If you're going for the Frozen Shadoweave Set, the [item]Frozen Shadoweave Shoulders[/item] are your main target here. A good starting placeholder for them are the [item]Spaulders of the Torn-heart[/item], which you can get from a chain quest in Shadowmoon Valley (it requires some grouping though). Once you get to Honored with Aldor or Scryer, you can get [item]Inscription of Discipline[/item] or [item]Inscription of the Orb[/item] respectively as a shoulder enchant. At exalted, you'll have the option to enchant your shoulder slot with [item]Greater Inscription of Discipline[/item] and [item]Greater Inscription of the Orb[/item] so try and get the shoulders you aim for before reaching this reputation level:

Again, if you have the WoW Gold and you're a tailor warlock going for the Frozen Shadoweave Set, the [item]Frozen Shadoweave Robe[/item] is your best option and it will keep you warm even long into raiding. The [item]Kirin Tor Apprentice's Robes[/item] is a good placeholder, being obtained through a quest chain, but you should also consider buying [item]Will of Edward the Odd[/item] off the Auction House, especially if you're a destrolock and need that extra crit (or you can go for the Spellfire set and make [item]Spellfire Robe[/item] for your chest slot). Here are some alternatives:

The cloak slot won't be as easily filled as the others so far. [item]Cloak of Woven Energy[/item] is good to start with, and [item]Cloak of the Black Void[/item] is pretty cheap to craft, but it has no Stamina or Spell Crit so...[item]Terokk's Wisdom[/item] is a better option and since it's BoE, you don't need to grind your ass off for it if you have the money and if it's in the Auction House. Anyways, here are the alternatives you have:

Since most of the good bracers come from Heroics, I'd start out with either the [item]Shattrath Wraps[/item] which are easily obtained or the [item]Bracers of Havok[/item] which aren't too expensive to craft or buy off the Auction House (roughly 100g off the AH on most servers). Here are some of the best pre-raid wrist items for warlocks:

We won't be able to whine about the gloves item slot as warlocks, simply because Blizzard was kind enough to offer us a lot of pre-raid alternatives. The [item]Spellfire Gloves[/item] can be an option for a Fire Destruction warlock and [item]Tempest's Touch[/item] is a good start-up placeholder. Don't be fooled by the [item]Jaedenfire Gloves of Annihilation[/item] which are the only gloves with +shadow on them, the [item]Energis Armwraps[/item] for example are almost as good. But here's a complete list of alternatives:

The [item]Girdle of Ruination[/item] is considered one of the best waist items for warlocks until a long way in raiding instances and although rather expensive, it's definitely worth saving up for it. Destro locks that are spellfire tailors can go for [item]Spellfire Belt[/item] for some nice +fire damage and spell crit. Here are your alternatives:

The difficulty in filling your Legs slot as a warlock doesn't come from the lack of items, but rather from their abundance. The end-choice between Spellstrike and Battlecast will depend on your spec and on whether or not you already crafted your respective Spellstrike or Battlecast Hood, since the set-bonuses are quite awesome for just 2 items. The [item]Imbued Netherweave Pants[/item] are a good start-up placeholder until you get the money to buy the above mentioned Tailoring craftables. Remember to put [item]Mystic Spellthread[/item] or [item]Runic Spellthread[/item] on your pants if you plan on using them for a while (best put on Spellstrike/Battlecast, obviously):

Shadoweave Tailor Warlocks will undoubtedly go for the [item]Frozen Shadoweave Boots[/item] but if you picked a different profession or tailoring specialisation, I'd aim for the [item]Boots of Blasphemy[/item] in Heroic Slave Pens, so start getting your Coilfang rep up. As a placeholder for a while, you can use [item]Imbued Netherweave Boots[/item], which are quite cheap to make. Some alternatives:

If your warlock is affiliated with the Scryer faction, you should try to get to Exalted quick and get [item]Seer's Signet[/item], which will be one of the best rings for you even a few months into raiding. If you're Aldor or simply don't have the patience/money to get to Exalted with the Scryers, aim for [item]Cobalt Band of Tyrigosa[/item]. As start-up placeholders, you can get a [item]Khorium Band of Shadows[/item] and [item]Ryngo's Band of Ingenuity[/item] combination. Here are some of the best pre-raiding warlock rings:

Quite a lot of options for trinkets in Outlands, which makes choosing two a difficult task. One good start-up trinket to replace those old level 60 ones, [item]Vengeance of the Illidari[/item], can be acquired from a group quest in Hellfire Peninsula. If you're a destruction lock with gear based on Spell Crit Chance, the [item]Shiffar's Nexus-Horn[/item] should be one of your main targets, as it becomes an awesome weapon in the hands of a crit-based lock. It's also a good choice for people that don't like trinkets with 'Use' abilities, simply because they forget to use them :). Alliance players will find the [item]Glowing Crystal Insignia[/item], a quest reward in Zangarmarsh extremely useful for a while, despite being a greenie. For the other pocket (or wherever World of Warcraft characters keep their trinkets), you should aim for either [item]Quagmirran's Eye[/item] in Slave Pens Heroic (Heroic Coilfang instances have some of the best pre-raid Warlock drops anyway) or [item]Icon of the Silver Crescent[/item], obtainable with Heroic badges. [item]Figurine - Living Ruby Serpent[/item] does have great stats for a trinket, but no passive spell damage or spell crit and its 'Use' ability is not that great and on a long 5 min cooldown:

A lot of debate around wether to use a 1-handed + offhand combo, or a 2-handed staff as a warlock. Usually, a staff has few stats/effects, but with high values, whereas 1-hand + offhand combos give you less of more stats. The obvious choice here is to try out both options and add up the stats/effects from your 1-hand + offhand combo, then compare it to your staff and see which one is best suited for your warlock. The [item]Flametongue Seal[/item] is a good choice for deep destruction specced Warlocks, especially if you combine it with the Spellfire set:

2-handed staves are slightly easier to get than a good 1-handed+offhand combo. If you're Aldor and find it easy to get Aldor rep (as in you did most of the quests and also were lucky on some rep drops) then [item]Auchenai Staff[/item] is a good item until you can get some Heroic access. If you get lucky enough to win the roll on [item]Terokk's Shadowstaff[/item], I'd stay with a staff, otherwise feel free to look for a 1-hand + offhand combination. Here are a few staves worth grabbing hold of:

If you're Horde try going for [item]Rod of Dire Shadows[/item] as early as possible, it's a quest reward so it shouldn't be that much of a problem to get. For Alliance players, a good start-up placeholder is [item]Nexus Torch[/item], which has a fairly good drop rate in The Shattered Halls (Normal) so it shouldn't be too tough to get either. One of the best damage/stamina wands out there is [item]Wand of the Netherwing[/item], a drop from normal Shadow Labs, so that should be your main focus. [item]The Black Stalk[/item] is a wand that will keep you comfy for a while even after you start raiding, but it's harder to get since it's a lower drop from Heroic Underbog: