May
7th
2014
They're all naked!! · 8:49pm May 7th, 2014
Do any of you remember when Discord, in my story Twilight at the Disco, made the very quotable statement that Equestria is a civilization of nudist? I didn’t pull that out of my arse. I noticed that in the many flash back spanning the timeline of MLP:FIM the further you go back, the more clothes they wore. Hearth warming eve episode, for example, every one wore clothes. So…what would have to happen for a society (pony, human or whatever) to slowly become such naturalist that any terms of nudity or its concept is lost?
Quick update: T@D is up to 3,000 words (non draft) I'm hoping to publish a new chapter on the 1 year anniversary of the story but...well I need to be realistic
The 60s?
So, basically, people who believe in peace and extreme slacking and do lots and lots of drugs. Like sugar. Sugar is a hell of a drug.
it's simpul, Celestia is the biggest pervert of them all X3
Perhaps because the weather was more variable back then, also they were having food problems. Clothing probably started as a way for the rich to show off their wealth (after wearing more jewelry than Mr. T. became impossible
). As things got worse, ponies would have started wearing clothes for protection.
Since Celestia and Luna took over after conquering Discord, the weather has probably become more moderate (cold enough to snow, but not bone-chilling). And with better diet, the need for clothing may have been reduced.
2087647
Agreed.
Clothing likely started off as mere protection from the elements (not _those_ Elements), within which the societal elites noticed an opportunity to distinguish themselves. As clothing became less of a practical necessity, so the lower classes gradually abandoned it.
Notice that clothes are pretty much de rigueur for the upper classes and formal occasions, and how most everyone in Appaloosa had hats and neckerchiefs? Examples of modern class distinction and practicality.
Also - they _can_ be naked and yet still not be indecent. Human fashion is heading in a similar direction, but imagine how much quicker it would have progressed if clothes were not necessary for the preservation of modesty.
Finally, I like to imagine that they are still very much prudish when it comes to showing skin - after all, the only truly naked parts of a pony are their faces and nethers (hooves don't count - they're giant fingernails) - so a _shaved_ pony would be positively scandalous!
2089506
2087647
I was hoping someone would give an intellectual answer, thank you.
Now to make it harder.
The ponies have hooves. So why do they have boots and types of shoes (keep in mind that they also wear horse shoes.)
2089767
), I do not recall seeing any pony regularly wearing horse shoes, at least not those worn by equines in this world. Most seem to go around bare-hooved. And since they do have hooves, there are few reasons for wearing shoes and boots as humans do, since hooves are essentially the same as finger/toe nails (I got my hooves polished just like Rarity 
) and protect their softer foot parts 
. Unless a human spends much of their time barefoot, ours are not so well protected and require at least a sandal for protection most times.
) or fashion (Celestia's gold hoof shoes 
).
Except for the 'Olden Pony' story (who's got my rusty horse shoe?!
As for wearing shoes and boots, they are undoubtedly worn for the same reasons as clothing, either function (in especially rough terrain
2089506
. Ponies are ahead of us there 
.
We will still need clothes until we find a way to keep all the dangly bits from dangling in plain sight
2089767
The purpose of hoofwear will vary, of course, given the situation it is worn in.
For example, we have seen 'fireproof boots' - the purpose there being rather obvious.
Boots, in Ponyville at least, would appear to be mainly a winter item - for purposes of warmth, perhaps? But, more probably, simply as a means of discarding the mud at the door.
Horseshoes - well, they're lumps of metal designed to protect the hoof from wear and tear. The hoof grows, as does a fingernail. This rate of growth is negated perfectly by the wear caused by life on the soft, plains earth horses and ponies developed on. Substitute that earth for the harder roads and pavements of a city or palace, and they wear down faster - hence; horseshoes.
Of course, Celestia and the guard's horseshoes are more stylized, as befits important types, and is also evolved from armour, explaining the upwards projection protecting their legs.
Finally, regular shoe-type footwear - I don't recall seeing this anywhere except perhaps in Canterlot, so I would suppose that they have been adapted from boots as a status signifier for wealthy people, whilst retaining the minimum 'mudguard' functionality they would require in normal city life.
Don't know if anyone already said it, but Hearths Warming for instance showed it was much colder back then, thanks to the Windigos? After they defeated them, I'm not sure. Maybe the climate needed slower changing than immediate magics. But that's my guess.