They will probably remove rank restrictions in the future for the rank 38 animal gear. Just a hunch I have since they removed rank restrictions a few patches ago for the rank 28 gear. Just seems logical that in due time they will remove rank 38 restrictions.

Honestly, this game has the motto of "eventually, you get everything handed to you" you can just wait it out and wait for the removal and then you get to wear the featherly outfit. Otherwise, in the meantime, do what everyone else has done and put in the time. I barely have any coil gear because I don't enjoy coil that much - it doesn't bother me when I see people running around in coil gear because I know they put the work in to learn those fights and to win those rolls. They earned it. PvP is no different - PvP'rs who put in the time should have some unique looks and toys to show off (not that they really do anything, glamor mainly) but atleast its something.

Fun, work, all that is subjective. I find PvP a blast and did it nonstop for like over a month (and I still do it) and eventually before I realized it, I was rank 45. It didn't feel like a job to me because I find it really fun. I don't find a lot of the PvE elements in this game fun, so I had no problem ditching dailies, crafting and other "meh" activities to PvP full time to hit rank 45. I hope they continue to raise the rank so we can max out more of those pvp abilities