Asked by rahelllord:
What role do clothes play in Cyavian society? So far we've only seen Sagis in a single image with simple clothes, and Ushuaia in what appears to be a ceremonial garb. Are clothes only used for special occasions?

In short: clothes don’t really play a significant role, and are down to personal preference.

Top to bottom: nude/normal, casual, formal.

Most drones wear little to no clothing, though younger ones often wear at least some simple clothing for occasions like school for a couple reasons: it is viewed as more presentable and juvenile drones get cold easier than adults, so it helps to keep them warm during cooler days. The older the drone gets, the more often they may choose to go unclothed, especially if working “dirty” jobs on the ground like farming, fishing, and foraging, in an effort to keep any clothing clean. Queens vary just as well, with some choosing to wear clothing and others choosing otherwise. Regardless, there are still two main types of clothing– casual and formal.

Casual–

Casual clothing is by far the most common for obvious reasons. For drones, the typical clothing is a vest or sleeved open-front shirt with a skirt-like garment around the waist. The shirt may have buttons in the front, but is otherwise kept open for the sake of comfort. The skirt has a sort of front “” with a wrap behind it, usually descending from the front to the back, and ascending back up again as the material is turned. The back portion has a sleeve to fit the tail, usually with buttons on the underside to keep it snug. The back of the sleeve fits nicely between two scales along the tailbase and helps to keep it from sliding down even if it’s a little loose. Colors are usually cool colors, slightly muted, though many prefer to follow a color similar to that of their scales and/or eyes. Blues, greys, greens, and purples are common. Typical accessories include bracelets, tail clasps, and necklaces. Sagis prefers wearing a set of medium-blue clothes with gold trim and with modified pocket holsters at the waist. He often wears a simple necklace of three drilled coins strung with a simple black cord.

For queens, the shirt is replaced with a shawl-like garment which drapes down the front and behind the neck and back. The specific style may vary between straight, crossed in the front, crossed in the back, and asymmetrical. Options for skirt colors are the same, though the back lacks the tail sleeve as queen scales tend to splay more than those of drones. Instead, the sleeve is reduced to a simple thick strap of fabric which rests between two scales, otherwise functioning the same way as the sleeve. Aten does not usually wear clothing, but on some occasions she chooses a simple straight shawl with a purple gradient and a simple skirt– this time with a square front instead of the tapered front Sagis wears, but with a similar gold trim. Her usual accessory is a simple pendant of a resin-preserved flower (not viewable at this angle) strung on black cord. As Aten’s red color is so unusual, she chooses a color between red and blue, as most drone scales end up a faded blue.

Formal–

Formal clothing is usually reserved for special occasions and celebrations, so one only ever rarely sees cyavians dressed up past casual. For drones, the familiar shirt and skirt are used, but with a much longer shirt. Usually only the very front is long, which sharply ascends to the back of the shirt. On top of the shirt is often a short shawl or scarf that hangs around the back of the neck to the front, hanging at the sides of the chest. The skirt usually has a different overall shape, ascending from front to back contrary to the usual casual style. The skirt is now accompanied by shorts, and rather sits atop the tail instead of wrapping around it. The front of the skirt is often given a special “ribbon-end” cut. The shorts below are usually fairly plain as most of them are covered by the skirt on top. Formal clothing in general tends to be very light in color, often white with light blue, reminiscent of the open sky. At the top of the skirt may also have a special spiral-ended coil, which is connected to the skirt via a sleeve in the very back. This coil is usually made of metals like gold, silver, steel, or brass, but many choose not to wear it as it’s quite heavy. Common accessories include necklaces, pectorals, bracelets, and tail clasps. Sagis’ formal clothing is as described, with a white skirt and shirt with yellow trim and pale blue shorts. His shawl grades from pale blue to sky blue and back again, ending in yellow trim. His accessories include a gold pectoral with colored glass s and a gold tail clasp with dangling colored glass beads. This is often when drones will decide to use bodypaint, which Sagis usually will do (though many will choose to do it whenever, clothed or not).

Queen formal clothing is quite similar to those for drones in of color and style. Queens, who normally can’t wear shirts due to the presence of shoulder scales, may wear a special shirt garment which sits behind the neck and ties or buttons around the back, resting under two scales. The front is often cut in the same way as the front of the skirt. The skirt is modified from those of drones, where the front usually is designed to sit behind the wrap of the skirt, which descends in a similar way to casual skirts with the tail strap just above. The shawl worn is usually much longer, and may come from the front, draping under the arms, looping around the top of the back, and hanging loose at the sides. The other styles are also common, but casual shawls are usually not long enough or are made “closed” (circular). Unlike drone clothing, shorts are usually not worn as formal skirts are quite long already. Common accessories are the same as those for drones, including the metal coil around the waist. Aten’s formal wardrobe includes the shirt garment with the ribbon-end front cut and the usual skirt with the same cut, both garments are white with yellow trim and light blue accents. Her shawl is very long and worn from the front as described, colored with a gentle gradient of sky blue to pale blue, then back to sky blue at the ends. She wears a large gold pectoral with similar colors of glass as Sagis and wears a gold tail clasp with several colored glass cabochons. Though not common, she also wears a pair of very short bridal gauntlets with both middle fingers anchored instead of the single finger. The gauntlets are white with yellow and gold trim.

Clothing preferences have changed with time, and given Ushuaia’s time of origin, she may be seen wearing ceremonial armor on very special occasions. This is rare, though, and is usually reserved for very formal visits between queens. Most queens don’t do this and instead choose to wear casual clothing most of the time, with only a minority opting with fully formal clothes.

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