I found mining to be best, oddly enough.
Here is why:
1) Though skinning seems to fit tailoring, by this time in all server's lives billions of people skin and all skin types are cheap at the AH.
I originally did skinning because at the speed I leveled in open beta, precious few heavy leather was ever sold at the AH and I needed it for silk bags.
At around level 42 in retail, I noted that the skinners had caught up to the point where all the leathers I needed were on the AH and getting cheaper and cheaper. The fact is you don't need very much leather for tailoring, some items need it here and there and what is sold on the AH can more than keep up with you.
2) Mining is like going out and passively getting free gold. Sure, sometimes you have to dodge/kill mobs, but it is the most lucrative thing you can do.
(FYI: Don't go AFK at level 51 on the griffon ride to winterspring, as I just did while writing this essay.. silly pretty corpse...)
Since 20 mithril bars easilly sell as a 6 gold plus buyout at the AH, AND since mined bars tend to only RAISE in price as the life of a server goes on (while skins get cheaper and cheaper), you can easily buy all the skins you'd ever need and then some by mining.
Mining will also earn you a mount, EASILY. I was a tailor skinner and had to really STRUGGLE to pay for that mount by the middle of 41, WITH a 20 gold loan.
The problem with tailoring and enchanting is that both are something of money sink skills. You find yourself buying items and tailoring items to disenchant. What Id say is better is to be either a Tailor/miner or an Enchanter/miner, depending on if you want to mainly tailor or enchant.
As a tailor/miner you'll not only be in the best tailored cloth, since you can ALWAYS afford that rare Drop only recipe that you see on the AH, you'll also be able to always afford the BEST enchants that other people are struggling to do. You'll also be able to afford to buy all the runecloth off of the AH, to then make runecloth bags/boots/gloves, to basically sell at no profit, because you made such an obscene amount of money mining.
I am currently at 295 tailoring. Mining just got to 276 and I started it at about level 43 or 44. I'm level 51. Everything I tailor is now yellow or less skill, since I have yet to get any mooncloth patterns. I have 2 mooncloth made and 12 felcloth to make into mooncloth (3 day 23 hours inbetween making mooncloth, so start ASAP) Something else mining pays for is felcloth, which is currently outrageously priced on the AH.
The same could pretty much be said for enchanting. You'll have more money to buy out the green low items to start it as a miner, while later there are only a few blue items in tailoring and that is what you mainly eventually need in enchanting.
Raw cash money makes up for pretty much any other trade you'd ever do. Mining is the number one way to make raw cash money, in really terribly sick amounts. As the life of a server goes on, more and more people continually smith and do the crazy quests that require 300 mithril and stuff, so the demand NEVER goes down. If anything it goes up. Besides mithril, truesilver and thorium all selling well, the stones all sell very well too.
Edited, Mon Jan 3 06:52:11 2005 by natsuko