Some adventurers are so new, they don’t even get access to retainers or the market board! It’s true! But despite those restrictions, and the whole gil issue, you can still look your best by taking up a crafting discipline and making stuff yourself.
Glamour prisms can also be hard to come by early on. Like I said, you can’t just head to the market board and buy some! But that’s okay! At level 15, every crafting profession is able to craft glamour prisms themselves, and unlocking that skill is suprisingly easy.
You don’t even need to walk all the way to Mor Dhona to get started (which is something I used to think you had to do)!
Instead, just get yourself to at least level 15 in your chosen crafting profession (I recommend carpenter), then head over to Vesper Bay. You can get there by either teleporting to the Horizon aetheryte, or hopping onto a ferry at Limsa Lominsa. Once there, talk to Goberin, the Crafting Tome Vendor (x: 12.1, y: 14.9). He’ll sell you the books you need to get started crafting glamour prisms!
It really is that simple! I recommend choosing carpenter for this, because the recipe only calls for 2 walnut lumbers. While that’s a level 25 recipe, you should be able to get there quick, and in the long run, this’ll be a faster route than, say, having to craft steel rivets. Especially if gil and other limitations are an issue.
At level 30, you can begin crafting dyes, too! Don’t underestimate the value of picking of a crafting skill! It’ll save you gil, and open up new possibilities!