Shapeshifters and clothes

It's not just clothing, either. What about jewelry? Makeup? Imagine turning into a wolf and you're still wearing lipstick and eyeliner. And a choker necklace that just got really tight.

Just this morning I had to stop a scene and decide if horse shifters can wear horseshoes. (Answer: no. Nails in the hoof, not a problem; nails in hands and feet, nope nope nope.) But then, I write primarily paranormal romance, where animals changing into naked men helps the story along.

I'm betting whoever invented Velcro was a shapeshifter.

Pterofan said:

It's not just clothing, either. What about jewelry? Makeup? Imagine turning into a wolf and you're still wearing lipstick and eyeliner. And a choker necklace that just got really tight.

Just this morning I had to stop a scene and decide if horse shifters can wear horseshoes. (Answer: no. Nails in the hoof, not a problem; nails in hands and feet, nope nope nope.) But then, I write primarily paranormal romance, where animals changing into naked men helps the story along.

I'm betting whoever invented Velcro was a shapeshifter.

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This is why I go with the "clothes are part of the shifter" approach.

Another factor that occurred to me: your target audience. As I mentioned, I write paranormal romance, skewed toward the hot end, so nudity (especially male) is a selling point. If you're writing middle grade or youngish YA, publishers (and parents) may prefer a magic system where all characters stay clothed, regardless of character age. If you know ahead of time who you're aiming to reach, you can figure out solutions accordingly. The target audience is why the Hulk's pants don't fall off when he changes back into Bruce Banner.

Pterofan said:

I had to stop a scene and decide if horse shifters can wear horseshoes. (Answer: no. Nails in the hoof, not a problem; nails in hands and feet, nope nope nope.)

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I guess it would only be nails in your fingernails, though, right? The hoof is the "nail" of the finger/toe that evolved into an entire leg.

But eek, nails piercing your fingernails. Yeah, that's still a nope, nope, nope.

jjdebenedictis said:

I guess it would only be nails in your fingernails, though, right? The hoof is the "nail" of the finger/toe that evolved into an entire leg.

But eek, nails piercing your fingernails. Yeah, that's still a nope, nope, nope.

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I suppose that depends of shapeshifting is more or less a one-part to one-part anatomical correspondence, or if it involves the body breaking down into a kind of amorphous biological jelly before reforming into the structures it needs. If the second, maybe the hoof forms from the whole hand, and the nails end up skewering the palm on changing back.

And if shapeshifters are basically jellyfish held into shape by force of will, what happens if one is killed halfway through a change?

I can't stop thinking about the logical implications of shapeshifting!

Pterofan said:

Just this morning I had to stop a scene and decide if horse shifters can wear horseshoes. (Answer: no. Nails in the hoof, not a problem; nails in hands and feet, nope nope nope.)

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Shoes are used because horses are working for people.

As the hoof grows and the horse moves wearing shoes, nails do come out.

I would think that shifting would cause nails to be expelled, much like fillings. They are not part of the shift, but external material.

Think about being shot, and shifting; bullets could be expelled.

In Martha Wells's Raksura series, she simply mentions in the first chapter that every Raksura knows a "bit of magic" that lets them keep whatever they're wearing. There's more magic in the world, so this fits in the worldbuilding. (Also, the Raksura don't shift between animal and human--there are no humans in this world--they shift between two different forms.)

This thread is fillling my head with comedy shape-shifting stories.

WriteMinded said:

This thread is fillling my head with comedy shape-shifting stories.

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Write them. Do eeet.

Pterofan said:

Another factor that occurred to me: your target audience. As I mentioned, I write paranormal romance, skewed toward the hot end, so nudity (especially male) is a selling point. If you're writing middle grade or youngish YA, publishers (and parents) may prefer a magic system where all characters stay clothed, regardless of character age. If you know ahead of time who you're aiming to reach, you can figure out solutions accordingly. The target audience is why the Hulk's pants don't fall off when he changes back into Bruce Banner.

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I'm writing a shapeshifting story where a girl turns into a bird during the night. It is aimed at more MG, but I went with the clothes fall off when she turns into a bird because I liked the wrinkle of having to plan ahead (drop her clothes where she's going to transform back to human).

It's never done as like a joke or anything. The character is hidden from view every time she transforms back. I guess I also felt the clothes morphing feels unrealistic somehow, like the clothes being a part of her body. And I admit I know that's a bit weird considering it's magic and maybe a bit of a hangup on my part. I might change it yet to the morphing clothes, but so far I havn't gotten feedback that indicates I need to change it.

I agree with people here that either way can work, and it depends on the tone which you do.

Well, this thread has been enlightening! For my two cents, my science fantasy story has a phase-shifter (i.e. they go from solid to permeable) and their clothes stay on the whole time. There's no "logic" to it - if they can pass through one solid object, why wouldn't they pass through their clothes? But it's supposed to be a little *hand wavy* where no-one quite understands the mechanism of action, so I think it's believable. It would certainly add even more surprise to their initial scene if their clothes dropped off as well, though!