Help With Gear/Weapons Please

I am level 42 but my item level says it's 35, is that about right or is there something I'm missing? This is me: http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...acter/2391794/

I had a cowl before this one where the defence was very high and any new armour I found never came close. I still can't find anything that beats it now as I level up.

I just attempted Stone Vigil this afternoon (died at last boss and time ran out!) and got a pretty nifty hat that I can't wear. I'm wondering, if I changed my body to something that was lower in stats but also wore a hat too, would that make me more protected than I am now in this cowl?

Where can I find the right gear for my level? Is there anything better out there that I can get?

Cowls are a combination of stats from head + body, including defenses. If you can find an approximately level 40 body, it could outweigh the stats from the cowl when in combination of the hat you have

As for the right gear, check around the rewards from quests and do dungeons that're at about your level (in this case Stone Vigil)

I wouldn't worry too much about your overall Item Level until you're Lv.50. Looks like you're already putting in good effort to keep your gear up-to-date as is.

Defense isn't a big deal for a BLM; you should be able to kill regular monsters pretty easily before they can do much to you, and tanks in dungeons should ideally keep things off of you. You'll mostly want better gear for more INT (more raw damage for your spells) and maybe more Determination/Spell Speed/Crit Rate etc. at endgame. But the biggest thing you can do to improve your performance is to always get the strongest weapon you can use--more Magic Damage, more better.

On that note, keep track of when you can buy new gear from your Grand Company. Helps here and there as you go along.

Cowl I was wearing was 54 and 108. Combination of the robe I just bought plus my new hat from Stone Vigil is now 55 and 108. So I've gained a defence point but lost out on some critical hit, accuracy and spell speed stats. But I bought a shield and item level is now 39!

Grand company was my first thought, unfortunately I can't get promoted to buy items my level until I do the hunting log (still on 1st level) which I didn't really start. Some of the enemies are found in dungeons which I don't want to have to re-play so I've given up on that idea lol