My death character is now level 90 and until level 90 I have not been able to get any decent gear. I have had to stick with the waterworks gear since level 60 because I could not find any good gear. I know that I could have gone to Atlantis in Aquila but the drops are so low and I don't have the time to farm a dungeon that may not give me anything at all. I have been to that place 4 times and have not gotten a single gear drop that for the death school. The only gear I have gotten was a (myth only) wand and everything else I have gotten was either reagents or pet snacks.
I believe that there should be some sort of gear update adding new gear for all levels and schools. This gear is droppable by any npc with exceptions for bosses who will have more unique gear. I also think that once you get to level 74 you can obtain gear stronger than the waterworks gear simply by fighting bosses and questing. Because not everyone has the time to farm some boring dungeon... *cough *cough Atlantis.
There's no need to upgrade yet, and nothing better than Waterworks gear for many levels. Try to get a wand with high block, and consider crafting the ice/death boots with higher block in AV. Your next real upgrades will be ring and athame at level 90, then Malistaire gear at level 100. You Waterworks hat and robe will be fine until then, though you should also look at AZ and Sardonyx crafted boots, and Sardonyx hats.
I do craft but their is no death specific gear, all I can find is death gear with extra school boosts that I don't need.
You'll do just fine with Waterworks/Wintertusk crafted gear until you can access Darkmoor, although there's a certain item that you definitely should craft: level 76 boots with boosts for your primary school and Ice. They give a great amount of block and will help tremendously, believe me. There's an upgrade in Azteca, but the stat increases are very minor. There's also another pair of similar boots in Khrysalis, just that the defense is a bit lower and you get about 10% more damage. I wouldn't suggest crafting the Khrysalis ones unless you don't want to farm DM, because you'll most likely reach level 100 before you can access the recipe.