I'd go with the blightfire / crescent reach armor also to start out with.
You might look at
this thread for some other info, even though it's slightly dated.
Current items that are great include defiant armors that are dropped everywhere.
Crude Defiant: 0-10 level
Simple Defiant: 5-20 level
Rough Defiant: 15-30 level
Ornate Defiant: 26-40 level
Flawed Defiant: 37-50 level
Another good option, is to work smithing and do the cultural smithing quests to make your own armor. Defiant is generally better, but hard to get at the level you need it, where as cultured, the supplies drop off mobs of the same level you can farm at the level you can wear it, and the lower level supplies are extremely cheap to buy in bazaar or on barter.
You might also look at all the various
Crescent Reach quests. Some easy / quick quests for armor under 20th level there, as well as some nice utility quests, such as the weight reduction bag, the charm of lore, and the wanderlust aug. There is also a +1 mana regeneration aug, that eventhough you can get at a low level, is difficult to solo even at 40ish level, but if you have higher level friends, can do it quickly with there help since it only requires looting, and is a great item at the level you can use.
I left out a bunch of other options, but I'm sure someone will add them. I think the quested blightfire / crescent reach armor, and defiant, and cultural are the 3 best options at your level, unless you have lots of platinum, then there is lots of twink items you can buy that will last you until the 50s.
Yther Ore.