On my newest character I started wearing a combo of the grey Dawnguard Armor (the light set with only one pauldron) along with Vampire Boots and Fur Bracers. I love how the Dawnguard brigandines look, I just don't really like the set's gloves or boots. So I went with this and found that it looks awesome.
I always want to use the hoods, but when you use them you can hardly ever see your character's face. It's not quite as bad with helmets, but I usually don't use any kind of headgear just 'cause I like to see my character's face most of the time.
But I totally agree that Steel Plate armor looks great with a hood.
Nightingale Cowl+shrouded gloves and boots+Red Vampire Armor looks quite cool, especialy on mysterious Characters.
On my Beserker I used Dragonscale cuirass+boots+Stormcloak officer gauntlets and helmet
The stormcloak officer boots and gauntlets look quite good with a variety of armors,it gives character a brutal look
My favorites from NOACC. Also, in my Photos on my profile here, there's a file called "The Arcane Ranger" which is another of my favorites. It's also in NOACC too, but the screenshot isn't very flattering. It looks very good in person though.
That's 23 total combos ... Hm, maybe I ought to just pick two more and make it an even "top 25".
Agreed on both counts. A couple of the other sets there have some minor clipping too -- generally around the neck area, where the helm meets the cuirass. Definite bummer, but none of them are so blatant as to render to combo unwearable for me. And I'm pretty picky about clipping, I think.
Followup: Checked with my new toon and did not see clipping. Here's a screenshot:
It's worth noting that I'm using UNP bodies, which affects body meshes... So it might be worth verifying this on a save without any body mods.
Also, I gotta say, even if there isn't clipping ... Not a great look for females. Those furry hoods are fugly! And the giant pauldrons aren't very flattering either.