malinghi
08-24-2012, 03:26 PM
This is a thread to continue discussing Joy&Raptors' designs for merman fashion accessories, which were originally posted as part of theAugust MerNetwork Challenge: Merman Fashion Design (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?2537-AUGUST-MERNETWORK-CHALLENGE-MERMAN-FASHION-DESIGN/page5). When I made that challenge I was really hoping that we could start to come up with ideas for merman fashion accessories, and I don't want people to stop thinking about that just because the challenge is over. We can keep thinking of ideas, and I'd love to see this stuff made! Below is a copy of Joy&Raptors' post in the original thread.
Ok, here is my challenge contribution.
I wanted to stick with something that anyone, no matter their sexuality, could feel reasonably comfortable wearing, and that drew from a variety of different sea animals that aren't often featured in depictions of merfolk (much like mermen aren't often featured in depictions of merfolk).
I tried to feature the following pieces here...
1. A manta ray cape with attached torc (to mimic the front lobes of the manta and to better allow the cape to remain around the neck of an otherwise shirtless merman). The wings of the cape would fan out just a bit longer than than the merman's arm length so that the ends could be gripped while swimming, or so that the wings could be attached to bracelets or armbands of some sorts (similar to the capes of Storm from the X-men). The torc would be made of plastic or rubber, perhaps around a wire frame to adjust the fit and enable easy removal.
2. A wrap made of exotic looking fabrics similar to those used in saris and belly dancer outfits, helping to disguise the transition from tail to human flesh without drawing attention to the hips as is popular for mermaids, and also giving the image of a different culture. The wrap would not quite stretch all the way around the merman, instead ending about where his apollo's belt would be (if he has one), and would go from the lower back down to the upper thighs or a bit longer, according to taste. Keeping it in place would be a sash of flowing material at least as wide as the merman's hand but no wider than a foot, itself tied in place with a miniature anchor (bought or constructed from metal wire). The ends of the sash should hang down to just above the knees, folded over each other, a bit longer than the wrap, maybe giving a slight barbarian loin cloth look.
3. Shields. I didn't design any weapons (most public swimming areas probably don't look too favorably on weapons, and even ren faires and conventions often require weapons to be "peace-tied," so I didn't want to bother with them). However, taking inspiration from Captain America and Goofy from Kingdom Hearts, I did have two ideas for shields, each formed from plastic or some other sculptable material to make them lightweight and thin (thereby decreasing drag in the water while still looking cool). The first idea was for a giant sand dollar, utilizing the creature's cool star-shaped design. The second idea involved a horseshoe crab shell, constructed in three connected pieces (the curving top portion, the middle ridged portion, and the tail), for a more dangerous and armor-like look. Each would be connected to the arm by a pair of loose straps (velcro?). I think that both designs could be expanded to make breastplates, helmets, shoulderpads, and the like, essentially constructing two suits of armor, but I was pressed for time (even though I like the idea of mer knights and mer gladiators).
4. I had a couple ideas for shoulder pads, and I really liked merman shawn's depictions of cutting plastic jugs to form them, but I also thought it might be possible to attach them to a rash guard of some sort. The first required a toy octopus (plastic or rubber, the varieties found in toy stores and aquarium gift shops everywhere) to rest on the shoulder as if clutching the shoulder/bicep of the merman with it's tentacles, the mantle resting on the plane of the shoulders (and attached to the shoulder pad or rash guard), which I freely admit was inspired by Perfect World's Psychic Tideborn's main art image (the one shown in bipedal form, holding a blaze of blue energy). The second idea involved attaching a piece of a conch shell to the shoulder pad (here a rash guard probably wouldn't be strong enough) to make a marine version of some of World of Warcraft's impressive shoulder armor designs. Again, I'm pretty sure that both designs could be expanded into full armor (octopus or shell based), but I like them each as shoulder pads (these two could obscure that the merman is, in fact, a merman, and confuse viewers if they take up too much room). I've depicted my merman "model" wearing both varieties, as each could be impressive together, with two of them arranged symmetrically, or with only one on a single shoulder and the other shoulder bare.
5. I thought a necklace of curved, tribal-looking teeth or spines (preferably not shark teeth, but longer, more wicked-looking fangs) might be appropriate for a tribal look.
6. I also love starfish and wanted to include them, so I thought that a starfish might make a cool bracelet or armband. I confess I'm not sure how to sculpt a starfish like this, though, and construct it in such a way that it might grasp the arm, so I instead came up with the idea of making a grasping starfish attached to an arm cuff (like the genie in Aladdin wears), either made of fabric or sculpted plastic.
7. I also wanted to come up with a way to wear goggles while mermaning, so I designed an idea for taking goggles, attaching a sea shell to the top and affixing a forward-curving dangling lure with some means of light (my initial idea was to use one of those cheap glow in the dark necklaces for the whole thing, but it wouldn't look quite right and I'll have to do more research into whether those things are waterproof... wouldn't want to leak chemicals into the water. Failing that, a small waterproof bulb (perhaps solar-powered or glow in the dark) might work just as well and wouldn't require constant replacement after use. This, especially combined with the toothy necklace described above, might give a very eerie, anglerfish-esque appearance, and still allow you to wear goggles without breaking the glamour of fantasy.
8. Similarly, I had the idea for a knight-like helmet mask covering and allowing the use of a diving mask, enabling the merman to wear a mask while disguising that fact by using a seahorse-inspired facial plate (again, constructed of plastic) modeled after a knight's visor. Ostensibly, the diving mask would be able to fit into and "lock" into the seahorse visor mask. Like some of the other items, I thought that this (and the anglerfish design) could be expanded into full armor, perhaps giving mermen (and more martial mermaids) some style other than that of pirates when attending ren faires, instead being representatives of Neptune's Kingdom of the Lady of the Lake.
9. While not specific to mermen (this one could work quite well for the ladies as well) I was thinking that remoras might give an impression of sleekness, power and actually being part of the environment, and that they could be created either from existing fish toys (with the dorsal fins removed and sanded down a bit, replaced by hooks or latches of some sort) or sculpted from gray/silvery rubber, plastic, clay, etc, and affixed to different locations on the hips and tail.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/224/0/7/merman_fashion_1_by_un1c0rny-d5as999.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/224/1/b/merman_fashion_2_by_un1c0rny-d5as9f3.jpg
Ok, here is my challenge contribution.
I wanted to stick with something that anyone, no matter their sexuality, could feel reasonably comfortable wearing, and that drew from a variety of different sea animals that aren't often featured in depictions of merfolk (much like mermen aren't often featured in depictions of merfolk).
I tried to feature the following pieces here...
1. A manta ray cape with attached torc (to mimic the front lobes of the manta and to better allow the cape to remain around the neck of an otherwise shirtless merman). The wings of the cape would fan out just a bit longer than than the merman's arm length so that the ends could be gripped while swimming, or so that the wings could be attached to bracelets or armbands of some sorts (similar to the capes of Storm from the X-men). The torc would be made of plastic or rubber, perhaps around a wire frame to adjust the fit and enable easy removal.
2. A wrap made of exotic looking fabrics similar to those used in saris and belly dancer outfits, helping to disguise the transition from tail to human flesh without drawing attention to the hips as is popular for mermaids, and also giving the image of a different culture. The wrap would not quite stretch all the way around the merman, instead ending about where his apollo's belt would be (if he has one), and would go from the lower back down to the upper thighs or a bit longer, according to taste. Keeping it in place would be a sash of flowing material at least as wide as the merman's hand but no wider than a foot, itself tied in place with a miniature anchor (bought or constructed from metal wire). The ends of the sash should hang down to just above the knees, folded over each other, a bit longer than the wrap, maybe giving a slight barbarian loin cloth look.
3. Shields. I didn't design any weapons (most public swimming areas probably don't look too favorably on weapons, and even ren faires and conventions often require weapons to be "peace-tied," so I didn't want to bother with them). However, taking inspiration from Captain America and Goofy from Kingdom Hearts, I did have two ideas for shields, each formed from plastic or some other sculptable material to make them lightweight and thin (thereby decreasing drag in the water while still looking cool). The first idea was for a giant sand dollar, utilizing the creature's cool star-shaped design. The second idea involved a horseshoe crab shell, constructed in three connected pieces (the curving top portion, the middle ridged portion, and the tail), for a more dangerous and armor-like look. Each would be connected to the arm by a pair of loose straps (velcro?). I think that both designs could be expanded to make breastplates, helmets, shoulderpads, and the like, essentially constructing two suits of armor, but I was pressed for time (even though I like the idea of mer knights and mer gladiators).
4. I had a couple ideas for shoulder pads, and I really liked merman shawn's depictions of cutting plastic jugs to form them, but I also thought it might be possible to attach them to a rash guard of some sort. The first required a toy octopus (plastic or rubber, the varieties found in toy stores and aquarium gift shops everywhere) to rest on the shoulder as if clutching the shoulder/bicep of the merman with it's tentacles, the mantle resting on the plane of the shoulders (and attached to the shoulder pad or rash guard), which I freely admit was inspired by Perfect World's Psychic Tideborn's main art image (the one shown in bipedal form, holding a blaze of blue energy). The second idea involved attaching a piece of a conch shell to the shoulder pad (here a rash guard probably wouldn't be strong enough) to make a marine version of some of World of Warcraft's impressive shoulder armor designs. Again, I'm pretty sure that both designs could be expanded into full armor (octopus or shell based), but I like them each as shoulder pads (these two could obscure that the merman is, in fact, a merman, and confuse viewers if they take up too much room). I've depicted my merman "model" wearing both varieties, as each could be impressive together, with two of them arranged symmetrically, or with only one on a single shoulder and the other shoulder bare.
5. I thought a necklace of curved, tribal-looking teeth or spines (preferably not shark teeth, but longer, more wicked-looking fangs) might be appropriate for a tribal look.
6. I also love starfish and wanted to include them, so I thought that a starfish might make a cool bracelet or armband. I confess I'm not sure how to sculpt a starfish like this, though, and construct it in such a way that it might grasp the arm, so I instead came up with the idea of making a grasping starfish attached to an arm cuff (like the genie in Aladdin wears), either made of fabric or sculpted plastic.
7. I also wanted to come up with a way to wear goggles while mermaning, so I designed an idea for taking goggles, attaching a sea shell to the top and affixing a forward-curving dangling lure with some means of light (my initial idea was to use one of those cheap glow in the dark necklaces for the whole thing, but it wouldn't look quite right and I'll have to do more research into whether those things are waterproof... wouldn't want to leak chemicals into the water. Failing that, a small waterproof bulb (perhaps solar-powered or glow in the dark) might work just as well and wouldn't require constant replacement after use. This, especially combined with the toothy necklace described above, might give a very eerie, anglerfish-esque appearance, and still allow you to wear goggles without breaking the glamour of fantasy.
8. Similarly, I had the idea for a knight-like helmet mask covering and allowing the use of a diving mask, enabling the merman to wear a mask while disguising that fact by using a seahorse-inspired facial plate (again, constructed of plastic) modeled after a knight's visor. Ostensibly, the diving mask would be able to fit into and "lock" into the seahorse visor mask. Like some of the other items, I thought that this (and the anglerfish design) could be expanded into full armor, perhaps giving mermen (and more martial mermaids) some style other than that of pirates when attending ren faires, instead being representatives of Neptune's Kingdom of the Lady of the Lake.
9. While not specific to mermen (this one could work quite well for the ladies as well) I was thinking that remoras might give an impression of sleekness, power and actually being part of the environment, and that they could be created either from existing fish toys (with the dorsal fins removed and sanded down a bit, replaced by hooks or latches of some sort) or sculpted from gray/silvery rubber, plastic, clay, etc, and affixed to different locations on the hips and tail.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/224/0/7/merman_fashion_1_by_un1c0rny-d5as999.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/224/1/b/merman_fashion_2_by_un1c0rny-d5as9f3.jpg