In my setting, werewolves (called lycans, with werewolf being the male term and wifwolf being the female term) can transform into a significantly larger wolf form basically at will, as long as they're exposed to either the sun or the moon. Unfortunately, this isn't a world where shapeshifting extends to clothes. ...Okay, it is, but the enchantments require a magic gem that only appears when a lycan dies, so naturally lycans take issue with anyone using a lycan's remains in the name of vanity. So if they want to transform at a moment's notice, they need to wear clothes that won't be permanently destroyed by the sudden and rapid expansion of body mass. The first idea I had was that lycans would wear shirts and pants held together in key places by magnets (the front and the tops of the sleeves for shirts, the sides of the legs for pants) so that upon transforming, their clothes would simply come undone at the magnet points rather than permanently rip, and could be put back on later. Obviously they wouldn't wear underwear beneath it. The problem is that unless it's really easy to do this to clothes without changing its appearance much, this would at best be a gimmicky fashion trend that would quickly make lycans stand out in a bad way if they kept wearing them once the trend got old. Not really a long term solution considering they're trying to keep themselves a secret. So I figured some perspective on this would be nice. Maybe I'm missing something obvious. Maybe there's an easier solution to their problems. Or hell, maybe if an outfit keeps being worn by a community that's eternally young and usually physically fit and thus has a ton of hot people, it stays in vogue forever. What do I know?
Interesting. Did you research that? I just checked the etymology for werewolf, and was surprised to find that were comes from Old English Wer, meaning Man. And Wif could come from the same root as Wife, so it seems you may be right. Wifwolf might be a little weird though, it suggest a child saying something like Wifwoof. Possibly since wer became were, Wif might change to something like Wivwolf? Just thinking out loud here. Or is Wifwolf already an existing term? Haha! Just did a search. Yes, it seems it is a term, but not well known at all. This thread came up on the 1st page of the search in fact!
On topic—they could always run into a phone booth and strip naked. No, I mean seriously, they could just remove clothing first and stash it. Unless the transformation can be sudden and unexpected?
Well I mean, for practical reasons valuable seconds are lost in a dangerous situation if you have to strip naked first, and for story reasons... having characters constantly get naked before every climactic fight scene would probably be awkward. Better if they can just shift straight out of their clothes in an emergency and still be able to put the clothes back on later. Yep, it's not very well-known, but it seemed like an interesting idea when I saw it mentioned, so I thought I'd use it. Good point about Wer changing to Were, so I guess I do have a bit of liberty to change Wif to something a bit better-flowing.
Lycandex® is the answer. Yeah, have your pre-wolves in whatever clothes they wish (that conform to such a brand). Come the moon-hour, cometh the wolfie, a combo of pleats effortlessly unfold and elastane stretches to reveal the dog's bollocks*—were-wear. Thread in some K9Vlar® around the vitals and you're onto a winner. When the battle's won, the moon gone, not caught in the middle of Wall St on a bright and busy day all starkers like. * or not depending on film classification.
Just brainstorming here, but what is the society like where they are? How much money does the average citizen has? Is it affordable for them to get new clothes every season with a change of fashion? Because if it isn't, if only the wealthy can 'go with the fashion', it wouldn't be viewed strange to have the same type of clothes worn for years.
Real world, starts in the year 1990 and advances through time as the stories go. Lycans and other immortals are living in secret among broader human society. Immortals as a whole have infiltrated government and the like to an extent, mostly to help fake their identities so nobody realizes they aren't aging. But they haven't been able to really unite into one big secret conspiracy or anything because there are so many factions at each other's throats. Right now the story is in middle class suburban New Jersey.
That seems like the part they'll have to do the most compromising about. Probably just something they can get off quickly, and probably something cheap in case they have to destroy them to transform in extreme emergencies.
The only werewolf stuff ive read (excluding the Twilight Saga) is the Mercy Thompson series. Their wolves either transform and ruin their clothes or take them off. All of them keep spare clothes in their cars. The MC is a coyote shapeshifter, so not as large as a werewolf. She can shift in her clothes because she shrinks, not grows bigger. The only thing is, she gets tangled up in her clothes. So she takes them off and stuffs them into a childsize backpack before she shifts
I mean, you could always use magic. You mentioned some kind of gem, but why restrict this ability with unfortunate circumstances and social conventions if it could help remove any awkwardness from the story? Otherwise, taking off your clothes except in emergencies seems the best bet. There is a certain appeal to including that in the idea of dealing with the less glamourous reality.
Extreme radical idea: Make werewolves a compatible subspecies in the world (kinda like vampires). Like once you turn you get stuck with the condition, and therefore have a market that caters to it. Simply adjust things to work more smoothly. It has to be possible that villages/towns/cities have a mix of mythical creatures that make up the society that will vary in size/shape outside of the standard human. Or, have clothing vending machines scattered around, so that when the person shrinks back down they can get a basic: shirt, pants, shoes. to tide them over until they can make it home, or a proper clothing store. It's not like you're bound by only following the traditional mythos, since that train got derailed a long time ago. When you think about it, there are a tiny percentage of people born with vestigial tails, which is a rare anomaly on what is considered the 'traditional' modern human template. Basically, you can take things out of the box and modify them to suit your needs, rather than be trapped inside it.
I agree, and also, there's a certain excitement in the clothing tearing off rather than designing them to neatly come off. Then again, it's always been the cliche, hasn't it? Up to and including the Hulk.
So, Werewolf nudist community? There are small communities that do exist and function exactly the same as any other, sans clothes. Perhaps we spend too much thought on the physical being, and less about what makes them a person like their thoughts and ideas. IDK, just tossing out an idea.
His clothes ripoff his body as he gets green and swoll. And by illogical means his purple shorts are always there to cover his dingle dong. Probably the inspiration for the Twilight WWs that manage to keep their cutoff shorts somehow(even though transformed they aren't wolves wearing shorts, but when they go back to human they have them.)
They're always purple, regardless of what colour he was wearing before he transformed. I'd want to smash things too, if my balls were being squeezed as tightly as his must be.
Assuming they did destroy their clothes in emergencies... how much would that set them back if they just bought cheap stuff because they don't care about fashion at all other than not drawing attention to themselves?
It's a modern day fig leaf. And maybe what's underneath the purple shorts is the only part that doesn't get bigger.
I had considered this by using Silver Surfer as a metric, in the fact that he is naked and has no junk, and by extension those with extraordinary powers in fact are junk-less to keep those abnormalities from spreading to the broader normal people around them. Being super, may be at the cost of recreational fun.
I'm thinking if a human foot changes into a dog paw, a shoe will just fall off. Socks might be more of a problem.
I think the problem there is, how do they get home after the fight? In wolf form? Walking naked and human? Either way has distinct drawbacks. Best if you have fresh clothing near at hand, or your old clothing is undamaged.
