Clothing for a winged race?

My YA fantasy novel is focussed on a group of humans transformed into (basically) humans-with-wings. They keep their own arms and don't gain tails, but there are a lot of physical changes including lighter bones and new muscles. The wings are large and attach at the back from shoulderblades down to the small of the back. (Aurora-Carina's 'Thoughts on Wings' was very influential.)

I'm trying not to get too caught up in research, but there's one problem I can't get around: how would they wear clothes? My thoughts so far have been 'open-sided' clothes that run down the middle of the back between the wings and attach at the shoulders and waist, or open-backed jumpsuits. But these options seem open to wardrobe malfunctions, especially for ladies.

Have you read any fantasy novels that have found inventive ways around this problem, or can anyone suggest some possible ways around this issue?

alleycat said:

You might look up images of angels and other winged creature statues and see how artists have handled this. Many of them used the artist equivalent of poetic license (the tunic just flows around the wings somehow, since the artist didn't have to explain how they got the thing on), but you might gets some ideas from some of the more realistic ones.

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Thanks for the suggestion Alleycat. A lot of artists stylise their wings to suit clothes by making the surface area where they join the back tiny. It looks cool, but it's not very realistic, and I'm trying to keep the wing mechanics on the realistic side of fantasy logic.

WriterWho said:

If the wings didn't reach the small of the back the women could wear tank tops depending on the weather. There's plenty that go up the middle of the back (think jogger's outfits), leaving the shoulder blades free for wings. Other than strapless tops that's about all I can think of.

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Thank you WriterWho! Tank tops are current go-to for lady outfits but I'm hoping to find ways to incorporate more variety. (I also worry about the risk of flashing the bra when there's a split down the entire side of fit wings, but I know that's overthinking it, haha.)

ClareGreen said:

The first has to do with crossed straps down the back from shoulders to waist, as some evening gowns have - or as dungarees have, where the straps hit something more solid but the stress transfer is basically the same.

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Hi Clare, is there any chance you can link to an image of these kinds of dress? I'm having trouble visualizing it.

ClareGreen said:

The second involves something like a bikini top, one of the sort slung from the neck instead of around ribs.

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A halterneck bikini style? I like that idea, for some reason it hadn't crossed my mind! Thank you!

ClareGreen said:

The third involves lycra, and covering up the first six inches or so of the wingroots along with everything else. Buttons and/or zips required.

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I'm really digging the idea of partially covering the wingroots and having zips and buttons to adjust, eg for flight.

ClareGreen said:

No, I haven't thought about this before at all...

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Haha, I love that I can find people who've thought about the same issues on here! Thank you so much for sharing you ideas.

Rep points are winging their way to everyone.

Fenika said:

Anatomically how are you going to have something span the length of most the spine? Shoulder blades are attached by a muscular sling that fit over our back. The anatomical equivalent in birds- wings- require heavy pecs to move them on the downstroke.

So to keep the spine supple, the wings cant attach deep or be heavily muscled.

Of course, this ignores the fact that our spines can't hold our asses or legs upright in flight anyways (birds have a synsacrum to help with this bottom heavy support issue.)

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Fenika, you're clearly much more knowledgeable in this area than I am so excuse me if what follows sounds utterly ridiculous. So far my thoughts regarding this species anatomy include: hollowed bones, modified (much larger) breastplate, larger lung capacity, and possibly a second set of pectoral muscles (that last idea is entirely from that Aurora-Carina link).

I've been trying to combine human and avian anatomy with a large dose of "it's fantasy" because it's nearly impossible to have a biologically plausible winged human without losing most of the human aspects. I considered including a tail for more realistic flight and balance but then the issue of clothing became a bit overwhelming.

For the spinal issues you mentioned, would additional muscles/secondary pecs and a hollow-but-strong bone structure be enough to make you suspend disbelief or do I need to dig deeper?

Thanks jjde, both very good ideas. Sewing and clothing alternation is a fairly common hobby for this race (out of necessity), so a racer-back swimsuit with the armholes extended down would work quite well!

(I'm clocking off for the night, so please excuse my brief disappearance from this topic. Thank you all for your responses so far! I was driving myself up the wall trying to think of practical ways around this problem.)

Thank you everyone! Clare, that image really clears things up, thanks. (It's also a very nice dress, ooh.)

Nalini Singh's books look like fun, I've ordered a copy of Angels' Blood. Sharon Shinn's work is very different from my usual style of fantasy so I'm looking forward to reading that. Difficult to locate Archangel in the UK though, had to get it from the Book Depository as Amazon UK doesn't stock it.

Thanks again Fenika, I'll sit down today and try to research some more plausible anatomy for these characters.

Reziac said:

Without a tail, you don't have a stabilizer/rudder. I'm wondering if a tailless flyer wouldn't more or less rotate in place, like towels flipping around a clothesline in a high wind. Now, the trailing legs could probably do the job, but then you need some seriously powerful muscles all along the rear end to keep the legs elevated.

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Yeah, I've had them using their legs to balance and steer in the air as well as when landing. I've been basing it on the hip action of a pelican (eg in the slow motion video near the bottom of this page).

I'm wondering -- Fenika mentioned the synsacrum earlier. If this species has a synsacrum, would that and using their legs for steering suitably cover the bottom-heaviness issue? And what would be the visual changes for a butt-turned-synsacrum and the impact on normal human motion? (Also, if anyone can recommend good documentaries or textbooks on this subject I would be very grateful.)

BTW, are they real flyers that can rise from ground level, or are they more gliders that need some help to get off the ground?

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Real flyers once they've built up muscle and adjusted to the new biology, and they have quite a bit of 'flex' to their wings to build up lift when on the ground. Fledglings need to glide though.

I've got a bit of fantasy-world leeway when it comes to take-offs because this species have a limited amount of control over the wind. Hooray for fantasy leeway!

Reziac said:

"Adjusted to the new biology" yet "fledglings" ... now I'm confused! So you've got both original wings-added and the next generation present? Ought to be an interesting transition period.

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Sorry for the confusing wording. 'Fledglings' = anyone newly transformed, and therefore not yet adjusted to the biology.

I like how that dovetails <ha!> right into their having wings. Which came first, the wings or the wind control??

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Wings first. Adapting to the pain and figuring out wings is an immediate necessity, and wind-control is picked up when they have a better understanding of how their new biology and instincts work together. [Story babbling.]This story's universe is a spin on various afterlife mythologies, so there's angels (with links to fire), demons (ice), and a grey-winged Purgatory race called Mori with some control over wind. While the other two have armies, ranks of progression and training programs, Mori are fairly disorganized and there's a lot of 'How do I use these wings? How do I fix my clothes? Why did I just fly into a tree? How did you do that? Why does everybody hate us?' [End story babbling.]

ClareGreen said:

You could always create a special version of the sleeping bag that hang-gliders use, with stiffening to take the weight. Pocket-for-feet plus steerable-fin equals tail/rudder?

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Thanks Clare! That sounds brilliantly practical, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be very flexible which means it wouldn't be suited for the story. (I have a lot of fun with flocking behaviors and aerial fight scenes.)