Healing. Again, that fold at the calf creates depth in the look but is otherwise void of busy textures.

Bask in the realization that you get to be both brains and beauty, my beloved scholars! Trust that your logic, your calculations, and your shoe choice will always be on point.  Forever outshine your fairies, and above all else;