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FURSUIT REVIEW FORM

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Your Username
Snowythegryph https://twitter.com/Snowythegryph


Name of Maker and Links
Midnight Swimmers
https://twitter.com/MidnightSwim
midnightswimmers.com


Your Relationship With The Maker
The maker was NOT a friend when the item was purchased, but they ARE a friend now


Item Being Reviewed
Character name, type of commission, etc. This will be used to help title the submission on FursuitReview
Snowfeather Plantigrade Fullsuit in a toony style as a commission.


Species of Character
Gryphon






Character Concept Art
http://d.facdn.net/art/snowythegryp.....ther2018sm.png




Photos of Completed Product
https://ibb.co/z8xdbzb
https://ibb.co/9WrCWTC
https://ibb.co/BnZCqHt
https://ibb.co/7JgQJ3t
https://ibb.co/yVkL0rN
https://ibb.co/Qv71zD3


Price Paid
2350 USD paid in installments


Do you have any prior experience with fursuits?
Yes, had one partial and have borrowed a suit made by this maker once at a con.


How many hours have you worn/used the item(s) you're reviewing?
Give your best estimate.
16 hours


Date Commissioned or Bought
April 2018


Date Completed or Shipped
Partial: December 2018
Bodysuit: March 2019

Shipping Origin
Canada

Did the maker finish the item by the expected date (ETA)?
YES - the ETA was accurate


Did you tell the maker about any issues you had?
Yes, some minor issues came up, maker was easy to communicate with!

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HEAD
The following questions ask you to explain how satisfied you are with each feature of the head of the costume. If you are reviewing only a set of ears, your answers would also go in this section.

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Wear Satisfaction
Please describe how it is to wear this piece of your costume.
Super comfy! It fits very well, not too snug but not too loose. The inside is lined with fabric he bought specifically for my suit, a feather pattern that matches my character! He does this with all his suits and it's a very nice touch. Ventilation is great, I have no problems breathing in my suit! I do sometimes wear a necklace fan to help keep cool (which I can fairly easily stick in the beak for direct airflow) but I have no complaints about general airflow in the head. The vision is awesome! I practically do not have a blind spot in this suit, the vision actually overlaps and I can see directly in front of me. The only thing that I could say is wrong is that my glasses are a tight fit on this suit, but I sincerely believe this is my fault as I didn't give measurements for my head w/glasses taken into account, and told him about the need for glasses after the fact. I've mentioned it to him and he offered to make lined inserts to adjust the space in the head if needed but I have good enough vision without glasses to just go without.

Appearance Satisfaction
Please describe how satisfied you are with how your costume piece looks from the outside.
I absolutely love the look of the head! The symmetry of the head isn't 100% perfect, but it's definitely not noticeable unless you're looking hard at the head, and really what animal has perfect symmetry anyways? Shaving is really even as far as I can tell, no complaints there. The cheek fur is especially soft, and while the longer furs have a course texture, they are absolutely beautiful and I adore them. I really appreciate the effort put into the rust mane in the back, it sticks out like a mohawk naturally and I don't really do anything to keep it that way, which is really nice and low maintenance. I love the expression the suit has, she looks so happy! The eyelids (see below) are really great too and bring a lot of life to the suit. A thing to note, as of this review the eyes are not water resistant, so keeping the eyes dry is a must during washing for future reference. The head matches the concept art exceptionally well, while also having a flair of its own that is consistent with Midnight Swimmers' style.

Special Attachments and Features
Please describe how satisfied you are with any extra features your head has.
The eyelids are attached via velcro and there are two sets; a grumpy/"bedroom eyes" set and a sad/sleepy set. I was originally unsure about the idea of velcro being used for these, but I love the fact that they are able to be positioned in many different ways, giving several different expressions out of the two sets. The black fabric that lines the edges of the eyes are the fuzzy side of the velcro and the eyelids have the side with the hooks.

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BODY
The following questions ask you to explain how satisfied you are with each feature of the body of the costume.
If you are reviewing armsleeves or legs/pants that are seperate from a bodysuit, your answers would also go in this section.
(Appendages, such as hands, feet, tails, etc., are discussed later.)

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Wear Satisfaction
Please describe how it is to wear this piece of your costume.
I'm pretty satisfied with the body! It is a tighter fitting suit, as that is this maker's style, so it is a little restricted in movement but not overly so. Since I have received the body, the suit has definitely loosed up a bit and I imagine over time it will continue to do so. Quality seems great so far! As of writing this review I have yet to pop a seam, and they are all double stitched according to the maker. The interior is unlined, there is some construction marks(lines in black/light blue sharpie near some seams) but I don't really feel that it detracts from the suit as it's not visible to anyone but myself. Airflow seems alright, the longer fur on the upper half of the suit definitely holds heat in but the very short belly fur makes up for it. I don't really have any complaints for the overall wear of the bodysuit!

Appearance Satisfaction
Please describe how satisfied you are with how your costume piece looks from the outside.
I love how the body looks! Symmetry is near perfect, I can't really see any issues with it. There is no shaving on the body, rather it has several different pile lengths to give the suit more design to a relatively simple pattern. The short belly fur is super soft like the cheeks, and the rest of the fur is courser but gorgeous in my opinion! I especially love that the shorter pile grey matches the long pile grey near perfectly. The body matches the concept art very well.

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HANDS AND FEET
The following questions ask you to explain how satisfied you are with each feature of the hands and feet of the costume.

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Wear Satisfaction
Please describe how it is to wear these pieces of your costume.
The hands and feet are both great! I have two sets of feet, outdoor and indoor. Both sets are on a "sockpaw" style build, no shoes are in the feet but rather a liner shaped to my foot size and the rest of the feet stuffed with polyfill. They are pretty comfortable, the outdoor paws did have some of the polyfill that sits directly under my feet squish down, but it doesn't detract from the appearance of the feet and really aren't uncomfortable either. He does give the option to build with sole inserts in mind if that's something you need! The hand paws are unlined, save for the paw pads where they are stuffed with polyfill (which is perfectly fine!) The paw pads on both the hands and feet I'd consider are a high quality, I have no issues or fears of durability with them. I do not have any issues with skin showing if I stretch my body, there is plenty of overlap between the bodysuit and the hands/feet.

Appearance Satisfaction
Please describe how satisfied you are with how your costume pieces look from the outside.
The feet and hands are all great! They mesh seamlessly with the rest of the suit, match the concept art well. Symmetry is great, no complaints! Shaving on the palm of the hands and the soles of the indoor feet are even. They match the concept art perfectly!

Special Attachments and Features
Please describe how satisfied you are with any extra features your hands or feet have.
I asked the maker to make a ring to be worn on my suit, something that my character always wears in art that means a lot to me. He was very willing to make it (something that he's never done before) and it turned out amazing! I barely notice it on the hand and it doesn't seem at risk for falling off, and the stone on the ring itself does not seem like it will easily fall off either.

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TAILS
The following questions ask you to explain how satisfied you are with each feature of the tail(s) of the costume.

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Wear Satisfaction
Please describe how it is to wear these pieces of your costume.
Tail is lightweight and fits great! It is worn via belt and meshes pretty well with the suit. Quality is decent, only complaint I've had is that as of the last month the tail has started to twist, making the tail end point sideways. It's easy enough to correct by twisting the other way, but it does eventually happen again. Maker is totally aware and he has the same problem with his personal tail after he messed with it, might be something he tweaks in the future but it's not a huge concern for me, just a slight annoyance. Seems durable otherwise, no other complaints!

Appearance Satisfaction
Please describe how satisfied you are with how your costume pieces look from the outside.
Tail looks good! It is a bit skinnier than I was anticipating, but the long pile fur that is used on it was a rare find that he had a limited supply on, so he only had so much to work with and I'm okay with that. It looks great on the suit otherwise!

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WINGS
The following questions ask you to explain how satisfied you are with each feature of the wings of the costume.

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Wear Satisfaction
Please describe how it is to wear these pieces of your costume.
Wings are attached to the bodysuit! They kinda flop around a little when I walk or wiggle around, and I honestly love that about them! They do have a foam core structure in the upper half of the wings to keep them structured. Durability seems great, I haven't had any issues with ripped seams or the wings appearing to come off!

Appearance Satisfaction
Please describe how satisfied you are with how your costume pieces look from the outside.
The wings look amazing! The maker hand-sewn all 52 white spots onto the feathers of the wings and they are so wonderful! They match the character design as much as they can, obviously can't have full-sized wings on a suit like this but the chibi design is so cute!

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OVERALL SATISFACTION
The following questions ask how satisfied you are with the overall buying experience, including your interactions with the maker and the resulting final product.

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How was your concept art realized?
This maker does not require a specific reference artist. They kept the design pretty close as they could, with some minor changes to keep with the restraints of the fabric and sizing. Paw pad color was improvised as the specific color isn't available, wing size had to be made smaller, etc. He sent me a concept art sketch for the body to make sure that I was on board with his take on the suit, especially with the placement of the longer pile grey. I felt that it was a nice touch and I really appreciated that!


How well does everything fit together and match up?
Everything matches up very well! Have no issues with extremity skin showing, and neck of bodysuit is never visible. Patterns also match up as well. Everything fits pretty great, I've talked about anything that was an issue suit wise up above! The suit is consistent with the maker's style. This was their second "beaked" creature that they made, and the first one was a few years prior so it was kind of a new avenue for them, but I'm very happy with the result!


How easy was it to initially contact the maker for a quote?
I initially found out about him through twitter, saw his information on his website, and reached out with a mix of twitter and email (he was quicker through twitter though and we stuck to that the rest of our interactions) He reached out to me when he decided to take my slot and he was very clear on what was needed and when!


How satisfied are you with the response time from the maker?
How long did it take the maker to get back to you?
Most of the time he would answer within 24-48 hours! There were times that he answered beyond that (a couple with a week or two wait) but those were rare and he usually answered in a very reasonable time frame. At the time we mostly communicated through twitter, he now has a telegram chat for his past and current clients where he shares wips, but I'm sure he still gives direct contact as well.


How satisfied are you with the professionalism and customer service and of the maker?
I felt like I was taken care of pretty well for the most part! He sent me lots of wip when work was done, communication was sort of business casual I suppose? He was doing his job but he wasn't cold or unfriendly at all, and we'd joke around in between wips or questions. He was pretty minimal about issues in his life, there were a couple times where important events were needed to be known (moving for example) but otherwise things were kept on topic.


How satisfied are you with how long your project took to complete?
This is where things got particularly complicated with my commission specifically, and I would not say that this is the norm for this maker at all. At my time of commission, I had asked for a Midwest Furfest 2018 deadline for the suit if possible (about 8 months turnaround) that he agreed to, and gave anticipation of having it done in September per his previous turnaround times. He moved in the middle of July I believe, and along with a couple other hiccups he informed me that it would be more around MFF as I asked. As we got closer to the con I was informed that there was a miscalculation on the amount of short grey fur that he had, and he was just a bit short and he would need to order more. Unfortunately (and this was completely out of his hands) the Canadian Postal Service went on strike in mid-November, and he unfortunately would be unable to finish the bodysuit in time as the fur had not arrived. He did hand deliver the partial to me at MFF, with anticipation of completing the bodysuit as soon as the fur arrived, and also offered to make a set of armsleeves as an apology. (I do have those as well, just choosing not to review but they are good too) He did not get the fur until January of 2019 and the bodysuit was finished about 2-3 weeks after that. He hand delivered the bodysuit to me at Furnal Equinox in March 2019! Again, this is an issue that I don't believe is commonplace for him, and was mostly out of his control so don't expect this to be a practice that always happens!


Are you happy with the product you received?
I'm very satisfied overall with the suit! She's been a dream to wear <3


Describe your overall experience with this maker.
I really loved working with Midnight Swimmers! The suit itself is amazing, Tali is an awesome dude to work with, and even with the hiccups that happened in the process I still felt like I was being taken care of, and still got the suit within a year or commissioning. His style is unique and fit really well with my character, and he's willing to try out interesting species that aren't just cats and dogs which is a huge plus. Definitely work work with him again!

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FINAL SCORE
FursuitReview scores by having you answer the following question: Would you recommend this maker to another?
Pick one of the scores below that you feel honestly reflects your commissioning experience as a whole, including the quality of your item(s), the appearance, and how you were treated by the maker.

YES


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[YES] Positive = The reviewer would recommend this maker to another
[OK] Neutral = The reviewer may or may not recommend this maker, depending on certain circumstances (reviewer clarifies what these are)
[NO] Negative = The reviewer would not recommend this maker to another, unless the maker significantly changes their practices

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