I'll preface this by admitting it is entirely subjective; what looks best to one looks lame to another and vice-versa. That said, I am puzzled with something and wondered if Bethesda had a reason for it.

I find the Nightingale Armor to be far and away the most awesome look and playing a sneak/archer character, it would be my hands-down first choice. But as it comes with a set of enchantments that pale (for my purposes) next to what I can make and enchant on my own, it cannot stand up performance-wise. Looking at my choices for a similar look I find the Thieve's Guild set, but they too have the same barrier. It is not until I get down to the Shrouded Armors I can find an unchanted (i.e. enchantable) set but that set, by comparison (at least to me) looks more like red and black pajamas next to the bandoliered-and-armored look of TG or the raw Batman awesomeness of Nightingale.

This barrier seems to be so systematically thorough as to be beyond happenstance. Is there some game design reason I am missing? I would have no problem in placing the ability to craft such items until AFTER I have earned them through the game story, but given that Skyrim is a single-player game, would there be any reason I cannot have the appearance I want with the enchantments the game is designed to let me create?

This is not a request for a work-around; I know I can stack Falmer Masks or do the jail-stacking of items, etc., but oddly enough I enjoy playing the game straight up and was simply puzzled why none of the imcredible armor sets made for the Thieve's side of the world can be made or enchanted.

IF I have missed some way to find/craft/buy/earn an enchantable set of Thieve's Guild armor I would offer eternal gratitude (or a stack o' septims) for any guidance. Thanks in advance!

Or robes for that matter, all the good looking ones have that regeneration enchantment.

when i have to make the choice between looks or utility,

looks always win