Leather is by far the best protection, but it's hot in the summer. In Florida, I wear mesh gear year-round (and bundle up underneath when it's chilly
open-weave textile with leather on the impact areas and good armor. I wear overpants over my regular clothes, and carry shoes to change out of my boots at work. On fun days I just walk around in my boots.
Textile gear is fine for the street, but if you ever think about track days, it's leather.
Don't cheap out. Figure on a couple hundred for a jacket, 150 or more for pants, same for boots. I'm wearing a grand every time I get on the bike, but I've never lost any skin to the road, either. Much cheaper than sheet time!
Jacket should have hard armor in the elbows, maybe shoulders, but most have CE foam in the shoulders. You don't need hard spine protections, but the jacket should have a heavy surface over the spine and CE foam inside.
Pants have hard armor on the knees, foam at the hips. Hard at the hips is better, but costlier.
Boots must be over the ankle, and have hard protection over those ankle bones. No laces (which can catch on pegs.)
Gloves should have good palm and knuckle coverage. Short gloves will have Velcro closures, make sure they don't open up at the least little tug. Some guys wear only gauntlet-type gloves, but I prefer short ones.
A backpack or some kind of tank bag or panniers. You will find yourself needing to carry stuff.