Fursuit

The host of the Iron Artist competition at Further Confusion 2002.

Fursuits are animal costumes associated with certain subgroups of furry fandom. They range from simple tails and ears to full costumes cooled by battery-powered fans. Similar to mascot suits, they allow the wearer to adopt another personality while in costume. Owners can spend less than one-hundred to many thousands of dollars on one fursuit, depending on complexity and materials used. Frequently these items are sold at conventions, or online by either commission or auction. Many furry fans make their own using online tutorials or advice from newsgroups. Due to the delicate nature of these costumes, many require special handling while washing. The term "fursuit" was coined in 1993 by [Robert King]].

Types of fursuits

The standard fursuit is a full body costume that consists of a head, forepaws (hands), hindpaws (feet) and a body with an attached tail; in some cases, the tail is connected via a belt to the wearer and hangs out through a hole in the back of the body. Many suits include special padding or undersuits to give the character its desired shape (this is especially present in larger characters or those of a particular gender.)

A partial suit or half-suit contains the above, only without the body. This allows the wearer to don ordinary clothing (or a different costume) overtop of the paws, head and tail. In partial suits, the tail is usually attached to a belt, and the arms and legs have sleeves that can go up as far as the shoulders and pelvis, respectively.

Most recently, a third type known as the three-quarter suit has been developed, which consists of a head, arms and pants made to look like the legs, tail and feet of the animal in question, which works well for characters who only wear shirts.

Reasons for fursuiting

A person who wears a fursuit may fall into one or more of five categories.

Job or charity work

Cookiefox entertaining children

Some furry fans do fursuiting for a job or to bring attention to an event or charity. This can include mascots, but not all mascots are furries. Many are hired through an agency to represent a character, while others bring their own constructions to an event instead. There are also several volunteer fursuiting groups across North America that either ask or are asked to entertain at various social functions. Some groups even set up their own charitable events or perform on the streets to passersby.

Conventions, parades, exhibitions

Other furries enjoy wearing their suits for parades, exhibitions, or conventions. Often these are of a personal character who they are expressing as a form of role play. The fursuiter may consider themselves to be expressing who they really are. These fursuiters may also wear their suits to small, informal meetings among furry fans in their area.

Role-playing

Some players of live action role-playing games (LARP) create highly elaborate costumes (including fursuits) for their characters. Half suits (arms, legs and a mask or makeup) are usually created for role-playing games, though some use full-body suits. These suits wear elaborate clothes and costumes of their own, depending on the theme of the game.

Cosplayers (short for "costume players") are similar to LARPers, but without the live games. They focus on characters from popular media, with emphasis on Japanese pop culture such as manga, anime, and video games.

Sexuality

A small portion of the furry fandom considers a fursuit a sexual item. Some fursuits are sold with or modified to contain provisions for sexual activity, such as openings, removable panels, and anatomically correct artificial genitalia.

• 
  The Fursuit Parade at Anthrocon 2006.
• 
  TaniDaReal
• Sinatra at FC 2006
  Sinatra at FC 2006
• 
  Spunky and Furloween's vampire bat at MFF 2006

Trivia

• The TV procedural drama C.S.I. featured a fursuit convention in episode 406, "Fur and Loathing." (more information at WikiFur)
• The Shining has a brief depiction of someone in a dog costume performing oral sex on a man, a reference to the owner of Overlook Hotel and his homosexual partner.
• The term "fursuit" was coined in 1993 by Robert King as a title for a mailing list about the then-unnamed area of hobbyist costuming.

Music video appearances

Fursuits are occasionally featured in music videos. Examples include:

• "Beautiful", by Moby, which revolves around a swinger party where all the participants are dressed up in fursuits. (more info)
• "We Know Something You Don't Know", by DJ Format, which involves dancing fursuiters.
• "Nature Anthem" by Grandaddy, featuring a fursuiter parade through the forest.
• "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", by The Flaming Lips, which involves many fursuiters dancing in a club.
• "Who Says You Can't Go Home", by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, which follows a dog through the many adventures of his journey home.
• "Talks Shows on Mute" by Incubus, shows the band playing on a talk show which the audience and hosts are wearing fursuits and extensive make-up.
• "The Fast Food Song" by the Fast Food Rockers features a dancing blue fursuit dog named "hotdog".
• "The Distance" by Cake features a multitude of fursuits in various environments encouring the protagonist in the video on his 'race'.
• "Tainted Love" by Marilyn Manson features dancers in bunny fursuits on a bed behind Manson.
• "Crazy (Gnarls Barkley song)" by Gnarls Barkley There are two times throughout the video where you can see Producer Danger Mouse in a fursuit (though it appears briefly both times). Once is after Cee-Lo laughs and sing "Bless Your Soul" and the other is right after the final chorus.

See also

• Kigurumi

External links

• The Furry Costume Information Exchange
• The Fursuit community (on LiveJournal)
• The Fursuit Archive
• fursuit.co.uk The British fursuit site
• Fursuit on WikiFur, a specialist wiki