Clothing for an anthropomorphic porcupine

[MrMopp]

I'm about to enter a space age RP with a character who is a porcupine like alien. The problem I'm having is finding an outfit that is compatible with his quills. Any thoughts?


Things to know:


•porcupine quills are barbed so that they stick into whatever they puncture and don't come out easily (nor cleanly).


•he has short quills like a North american porcupine


•the quills of an actual Porcupine are located on the rump and tail, but for this guy, they need to cover the length of his back and in certain spots on his limbs.

 

[call me rae]

Well shirtless. Maybe pants with strategic holes cut in them around his quills.

 

[call me rae]

An Apron of some sort if you want coverings for his front.

 

[MrMopp]

Yeah, the shirtless idea seemspretty obvious in retrospect.

 

[Tov]

Depending on how far down his back the quills go, the shirt could have an open back that snaps in the back at the collar and the bottom hem. If he has quills at the tops of his arms, around his shoulders and upper arms, and you want the shirt to be long sleeved, you could go with something like this:

and just have the sleeves zip or snap all the way up. Pants could be similar with similar cut outs and zipper or snaps where needed.

 

[MrMopp]

Huh. ( ) That's actual pretty clever.


As I think about it, his quills would lay flat unless he was agitated (I think), so he could wear loose clothing without damaging it. But I got to say, I like the mental image of your idea much better.

 

[Tov]

Huh. ( ) That's actual pretty clever.
As I think about it, his quills would lay flat unless he was agitated (I think), so he could wear loose clothing without damaging it. But I got to say, I like the mental image of your idea much better.

I'm glad I could help! Loose clthing over the quills might not be so good since they're barbed. He'd probably get frustrated with the fabric snagging constantly (> )

 

[MrMopp]

That was actually a running gag with him. He'd constantly be sitting down on a comfy seat, end up slouching, and then get stuck. But I've done a little research, and it turns out that porcupine quills shed very easy so I don't think having them tugged out by a piece of cloth would would cause him too much discomfort. However, depending on the situation, losing his home grown armor for the week might not be worth it.

•the quills of an actual Porcupine are located on the rump and tail, but for this guy, they need to cover the length of his back and in certain spots on his limbs.

Looks like I was mistaken here. I just did a little more research on Porcupines and it turns out that different species of porcupine have different arrays of hair.


•the north american porcupines actually has sharp quills all over its body (except its nose and a belly). There just hiding under longer, softer hairs. The stiffest quills are located near the tail


•African Porcupines have huge quills along its back, but almost none on its head.


Then again, this guy is an alien. I could make up my own rules, right?

 

[Tov]

Yeah, there you go! He's an alien and he's your character, so he can be anything you want him to be.