The current Step textures for the mages are more appealing and colorful to me. As for the remaining clothes textures Gamwich's approach is perfect. His slightly darker textures feel very fitting for Skyrim.
Horker HD and Gamwich version are both outstanding. With Horker HD the skin is more dry looking, so because of this Gamwich's work may be the more realistic choice as it has some watery shiny effect to it. In game Pfuscher's horker textures are gorgeous though and even at the reduced 2k version (resized by deadmano). This is a tough choice between Pfuscher and Gamwich textures.
This could possibly be a good candidate to replace "Lanterns of Skyrim" in step extended. There are patches available for DynDOLOD so it integrates well. It is also very refreshing and immersive to see a variety of different styles of lanterns throughout skyrim rather than the same model of lantern everywhere. Not to mention, it is realistic that the lanterns and braziers are not lit during the day.
There has be be a miscommunication somewhere here. It seems very unreasonable. It is so nice to have patches to make mods work together rather than having to choose.
Vanilla Clay to the left, HD Clay to the right Vanilla Quarry to the left, HD Quarry to the right Files used in comparison: HD Stone Quarry and Clay Deposit 1k - Main File and in addition Stone Quarry for Vanilla Rock Texture - Optional File Tremendous improvement over vanilla, especially the stone quarry looks great in game.