I've been using a Nord female character for a long time and finished the game, restarted, restarted from various points, etc., etc., and my favorite follower by far is Kharjo.

Usually, I have my female character, Weth, decked out in Blades Armor with all kinds of enchantments when the situation calls for heavy armor, and Dragonscale Armor (with identical enchantments) for when lighter armor is better. I've experimented with Kharjo's gear a lot and believe I have the best possible set of gear for him:

• Ebony Armor, ideally with Ebony Mail for the chest and back/cuirass piece
  
• A Dragonplate helmet, which makes him a bit tougher but still goofy as Hell
  
• A Daedric Shield well, dammit, he can't use my Spellbreaker!

But tonight I made thee plunge and decided to make them both a set of Stalhrim Armor for when they're in Solstheim. Kharjo's set up is basically vanilla (the only enchantment is muffle on his boots), but he did keep his Daedric shield. Oh yeah, he looks HILARIOUS in this get up. It's priceless.

I have Weth in the Light Stalhrim Armor but I think the Dragonscale helmet looks way better on her than that insect-horned thing. She's also kept Spellbreaker (though I did concoct a Stalhrim shield with a rating of 112 and 100% Magic Resistance today...).

Together they just look like tourists trying way too hard and failing miserably to fit in, and why on earth haven't I taken pics?