Am undecided on which perk I want to invest in at the moment. I have alteration at 100. I was wondering about the Mage Armor perk in that it says it will double the strength of stone/iron/ebonyflesh if not wearing armor. Is that just body armor or does it include boots, bracers and helmets? Like if I have robes on, but have hide boots and bracers, will the perk still work?

you must not wear anything that says light or heavy armor

Yup. Any form of tempered metal will intefere with the spell. I wear Dwarven heavy boots, cos they look bawse! So I left out the Mage Armour perc, as I can supplement it with actual armour pieces, even though I am a mage with no strength lol!

Cool. thanks guys. Very helpful. I almost waisted a good perk point. Will spend in Enchanting now.

You can carry a shield, though.

This is true, sometimes an Imperial such as you require a plate to enjoy their meals!

If you use the spell with out the perks, does the bonus to your armor still count if wearing boots, helmets and bracers? Or is it just the extra AC bonus from the perks that are negated?

Only the bonus from the perk are negated, not the effects of the spell itself

That's cool, I thought so. I use it all the time not perked just for a layer of protection.

Those perks also do nothing for your Dragonhide spell. They get you to a max of 300 AR, which is not that much protection. The mage armor perks are good for roleplaying a robed mage, but not much else IMO.