POST CONTAINS A COUPLE OF MINOR SPOILERS
If you want armour, than choose Light armour.
Otherwise, you can enchant articles of clothing with Shield; max Sheild value per item is 10 (Grand Soul Gem with Grand soul), so you can have shoes, skirt/pants, shirt/blouse, hood, for a maximum of 40 Shield. If you use a robe, your max will be 30.
The advantage of enchanted clothing is that you NEVER have to repair it!
However, if you want to, you can also use gauntlets and a shield - though the shield is no use with a staff, it can be useful if you have to resort to melee with a blade.
Staffs are great!
Get your own Mage staff as soon as you enter Arcane University. I find electrical damage enchantment is the best, but you have several choices available to you.
You just point a staff and press the attack button, you don't whack with it, which is what I thought.

Silly me! :laugh:
And pick up ALL staffs you find in the game. Some you will want to sell, but many are very good. And considering that you need Varla stones or filled soul gems to recharge/partly recharge them (or PAY to have them recharged), it is always good to carry several fully charged staffs with you. A melee weapon skill is also good in case you run out of juice - either mana or staff.
Remember that soul gems will only partially rechage ONE enchanted weapon; a varla stone will FULLY recharge ALL enchanted weapons in your inventory. Don't waste 'em! Use up the charge in all your enchanted weapons before using a varla stone.
Yes, rings and amulets are good.
The Arcane Uni will give you a very nice amulet after one of the early University quests.You get a handy ring from Thoronir in the Market district after completing a quest for the market traders, which is very useful early on, especially if you have a High Elf character.
There are some excellent rings to be found in the game, and remember you will be able to enchant rings and other items for yourself once you qualify to enter the Arcane University.
Items of waterbreathing, waterwalking, feather, nighteye, and detect life are also VERY VERY useful.