A
few friends have brought up a fun subject to me recently that I’m surprised
doesn’t get talked about more often in anthropomorphic animal media: Clothing.
More
specifically, they ask how clothing should work in a world of animal people.
Some
may think that it’s an easy answer, because we’ve seen it a million times in
sci-fi anthro video game designs and many anthro animal comics. Typically,
these animals are just put into normal clothes with tail holes and sometimes
shoes fitted for their specific feet or helmets fitted for their ears.
Basically, the artists give minor adjustments to human clothing to suit their
needs. In many cases with cartoon animals, the artists even forgo articles of
clothing entirely, giving the anthro animal nothing more than a pair of gloves
or a shirt.
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| *gasp* Scandalous! |
On
the surface, this is fine! After all, the focus in such stories should be on
the characters and not what they wear, right?
But
why don’t we think about this with more depth? What sorts of things could be
done if one were to truly think about clothing designed entirely for a
different race like, say, anthropomorphic felines or dogs? Human clothing is
designed for human needs, so shouldn’t anthro animal clothing be designed with
the same thought behind it?
I
recently saw some comments relating to one of the most common anthro clothing
designs, the tail hole. You know, that hole that just exists on the pants of
fully clothed anthro characters that their tails just so perfectly fit through and
operate without obstruction? The first was a suggestion for something called a
‘tail sleeve’, which sounded and looked a lot more comfortable than a simple
hole. The sleeve design was pretty much what it sounded like, being a sleeve
for tails much like our shirt sleeves are for arms. It allowed for comfort, a
fair amount of maneuverability, and, best of all, no massive hole showing your
underwear to the world. The idea was fair, as we wouldn’t very well publically
wear a speedo for everyday clothing that only ends where our legs begin, would
we? Well… most of us wouldn’t, at least. Thinking of the tail as an extra leg
kind of helps to think about how clothing designed for it might actually work.
The
second discussion that I saw was actually one given by a game character in the
Namco RPG Tales of Rebirth. One of
the main characters, an anthro panther named Eugene Gallardo, is asked by his new human
friends about his unique covering for his tail, which looks like a long ornate
sock. He goes on to describe how it’s a common mark of a gentleman in his
culture, and that such coverings were very popular, not unlike the ties that
humans so often wear. It’s a short discussion, but a unique one that you don’t
often see in RPGs with such animal characters. We get a brief glimpse at this
panther’s home culture and the culture of beastmen at large as it relates to
our own.
.png) |
| It's tough to find a good picture of Eugene's 'tail sock', but you can still see it behind him here. Plus, he gets to look awesome as a bonus. |
Topics
like these are what make my mind swirl with excitement for the possibilities in
good anthropomorphic literature. It would be so very interesting to get a look
at something that’s, frankly, so alien to us, seeing stores with a ‘tail sock’
section and seeing clothing and jewelry with cultural significance that makes
sense for these animal races. For instance, what about a store that sells fragrances to dogs, since scent is such a large part of their everyday lives,
or how headphones would be logically designed for a race of rabbits? It takes
real creativity to play around in that realm and make it sound perfectly
natural at the same time. It really surprises me to not see this topic come up
more in anthropomorphic literature.
Of
course, I can understand why more authors don’t go into such details with their
animal races. Unless those characters are central to the story as a race, those
kinds of descriptions can bog down a story and lose readers who just want to
focus on the characters’ interactions and their adventures in the world.
Still,
it’s that potential for creativity that really should make the genre stand out and make these
animal characters feel less like fictional creations and more like living,
breathing people with their own lives.
I’d
be very interested in seeing any stories that have such detail in them. I
recall one sci-fi story that involved a quadruped, feline alien race that had a
ship and spacesuits built entirely for their unique movements and body shapes, but I don’t
recall the title, as it was many years ago.
If
any of you readers know of any stories that explore this or have your own
opinions or experiences with this subject, feel free to share them!
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| I dunno... I don't think this look is really 'me'. |
Until
next time, happy reading, all!
-Chammy
Currently
Reading:
The True Meaning
of Smekday
by Adam Rex
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