That sort of wardrobe malfunction is not terribly uncommon since fursuit-making is still mostly a cottage industry where each piece is a one-off custom, but most reputable fursuit-makers offer a limited-time warranty to cover minor alterations and repairs.
Furry conventions also usually have someone offering repair services (sometimes even for free) in the dealer’s den in addition to the tables selling everything from parts and accessories to entire pre-made fullsuits.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I should have assumed, but I am just now realizing the suits cost that much and that there are on fact pursuit repair shops. I would have thought it was going into a fabric store… Living over here in my isolated ignorance I guess lol
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
They’ve been around a long time actually. Somebody had to make mascot costumes, and i imagine that skillset translates pretty well to fursuits
Trashboat@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Mascots are just commercially acceptable fursonas
CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
They’re expensive for the same kind of reasons that getting a tailor to custom make a normal suit from scratch would be expensive. Takes a lot of labor and only a relatively small pool of people have the relevant skills, plus some of the material costs add up.
AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
This is a big part of why I love being in community with furries, despite not being one myself.
I’ve done a lot of bespoke clothing making — mostly for myself, but occasionally I’ve done things on commission. People are often astounded at how much high quality craftsmanship costs when the skilled labour is properly compensated.
I once wore a €20,000 dress (it was rented for me by a girlfriend so I could attend a swanky event with her). Before we went out, I was poring over all the construction details, desperate to learn all I could from this absurd scenario I had found myself in. I remember feeling weirdly dismayed to learn that there wasn’t a single thing in that dress that would be beyond my own skill level. Instead, it was just countless little hand finished details that must’ve taken an inordinate amount of time and care to do. For example, all the seam allowances catch stitched down (whenever they weren’t fully enclosed in a french seam or similar). Truly high quality items take time, and can’t be easily automated. Sure, there are components that can be optimised with computers or machines, but it requires a skilled human to actually integrate all this into the completed piece.
I have a friend who uses to draw furry porn, and she said she found the experience to be super artistically liberating, because for the first time in her artistic career, she had people haggling her prices up, because she was way underpricing her works. On average, furries seem to have a greater level of respect for the time and skill that goes into making custom things, which I love. My friend is now making art in a domain that’s closer to her own personal artistic interests, but she says that she will always cherish the time she spent in the furry community, because it gave her the confidence she needed to advocate for the value of her art and her skills when she was chasing her dreams.