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How To Get A Fursuit
5 years ago
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LOOK, A DISTRACTION!
How To Get A Fursuit
The other day, I was watching Star Raccoon talk on his Youtube Channel about how to get a fursuit. His description was kind of brief. I thought maybe I could do better. Getting a fursuit is actually a pretty long, involved process. The first step especially goes right to the heart of what being Furry means. But first, here's Star's video for your perusal.
Ask A Raccoon: Fursona and how to get a Fursuit! -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KMJUkYbZ1Y
There are ten steps to getting a fursuit. Here they are in order.
1) Character
Most fursuiters start with a suit of their own fursona and for most of them, that's enough. If you're lucky enough to be able to afford more than one fursuit, it can be another of your own characters. If its not your own, always get permission from the person or organization who owns the character first. Getting that permission is your responsibility!
At any rate, you will need to know what the character looks like. If you're good at drawing, then draw it. Then draw it again several times, because the character will change every time until you decide on its final appearance. If you can't draw, then at least make a written description. Be thorough! Consider the character's main or back fur colour, the colour of its tummy, (which is different from its back in most animals), and the colour of its feet, face, ears, spots or stripes, and anywhere else that it isn't the same as as its main colour. Consider its eye colour and the colour of its teeth. Is it male or female? What clothes does it wear? Does it wear jewelry? Does it carry tools, weapons or other accessories? Is it big or small? Is it skinny, fat, lythe, stalky, big muscles? (The suit will be your size no matter the character's size, but a good maker might be able to make it look like it's bigger or smaller. Or maybe not, but it can't hurt to ask.) What about its tail? Does it have extra arms or legs? Are its legs plantigrade, (like a human), digitigrade, (like a cat or dog), or unguligrade, (like a deer?) Does it glow anywhere? Is it realistic, cartoonish or somewhere in between? Get all the details down!
Bear in mind that the more complex your character's appearance, the harder and more expensive your fursuit will be to make. The more like your own body it looks, the quicker and cheaper making it will be.
2) Save Up!
Next, you'll need a refsheet of your character. They show like an architect's blueprint what your character looks like. They cost more than regular art -- typically in the hundreds of dollars -- so start saving.
If you can draw your own refsheet, you can skip this step.
3) Refsheet Artist
Look for an artist to draw your refsheet. You want one whose art resembles your character. Especially, it matters whether their usual art is realistic or cartoony. Find one whose style looks like what you imagined when you were designing your character.
Then ask the artists that you like two things. First, ask if they draw refsheets. (Make sure they know you want it for a fursuit maker. Fursuit refsheets are different from character refsheets, which are only useful to other artists.) If no, then POLITELY thank them for their time and try somebody else. If yes, then ask how much they charge. Also, make sure they're okay with following your sketches or text description. (Don't hire an artist who needs your refsheet to make your refsheet!) Finally, tell them you'll get back to them and keep saving until you have enough. By the way, it's okay to consider more than one artist at a time.
Again, if you can draw your own refsheet, you can skip this step.
4) Refsheet
Now that you have enough money, go back to the artist and ask them to draw your refsheet. Ask when they want their money; up front, on completion, partial payments as they go? Then give them the sketches and/or text description that you made, (which you asked if they were okay with in the last step), and pay them, (as applicable.)
If you can make your own refsheet, then start by looking at other people's refsheets. Ask fursuit makers what they require from refsheets. Figure out how to draw one before you start. When you're confident that you know what you're doing, take your time. Do the best, neatest job you can. Your final fursuit depends most of all on the maker knowing what you want.
5) Save Up Again!
There are four levels of fursuit.
- Just the head is... just the head. It's not advisable to get just the head because without at least the tail it won't really look like your character, just you in a funny animal mask. The head is the most complex and difficult part to make. Expect to pay $500-$1,000 for it, depending on how complex it is.
- Partial fursuits are the head, tail, hands and possibly feet. You cover the rest of your body with clothes as normal. Expect to pay $500-$1,500 for that.
- Semi-partials include the head, tail, gloves and feet, but may also include the shoulders, the upper part of the torso, arm gloves, (which may cover just your lower arms or your upper arms too), or feet with leggings. Again, you cover the rest of your body with clothes. Expect to pay $1,000-$2,000 for all that.
- A full suit includes the head, tail, full body, hands and feet. The maker might also supply jewelry and oother accessories, or you can get those yourself. Expect to pay $3,000 and up. I've heard of full suits that cost $15,000 -- in 1999 dollars, no less -- but those were exceptionally complex.
If you are younger than eighteen or nineteen, a partial fursuit is your best choice. You are still growing and a full suit will quickly become too small for you, but a partial will (literally) grow with you. The problem, of course, will be affording it. Your mother and father will probably not want to spend $1,000 on a funny animal costume, even for Christmas. You might consider getting a used suit; Furbuy is one place to look. You will still need to come up with hundreds of dollars and you will be buying somebody else's problems, but it's a possibility to consider.
If you wonder why the rest of the suit costs so much more than the head, look up the price of fake fur. You wouldn't believe it! Consider also that it takes hundreds of hours and a lot of skill to make a fursuit. Makers deserve to be paid for their time!
Anyway, decide what you can afford and start saving up for it. It's best to have all the money ready in advance, because you never know when you'll lose your source of income. You don't want to owe your maker and not be able to pay, that would be very bad! And if you decide to buy a used suit, you will have to pay up front, even if it's through Paypal or another escrow service.
6) Fursuit Maker
When you think you'll be able to afford a fursuit, you're probably wrong. Still, it's best to choose a maker in advance. Look for makers whose fursuits look like your refsheet. Again, it's okay to consider more than one fursuit maker at a time, (but you'll end up with just one.) Keep in mind that popular makers will have waiting lists that might be hard to get onto. Newer makers won't be as busy, but they won't have as much experience either, and their work might not be as good. Most makers have a gallery of their completed fursuits for you to judge. (Be wary of those who don't!)
When you've chosen makers whom you like, find out how much they charge. Even if you're not on their waiting list, it's a fair question. They might want to see your refsheet at this point to judge whether it's something they can or want to do. Some might even give free or cheap estimates. (Be sure their estimate at least guesses at shipping and handling, because you'll have to pay that, too.) By the way, makers are likely to be pretty busy, especially if they're popular. When you ask, expect to wait days for a reply.
That done, you can finish saving up.
7) Duct Tape Dummy
This is essentially a tailor's mannequin which exactly matches your body size and shape. Fursuit makers use it to tailor your fursuit to fit you exactly. You are responsible for making it and sending it to your fursuit maker.
You will need four things to make your DTD; old clothes that you can sacrifice, a helluva lot of duct tape, paramedic's sheers, and a friend to help you.
You start by dressing in underwear that's not too revealing, since your friend is going to see it. Then you put on your sacrificial shirt, pants, slippers and, if you're being really thorough, gloves. The shirt must have long sleeves and the pants full legs. A shirt with a collar is best. A turtleneck sweater and jeans is ideal; shorts and a tee shirt won't do at all. Even though you're going to cut them up later, they must be clean and dry so that the duct tape will stick properly.
Now, you and your friend start wrapping you in duct tape. THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS ALONE! It has to press your clothes tight to your body everywhere that you're dressed. The tape should overlap with each pass. Once your whole body is covered in duct tape, wrap it a second time for strength. (Strong with the glue duct tape is, but not that strong!)
Finally, your friend will use the paramedic's sheers to cut the duct tape and your sacrificial clothes open so that you can get out. Paramedic's sheers are angled and have a broad, blunt end on one blade so that they cut your clothes and not you. (They're not ridiculously expensive and can come in handy for other occasions.) Make sure you can trust your friend to NOT cut off your underwear, too!
Usually it will be enough to cut about half-way down the back, possibly through the shoulders to part-way down the arms, plus the wrists and/or ankles. Don't cut more than just enough to let you wriggle out!
You then fold up the completed DTD and seal it in a box to send to the maker. (It might help to enclose a copy of your refsheet, too, but NOT YOUR ONLY COPY!) Your fursuit maker will seal it up and stuff it; that's their responsibility.
8) Commision, Pay, And Wait
It's finally time to approach your chosen maker with a commission for your fursuit. By this time, they should at least have seen your refsheet. If necessary, start watching their waitlist for an opportunity to get onto it. The maker will probably want at least some payment in advance to reserve your place in their queue, and probably more to begin.
When your maker does begin your fursuit, they'll probably be doing more than one commission at at time. That's because parts of your suit will need to stand and set after some steps, especially with your head, as well as waiting periods while supplies they need are delivered late again. There's no sense in standing idle during these periods, so they have two or three commissions on the go at any time. Be aware of this and don't take it personally. But even when they're concentrating on your commission, it takes hundreds of hours to make a fursuit. (Plus they need to go to the bathroom, eat, buy groceries, sleep, and generally take care of the rest of their lives.)
Don't expect yours to be ready for months, possibly more than a year!
9) Final Payment
Eventually, you will receive the maker's final bill. It will probably be higher than the estimate because of things the maker could not predict, but it shouldn't be too much higher. It's not unreasonable to ask for details. If you've been paying increments as the work progressed, this will probably be a bigger payment than the others because it will include shipping and handling; the costs of putting your fursuit in a box, (which hopefully will withstand abuse by the postal apes), and sending it to you. If you paid in full up front, it could all be shipping and handling. At this point, you could, if you wish, offer to pay extra for things like insurance, registration, tracking, or a courier like UPS or FedEx instead of the post orifice. All of these will cost extra and it's your responsibility to pay for it.
10) The Final Wait
When you pay the final bill, the maker should either give you an estimate from the post office, (or whichever couriers they used), of how long it will take to get to you, or else give you a tracking number so that you can look it up yourself. Don't count on this estimate; couriers and the post office both make mistakes, use the wrong figures, misplace boxes, or just can't be bothered.
Anyway, waiting for delivery will be the hardest part of the whole project. Will it arrive? Will it be as good as the maker promised? Will it fit right? Will it have to be sent back for alterations or repairs? Will it get to you in time for the convention? You will worry. You will tear your hair out. You might have to pay import fees and duty for it, depending on your local laws and where the maker lives. (You probably should have looked those up and added them to the maker's estimate in step six!) And when the box finally arrives, you will be afraid to open it.
But you will open it. And if the maker was any good, you'll immediately fall in love. Congratulations, you are now a fursuiter!
...there are, however, no guarantees that you will be a good fursuiter. At first, nobody will appreciate you other than yourself. Becoming a famous fursuiter, like Telephone or Majira, is your problem.
Summary
There are ten steps to getting a fursuit: making your character; saving up for a refsheet; finding an artist to draw your refsheet, or learning to draw one yourself; hiring an artist to draw your refsheet, or drawing it yourself; saving up for the fursuit; choosing a fursuit maker; making a duct tape dummy; commissioning a fursuit maker to make your fursuit, (and waiting while they make it); paying for it; and waiting for the post office or courier to deliver it. At all of these steps, it is your responsibility to pay what you owe, to keep track of what you owe and what's going on, to do your own parts properly, to comunicate clearly and honestly, and most of all, to be patient. With a little luck, (and a lot of money), the results will be a fursuit that lasts you for years and accurately reflects the character that you want to portray.
A NOTE ON DHGATE
There are Chinese factories that make fursuits. Their products are much cheaper than any western makers, as little as $300-$450 for a full suit. Fursuits from DHGate have two main disadvantages.
1) They are cheap because they are poorly made. They look shoddy, they fit badly, and they don't last very long. You won't be happy with one.
2) They are mostly pirated copies of fursuits by western makers. They do this on the cheap by not paying royalties to anybody. Imagine going to a convention in a DHGate fursuit and meeting the original fursuit, or the person who owns it. They won't like it and neither will the convention. It could be embarrassing.
As tempting as their prices might be, don't get a cheap, Chinese fursuit. They're not worth it.
Wish.com is no better for finding Furry goods.
Finally, Full Disclosure
I am not an artist or a fursuit maker. I do not have a fursuit myself. All that I know about the process of getting one comes from other people talking about their experiences, from too many sources to list, over several years. Except for how much refsheets cost; I learned that by asking artists.
-- D'Otter
UPDATE -- added link to Ash Coyote's video 30AP2020
How To Get A Fursuit
The other day, I was watching Star Raccoon talk on his Youtube Channel about how to get a fursuit. His description was kind of brief. I thought maybe I could do better. Getting a fursuit is actually a pretty long, involved process. The first step especially goes right to the heart of what being Furry means. But first, here's Star's video for your perusal.
Ask A Raccoon: Fursona and how to get a Fursuit! -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KMJUkYbZ1Y
There are ten steps to getting a fursuit. Here they are in order.
1) Character
Most fursuiters start with a suit of their own fursona and for most of them, that's enough. If you're lucky enough to be able to afford more than one fursuit, it can be another of your own characters. If its not your own, always get permission from the person or organization who owns the character first. Getting that permission is your responsibility!
At any rate, you will need to know what the character looks like. If you're good at drawing, then draw it. Then draw it again several times, because the character will change every time until you decide on its final appearance. If you can't draw, then at least make a written description. Be thorough! Consider the character's main or back fur colour, the colour of its tummy, (which is different from its back in most animals), and the colour of its feet, face, ears, spots or stripes, and anywhere else that it isn't the same as as its main colour. Consider its eye colour and the colour of its teeth. Is it male or female? What clothes does it wear? Does it wear jewelry? Does it carry tools, weapons or other accessories? Is it big or small? Is it skinny, fat, lythe, stalky, big muscles? (The suit will be your size no matter the character's size, but a good maker might be able to make it look like it's bigger or smaller. Or maybe not, but it can't hurt to ask.) What about its tail? Does it have extra arms or legs? Are its legs plantigrade, (like a human), digitigrade, (like a cat or dog), or unguligrade, (like a deer?) Does it glow anywhere? Is it realistic, cartoonish or somewhere in between? Get all the details down!
Bear in mind that the more complex your character's appearance, the harder and more expensive your fursuit will be to make. The more like your own body it looks, the quicker and cheaper making it will be.
2) Save Up!
Next, you'll need a refsheet of your character. They show like an architect's blueprint what your character looks like. They cost more than regular art -- typically in the hundreds of dollars -- so start saving.
If you can draw your own refsheet, you can skip this step.
3) Refsheet Artist
Look for an artist to draw your refsheet. You want one whose art resembles your character. Especially, it matters whether their usual art is realistic or cartoony. Find one whose style looks like what you imagined when you were designing your character.
Then ask the artists that you like two things. First, ask if they draw refsheets. (Make sure they know you want it for a fursuit maker. Fursuit refsheets are different from character refsheets, which are only useful to other artists.) If no, then POLITELY thank them for their time and try somebody else. If yes, then ask how much they charge. Also, make sure they're okay with following your sketches or text description. (Don't hire an artist who needs your refsheet to make your refsheet!) Finally, tell them you'll get back to them and keep saving until you have enough. By the way, it's okay to consider more than one artist at a time.
Again, if you can draw your own refsheet, you can skip this step.
4) Refsheet
Now that you have enough money, go back to the artist and ask them to draw your refsheet. Ask when they want their money; up front, on completion, partial payments as they go? Then give them the sketches and/or text description that you made, (which you asked if they were okay with in the last step), and pay them, (as applicable.)
If you can make your own refsheet, then start by looking at other people's refsheets. Ask fursuit makers what they require from refsheets. Figure out how to draw one before you start. When you're confident that you know what you're doing, take your time. Do the best, neatest job you can. Your final fursuit depends most of all on the maker knowing what you want.
5) Save Up Again!
There are four levels of fursuit.
- Just the head is... just the head. It's not advisable to get just the head because without at least the tail it won't really look like your character, just you in a funny animal mask. The head is the most complex and difficult part to make. Expect to pay $500-$1,000 for it, depending on how complex it is.
- Partial fursuits are the head, tail, hands and possibly feet. You cover the rest of your body with clothes as normal. Expect to pay $500-$1,500 for that.
- Semi-partials include the head, tail, gloves and feet, but may also include the shoulders, the upper part of the torso, arm gloves, (which may cover just your lower arms or your upper arms too), or feet with leggings. Again, you cover the rest of your body with clothes. Expect to pay $1,000-$2,000 for all that.
- A full suit includes the head, tail, full body, hands and feet. The maker might also supply jewelry and oother accessories, or you can get those yourself. Expect to pay $3,000 and up. I've heard of full suits that cost $15,000 -- in 1999 dollars, no less -- but those were exceptionally complex.
If you are younger than eighteen or nineteen, a partial fursuit is your best choice. You are still growing and a full suit will quickly become too small for you, but a partial will (literally) grow with you. The problem, of course, will be affording it. Your mother and father will probably not want to spend $1,000 on a funny animal costume, even for Christmas. You might consider getting a used suit; Furbuy is one place to look. You will still need to come up with hundreds of dollars and you will be buying somebody else's problems, but it's a possibility to consider.
If you wonder why the rest of the suit costs so much more than the head, look up the price of fake fur. You wouldn't believe it! Consider also that it takes hundreds of hours and a lot of skill to make a fursuit. Makers deserve to be paid for their time!
Anyway, decide what you can afford and start saving up for it. It's best to have all the money ready in advance, because you never know when you'll lose your source of income. You don't want to owe your maker and not be able to pay, that would be very bad! And if you decide to buy a used suit, you will have to pay up front, even if it's through Paypal or another escrow service.
6) Fursuit Maker
When you think you'll be able to afford a fursuit, you're probably wrong. Still, it's best to choose a maker in advance. Look for makers whose fursuits look like your refsheet. Again, it's okay to consider more than one fursuit maker at a time, (but you'll end up with just one.) Keep in mind that popular makers will have waiting lists that might be hard to get onto. Newer makers won't be as busy, but they won't have as much experience either, and their work might not be as good. Most makers have a gallery of their completed fursuits for you to judge. (Be wary of those who don't!)
When you've chosen makers whom you like, find out how much they charge. Even if you're not on their waiting list, it's a fair question. They might want to see your refsheet at this point to judge whether it's something they can or want to do. Some might even give free or cheap estimates. (Be sure their estimate at least guesses at shipping and handling, because you'll have to pay that, too.) By the way, makers are likely to be pretty busy, especially if they're popular. When you ask, expect to wait days for a reply.
That done, you can finish saving up.
7) Duct Tape Dummy
This is essentially a tailor's mannequin which exactly matches your body size and shape. Fursuit makers use it to tailor your fursuit to fit you exactly. You are responsible for making it and sending it to your fursuit maker.
You will need four things to make your DTD; old clothes that you can sacrifice, a helluva lot of duct tape, paramedic's sheers, and a friend to help you.
You start by dressing in underwear that's not too revealing, since your friend is going to see it. Then you put on your sacrificial shirt, pants, slippers and, if you're being really thorough, gloves. The shirt must have long sleeves and the pants full legs. A shirt with a collar is best. A turtleneck sweater and jeans is ideal; shorts and a tee shirt won't do at all. Even though you're going to cut them up later, they must be clean and dry so that the duct tape will stick properly.
Now, you and your friend start wrapping you in duct tape. THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS ALONE! It has to press your clothes tight to your body everywhere that you're dressed. The tape should overlap with each pass. Once your whole body is covered in duct tape, wrap it a second time for strength. (Strong with the glue duct tape is, but not that strong!)
Finally, your friend will use the paramedic's sheers to cut the duct tape and your sacrificial clothes open so that you can get out. Paramedic's sheers are angled and have a broad, blunt end on one blade so that they cut your clothes and not you. (They're not ridiculously expensive and can come in handy for other occasions.) Make sure you can trust your friend to NOT cut off your underwear, too!
Usually it will be enough to cut about half-way down the back, possibly through the shoulders to part-way down the arms, plus the wrists and/or ankles. Don't cut more than just enough to let you wriggle out!
You then fold up the completed DTD and seal it in a box to send to the maker. (It might help to enclose a copy of your refsheet, too, but NOT YOUR ONLY COPY!) Your fursuit maker will seal it up and stuff it; that's their responsibility.
8) Commision, Pay, And Wait
It's finally time to approach your chosen maker with a commission for your fursuit. By this time, they should at least have seen your refsheet. If necessary, start watching their waitlist for an opportunity to get onto it. The maker will probably want at least some payment in advance to reserve your place in their queue, and probably more to begin.
When your maker does begin your fursuit, they'll probably be doing more than one commission at at time. That's because parts of your suit will need to stand and set after some steps, especially with your head, as well as waiting periods while supplies they need are delivered late again. There's no sense in standing idle during these periods, so they have two or three commissions on the go at any time. Be aware of this and don't take it personally. But even when they're concentrating on your commission, it takes hundreds of hours to make a fursuit. (Plus they need to go to the bathroom, eat, buy groceries, sleep, and generally take care of the rest of their lives.)
Don't expect yours to be ready for months, possibly more than a year!
9) Final Payment
Eventually, you will receive the maker's final bill. It will probably be higher than the estimate because of things the maker could not predict, but it shouldn't be too much higher. It's not unreasonable to ask for details. If you've been paying increments as the work progressed, this will probably be a bigger payment than the others because it will include shipping and handling; the costs of putting your fursuit in a box, (which hopefully will withstand abuse by the postal apes), and sending it to you. If you paid in full up front, it could all be shipping and handling. At this point, you could, if you wish, offer to pay extra for things like insurance, registration, tracking, or a courier like UPS or FedEx instead of the post orifice. All of these will cost extra and it's your responsibility to pay for it.
10) The Final Wait
When you pay the final bill, the maker should either give you an estimate from the post office, (or whichever couriers they used), of how long it will take to get to you, or else give you a tracking number so that you can look it up yourself. Don't count on this estimate; couriers and the post office both make mistakes, use the wrong figures, misplace boxes, or just can't be bothered.
Anyway, waiting for delivery will be the hardest part of the whole project. Will it arrive? Will it be as good as the maker promised? Will it fit right? Will it have to be sent back for alterations or repairs? Will it get to you in time for the convention? You will worry. You will tear your hair out. You might have to pay import fees and duty for it, depending on your local laws and where the maker lives. (You probably should have looked those up and added them to the maker's estimate in step six!) And when the box finally arrives, you will be afraid to open it.
But you will open it. And if the maker was any good, you'll immediately fall in love. Congratulations, you are now a fursuiter!
...there are, however, no guarantees that you will be a good fursuiter. At first, nobody will appreciate you other than yourself. Becoming a famous fursuiter, like Telephone or Majira, is your problem.
Summary
There are ten steps to getting a fursuit: making your character; saving up for a refsheet; finding an artist to draw your refsheet, or learning to draw one yourself; hiring an artist to draw your refsheet, or drawing it yourself; saving up for the fursuit; choosing a fursuit maker; making a duct tape dummy; commissioning a fursuit maker to make your fursuit, (and waiting while they make it); paying for it; and waiting for the post office or courier to deliver it. At all of these steps, it is your responsibility to pay what you owe, to keep track of what you owe and what's going on, to do your own parts properly, to comunicate clearly and honestly, and most of all, to be patient. With a little luck, (and a lot of money), the results will be a fursuit that lasts you for years and accurately reflects the character that you want to portray.
A NOTE ON DHGATE
There are Chinese factories that make fursuits. Their products are much cheaper than any western makers, as little as $300-$450 for a full suit. Fursuits from DHGate have two main disadvantages.
1) They are cheap because they are poorly made. They look shoddy, they fit badly, and they don't last very long. You won't be happy with one.
2) They are mostly pirated copies of fursuits by western makers. They do this on the cheap by not paying royalties to anybody. Imagine going to a convention in a DHGate fursuit and meeting the original fursuit, or the person who owns it. They won't like it and neither will the convention. It could be embarrassing.
As tempting as their prices might be, don't get a cheap, Chinese fursuit. They're not worth it.
Wish.com is no better for finding Furry goods.
Finally, Full Disclosure
I am not an artist or a fursuit maker. I do not have a fursuit myself. All that I know about the process of getting one comes from other people talking about their experiences, from too many sources to list, over several years. Except for how much refsheets cost; I learned that by asking artists.
-- D'Otter
UPDATE -- added link to Ash Coyote's video 30AP2020
When I was getting my fursuit done, I decided to do it home-made. So, the only ref sheet I did was for the fursuit itself and whilst I did have to save up for my materials, a lot more of my time was spent sewing rather than saving.
Making a fursuit from scratch is a challenge, for sure! But I'd recommend it so that you have a clearer idea as to what to look for should you purchase one in future.