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Fursuit Types + Terminology: A Guide
12 years ago
FURSUITS: A SIMPLE GUIDE
Fursuit Building is an extremely niche hobby that is nebulous
to the wider scopes of costume and creature design, but exclusive to the Furry Fandom.
Fursuits, however, have their own classification.
They are not mascot costumes (though similar-- unless the suit is used in a
professional setting to represent a company), and they are not movie props.
They are a personal form of expression that the fandom enjoys-- each person for their own reason.
As such, Fursuits have styles and terminology associated with them.
---
There are three main styles of suit:
From these three categories, come three types pertaining to how many parts the suit has.
This is the general guideline, but not always the case:
There are some outlying styles of suit, as well:
---
TERMINOLOGY (Alphabetical Order):
[This list is ever-growing. If you can think of something we left out, please let us know!]
Fursuit Building is an extremely niche hobby that is nebulous
to the wider scopes of costume and creature design, but exclusive to the Furry Fandom.
Fursuits, however, have their own classification.
They are not mascot costumes (though similar-- unless the suit is used in a
professional setting to represent a company), and they are not movie props.
They are a personal form of expression that the fandom enjoys-- each person for their own reason.
As such, Fursuits have styles and terminology associated with them.
---
There are three main styles of suit:
Realistic: Life-Like, Gives the Effect of Being Real/Alive, like the creature could exist.
Semi-Realistic: A mixture of both realism and toon. Playful but believable.
Toon: Fun, bouncy, cartoon character-like suits. Exaggerated features, a caricature.From these three categories, come three types pertaining to how many parts the suit has.
This is the general guideline, but not always the case:
Full: An entire costume. Hands, Head, Bodysuit, Feet, Tail.
3/4th: Hands, Head, Feet, Tail, and either full pant legs or a full shirt upper body. Worn in conjunction with clothes.
Partial: Hands, Head, Tail, and (usually, but not always) Feet.
There are some outlying styles of suit, as well:
Quadsuit: A suit designed to stand on all fours, like a feral animal. Can come in realistic, semi-realistic, or toon.
Rarsuit: A suit made to scare and amaze, usually a monster.
Chibi: A style originating from Japanese artwork where the character is given child-like proportions-- ie, huge eyes, a big head, and a tiny body/limbs.---
TERMINOLOGY (Alphabetical Order):
Acrylic Eyes: Eyes made of acrylic. More info here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4488205/
Balaclava: A face covering worn under a head. Wicks sweat and keeps a mask steady.
Buckram Eyes: Eyes used in toon heads, a grided cloth material painted on then installed-- allows the look of eyes with the ability of the wearer to see through.
DF: Distinctive Fabrics. A Faux Fur Supplier. www.distinctivefabric.com/
Digitigrade Legs: Made to look like a real animal's legs via the use of padding. Gives the illusion of walking on one's toes. Some suits use stilts to achieve this look to an extreme.
Dropped Crotch: A suit made with the crotch lower than normal to give the illusion the wearer has tiny, stubby legs.
Foam Base: Head built from foam, usually much more durable than a resin base. Usually toony heads are built this way.
Follow-Me Eyes: Eyes that appear to follow the person looking at them.
Indoor Soles: Soles of feetpaws made to wear indoors. Gentle wear and tear only.
LEDs: Lights used to light up eyes, claws, or any other glowing part of a suit.
MM: Monterey Mills. A Faux Fur supplier. www.montereymills.com/
Moving Jaw: A jaw that is made to move with the wearer's jaw. Sensitivity varies by builder.
NFT: National Fiber Technologies. Highest quality faux-fur on the market. http://www.nftech.com/
Parade Soles: Soles of the feetpaws made to wear outdoors or for heavy-duty walking.
Plantigrade Legs: Appear as a human's, straight legged and flat-footed.
Plastic Mesh: A grid structure made out of plastic, used to form heads. This material is outdated and shouldn't be used for long-lasting construction anymore.
Resin Base: Cast Resin form to build a head off of. Usually used for realistic suits, but not always.
Resin Eyes: Eyes made of resin. More info here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4488205/
Sockpaws: Footpaws built off of socks. Allow freer movement and a closer fit.
Stompy Paws: Feetpaws built purposefully large and round, like an elephant's foot.
Tear Duct Vision: Usually used with realistic heads or heads with taxidermy eyes. The wearer's vision is through the tear-ducts of the head.
Taxidermy Eyes: Usually done with an acrylic or glass half-sphere. Give the illusion of a real, wet eye. Usually used on realistic suits.
Toony Eyes: Eyes usually built with plastic, used in toony suits.
Unguligrade: Similar in style to Digitigrade, but used to refer to animals with hooves.
Use Your Own Eyes: A head that does not have eyes installed-- instead there are holes for the wearer's eyes to look out of. Used in conjunction with face-paint.
Wefting: A process by which strands of long fiber are rolled together with hot glue at the tips, in order to make accent pieces such as long hair or a horse tail.
[This list is ever-growing. If you can think of something we left out, please let us know!]
And the difference of resin and acrylic eyes
I actually don't really know the different of resin and acrylic eyes (I'm the purely rule-enforcement mod, though I know enough basics, I am not a builder).
Is it just the material, basically?
Other things to add to the dictionary-
How about adding "parade soles" and/or "indoor soles" for feetpaws to the terminology list?
Would it be worth adding "balaclava" to the dictionary? I wasn't familiar with the word until I started looking at head-building tutorials. Most people in my area seem to say "ski mask".
Also, if you're adding NFT, maybe also add "DF" and "MM Fox" ? I know it can get confusing to someone who isn't familiar with all of the suppliers out there, and I've read complaints in the past from people who weren't sure what they were getting. (Like thinking the maker used inferior "fun fur" because Fox fur wasn't as soft as they'd expected.)
I was trying to rush out the door.
Its where the bottom jaw is separate from the rest of the head, making it easier to emphasize a talking character.
I've never been in the market for them, but good to know there's an alternate name.
I personally use it for construction of hooves. I've had a friend of mine use it to make a skull-dog mask for his fursuit. The stuff really does live up to it's name, Wonderflex. http://www.cosplaysupplies.com/wonderflex/
Glass taxidermy eyes are not half spheres, the commercially available ones are almost always concave-convex, having a hollow back which is painted. I know it's a small quibble but it makes a huge difference to the look of the suit from different angles
I'd add something about taxidermy jawsets, both the commercially available variety and then ones made by suit makers. Same for noses. I'd probably add something about paw pads too, and claws.