I thought wings took up armor and lower headgear slots because they weren't able to find a way to make the wings visible without them taking a headgear slot. Not sure how tux or bride's dress work, but those take away pretty much all of your combat ability.
perhaps, for NPC refines only, there could be some sort of charm or amulet that protects a weapon/armor from breaking 1 time,however the NPC would still stop refining as if the gear actually broke.
The Oka Compendium: A glorified record of my alt-a-holic-ism. May or may not be up to date at any given point.