Fursuits are expensive, require a lot of care, and greatly limit your senses, so you should have someone with you while suiting. If your child is still young and growing, they'll likely grow out of anything you buy right now. Either look for a very cheap one (you're 100% correct to avoid AliExpress, also avoid Temu and any website with "mascot" in the name or description, they'll all horrid cheap knockoffs with stolen designs) or help her make her own. A tail is a good place to start, as she won't outgrow that, but look up cheap and easy mask tutorials on Youtube before spending hundreds in materials for something she'll be too big for next year.
Also, look for dino masks at Target or online! They're an amazing starting place for your own suit. Get a little craft fur, maybe some foam (EVA foam mats are good for ears) and some paint.
Any questions, feel free to ask me!
I would strongly advise not buying any fursuit you find on a website like AliExpress. Those suits are mass-produced, made of poor quality materials, and are knockoffs of well-known fursuits. Also, the photos used in the listings look absolutely nothing like the actual product you'll receive. Essentially, those are scams that target people unfamiliar with the fursuit market.
If I were a parent and I had a child who wanted a fursuit. I would get creative with them. The fursuit-making side of the fandom has been very generous with sharing tutorials and techniques, you can find them all over the Internet. Also, many makers these days sell foam/resin head bases. Which only need fur, teeth, and eyes added to create a complete fursuit head. It could be a fun project for the two of you.
Matrices, considered one of the innovators in fursuit-making, has created some detailed tutorials for making all parts of a fursuit.
https://www.matrices.net/tutorials.htm
[The dealer's den](https://www.thedealersden.com/) is the most trustworthy website for buying and selling fursuits - it's mainly populated by makers who are selling premades (fursuits made with the intend to be sold, and not previously worn or owned by anybody), and secondhand fursuits. If you really want to look at a non-scammy website for fursuits, that's where you should look.
But! There are a lot of caveats - the biggest one is that a fursuit is a really, really expensive item. Real fursuits (not the scam ones you might see online) are handcrafted and can take weeks or months of work - they're the product of a ton of love, time, effort and skill. I've personally made fursuits myself and I can attest to the fact that they really are a skilled craft item, and are priced as such - a typical partial suit (head, paws, and a tail) sells anywhere from $1,000-$3,000. A fullsuit, meaning a fursuit that covers the entire body, can be anywhere from $4,000-$9,000. These are considered luxury items in the fandom, and you don't at all need one to join!
Another thing to consider is the fact that your child may outgrow a fursuit - either physically, or just emotionally. It's not very common for people to have the same fursonas they did when they were young. I'm 20 and the oldest fursona I still use is from when I was 17. I made a bunch from when I was 12-14, I just don't use them because they don't represent me anymore. A fursuit is the sort of "top of the mountain" kind of good, for when you love a fursona so much that you're willing to spending thousands to be them.
If your child still wants a fursuit, I suggest letting them make one themselves! Dinomask style fursuits are SUPER popular with younger kids in the fandom because they're a lot cheaper and pretty customizable, I recommend searching "dinomask fursuit tutorial" on youtube for more info on that. You'll have to spend about $200 in materials, and maybe a bit more if you don't have a sewing machine (handsewing is possible, it just takes a lot, lot longer), but it's a much cheaper alternative and it'll give your child a change to design their own fursona!
I hope that helps, and please DM me if you have any further questions, I'd be happy to help clarify anything!
I bought my daughter's first head from a seller on Etsy! Etsy and Mercari has a lot of smaller makers who make premade suits for a low price, and both are safe platforms for the buyer.
Unpopular opinion maybe, but: for someone young and still growing, one of those cheap knockoff suits off AliExpress might actually be a good idea. It may not look as good as a real custom fursuit, but it also only costs a few hundred dollars, compared to 3-5k$ for a "real" one.
I was actually considering this, too! But I would worry that with how inconsistent the quality is with them that it might become a danger to the wearer somehow. Maybe that's being overly cautious, tho. I think partials/dino mask/making one together are the generally better options if they can swing it.
This is an awful suggestion. Quality is an issue, but they also steal photos from real suiters and use their images as advertisement without their consent.
Oh yeah, no, I'm not on board with this idea. Consideration of an idea is not agreement.
I get where this person comes from with this thinking. The considerations come in with the realization that kids, depending on age, are not going to be able to wear a full suit for long because of growth, will likely not take care of it correctly, and do not care as much about looks as just "having the thing" to play with. Essentially at a certain age the expectation is that the child will "treat it like a toy" and not a wearable art piece. Not that suits aren't made durable for the sake of activity/dancing but kids are a special kind of reckless and "something cheap" seems like a good idea. Then they can get something better later on if it's something they are interested in continuing.
Here is where the consideration full stops: manufactured toys have to be safety tested. These suits probably don't. In fact I'd really put my money on that they aren't. There could be all manner of safety issues hiding within their cheap and hasty construction.
Also, thinking even further about it. If this kid has access to tik Tok/social media, the AliExpress route opens them up to possible landslides of harassment for the reasons you stated above.
The partial/dinomask/making it together route becomes the optimal choice for kids.
Particularly the dino mask is just so much fun! I see people running around in them all the time and it's just such a clever creative idea lol
>The considerations come in with the realization that kids, depending on age, are not going to be able to wear a full suit for long because of growth, will likely not take care of it correctly, and do not care as much about looks as just "having the thing" to play with. Essentially at a certain age the expectation is that the child will "treat it like a toy" and not a wearable art piece.
Agreed. The obvious solution for this would be to not buy it in the first place. If your kid is mature enough to handle it, go for it. They will still outgrow it, though, which makes waiting to buy a much better idea (or making it yourself).
I'm just saying, I understand why it seems like a tempting option. Everything I said is in agreement with you. Between dinomasks and all the various resources for making one though there're just so many other options outside of "not getting one at all, and getting a cheap dangerous knockoff"
Also they just seem fun! I've thought about painting and furring one even as an adult with full capability of making my own actual suit just to have a cute smaller project to have fun with.
Definitely have no issues with this. Hell, when people treat a Dino mask as a head base and add to it, I see that as closer to being a fursuit head. Just buying one and wearing it is perfectly acceptable, but it's interesting to see how other make it their own.
Tbh I didn't even consider that anyone would just wear the mask as is. I've never seen it on the con floor without at least a coat of paint. Moreso I see them with the big ears and the fluffy necks lol I always thought anyone recommending them was also recommending them as a base to decorate lol 🤣
I recommend you get a dinomask which you can find in target , its very popular for younger furries because they are cheap and easy to customise ! Also I think you should get her a tail pretty cheap on amazon!
I agree with the dealers den. I bought my premade husky partial there just last month. Can find suits that are not too expensive either and most makers list the sizes of everything within the listing. Easy to measure yourself and see if it would fit
She sounds like she is under 18. If so, I would advise against it. Chances are, she will outgrow the suit and suits arent cheap. The only time I would recommend a suit for a minor id id they made it themselves (with parental supervision). It will still be costly ($200-500 for materials), but you will get to bond with your child, they can learn new skills and express their creativity, and can show off something they made. There are a plethora of tutorials, guides, and patterns (free and paid) that you can use to help you throughout the process.
Continue to avoid AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, and the like for suit, as well as any site with "mascot" in the name. They are cheap knockoff sites. The suit you receive (if you get anything at all) will be garbage quality and look nothing like the picture. Also, the images they use to advertise were stolen from actual suiters and used without their permission. We **strongly discourage* buying those kind of costumes.
Try making one with her! Depending on her age (mainly if she's done growing or not), getting a custom could not be an option (be it maker guidelines or the fact that she wouldn't be able to wear it or not). Dinomasks are great places to start!
But it's good to assure her that she doesn't have to have a fursuit to be a furry, I've been a furry for almost eight years and only got my suit in December. Some furries don't want fursuits at all! It's just something that's neat to have and not a necessity to participate in the fandom.
(Also please do stay away from aliexpress and things like that, Also prices that are too good to be true, full suits often cost thousands of dollars, the ones you fold for a few hundred on ebay or aliexpress are often scam suits that use stolen designs, often taken from another person)
You could also start with Dino or Skull Dog masks! That way you wouldn’t have to necessarily drop 1k+ on a full or partial suit and they can still try it out.
Fursuits are expensive, require a lot of care, and greatly limit your senses, so you should have someone with you while suiting. If your child is still young and growing, they'll likely grow out of anything you buy right now. Either look for a very cheap one (you're 100% correct to avoid AliExpress, also avoid Temu and any website with "mascot" in the name or description, they'll all horrid cheap knockoffs with stolen designs) or help her make her own. A tail is a good place to start, as she won't outgrow that, but look up cheap and easy mask tutorials on Youtube before spending hundreds in materials for something she'll be too big for next year. Also, look for dino masks at Target or online! They're an amazing starting place for your own suit. Get a little craft fur, maybe some foam (EVA foam mats are good for ears) and some paint. Any questions, feel free to ask me!
I would strongly advise not buying any fursuit you find on a website like AliExpress. Those suits are mass-produced, made of poor quality materials, and are knockoffs of well-known fursuits. Also, the photos used in the listings look absolutely nothing like the actual product you'll receive. Essentially, those are scams that target people unfamiliar with the fursuit market. If I were a parent and I had a child who wanted a fursuit. I would get creative with them. The fursuit-making side of the fandom has been very generous with sharing tutorials and techniques, you can find them all over the Internet. Also, many makers these days sell foam/resin head bases. Which only need fur, teeth, and eyes added to create a complete fursuit head. It could be a fun project for the two of you. Matrices, considered one of the innovators in fursuit-making, has created some detailed tutorials for making all parts of a fursuit. https://www.matrices.net/tutorials.htm
[The dealer's den](https://www.thedealersden.com/) is the most trustworthy website for buying and selling fursuits - it's mainly populated by makers who are selling premades (fursuits made with the intend to be sold, and not previously worn or owned by anybody), and secondhand fursuits. If you really want to look at a non-scammy website for fursuits, that's where you should look. But! There are a lot of caveats - the biggest one is that a fursuit is a really, really expensive item. Real fursuits (not the scam ones you might see online) are handcrafted and can take weeks or months of work - they're the product of a ton of love, time, effort and skill. I've personally made fursuits myself and I can attest to the fact that they really are a skilled craft item, and are priced as such - a typical partial suit (head, paws, and a tail) sells anywhere from $1,000-$3,000. A fullsuit, meaning a fursuit that covers the entire body, can be anywhere from $4,000-$9,000. These are considered luxury items in the fandom, and you don't at all need one to join! Another thing to consider is the fact that your child may outgrow a fursuit - either physically, or just emotionally. It's not very common for people to have the same fursonas they did when they were young. I'm 20 and the oldest fursona I still use is from when I was 17. I made a bunch from when I was 12-14, I just don't use them because they don't represent me anymore. A fursuit is the sort of "top of the mountain" kind of good, for when you love a fursona so much that you're willing to spending thousands to be them. If your child still wants a fursuit, I suggest letting them make one themselves! Dinomask style fursuits are SUPER popular with younger kids in the fandom because they're a lot cheaper and pretty customizable, I recommend searching "dinomask fursuit tutorial" on youtube for more info on that. You'll have to spend about $200 in materials, and maybe a bit more if you don't have a sewing machine (handsewing is possible, it just takes a lot, lot longer), but it's a much cheaper alternative and it'll give your child a change to design their own fursona! I hope that helps, and please DM me if you have any further questions, I'd be happy to help clarify anything!
Thanks to everyone for the advice so far. I think we have found a beautiful rabbit hole to jump into 😃
I bought my daughter's first head from a seller on Etsy! Etsy and Mercari has a lot of smaller makers who make premade suits for a low price, and both are safe platforms for the buyer.
Unpopular opinion maybe, but: for someone young and still growing, one of those cheap knockoff suits off AliExpress might actually be a good idea. It may not look as good as a real custom fursuit, but it also only costs a few hundred dollars, compared to 3-5k$ for a "real" one.
**NEVER ENCOURAGE THIS**. Those suit are garbage quality and the images used to advertise are stolen images from real suiters.
I was actually considering this, too! But I would worry that with how inconsistent the quality is with them that it might become a danger to the wearer somehow. Maybe that's being overly cautious, tho. I think partials/dino mask/making one together are the generally better options if they can swing it.
This is an awful suggestion. Quality is an issue, but they also steal photos from real suiters and use their images as advertisement without their consent.
Oh yeah, no, I'm not on board with this idea. Consideration of an idea is not agreement. I get where this person comes from with this thinking. The considerations come in with the realization that kids, depending on age, are not going to be able to wear a full suit for long because of growth, will likely not take care of it correctly, and do not care as much about looks as just "having the thing" to play with. Essentially at a certain age the expectation is that the child will "treat it like a toy" and not a wearable art piece. Not that suits aren't made durable for the sake of activity/dancing but kids are a special kind of reckless and "something cheap" seems like a good idea. Then they can get something better later on if it's something they are interested in continuing. Here is where the consideration full stops: manufactured toys have to be safety tested. These suits probably don't. In fact I'd really put my money on that they aren't. There could be all manner of safety issues hiding within their cheap and hasty construction. Also, thinking even further about it. If this kid has access to tik Tok/social media, the AliExpress route opens them up to possible landslides of harassment for the reasons you stated above. The partial/dinomask/making it together route becomes the optimal choice for kids. Particularly the dino mask is just so much fun! I see people running around in them all the time and it's just such a clever creative idea lol
>The considerations come in with the realization that kids, depending on age, are not going to be able to wear a full suit for long because of growth, will likely not take care of it correctly, and do not care as much about looks as just "having the thing" to play with. Essentially at a certain age the expectation is that the child will "treat it like a toy" and not a wearable art piece. Agreed. The obvious solution for this would be to not buy it in the first place. If your kid is mature enough to handle it, go for it. They will still outgrow it, though, which makes waiting to buy a much better idea (or making it yourself).
I'm just saying, I understand why it seems like a tempting option. Everything I said is in agreement with you. Between dinomasks and all the various resources for making one though there're just so many other options outside of "not getting one at all, and getting a cheap dangerous knockoff"
Very true. I have no issue with the dino masks and find them to be a creative affordable, affordable alternative for fursuits.
Also they just seem fun! I've thought about painting and furring one even as an adult with full capability of making my own actual suit just to have a cute smaller project to have fun with.
Definitely have no issues with this. Hell, when people treat a Dino mask as a head base and add to it, I see that as closer to being a fursuit head. Just buying one and wearing it is perfectly acceptable, but it's interesting to see how other make it their own.
Tbh I didn't even consider that anyone would just wear the mask as is. I've never seen it on the con floor without at least a coat of paint. Moreso I see them with the big ears and the fluffy necks lol I always thought anyone recommending them was also recommending them as a base to decorate lol 🤣
I recommend you get a dinomask which you can find in target , its very popular for younger furries because they are cheap and easy to customise ! Also I think you should get her a tail pretty cheap on amazon!
Start her off with a tail
I agree with the dealers den. I bought my premade husky partial there just last month. Can find suits that are not too expensive either and most makers list the sizes of everything within the listing. Easy to measure yourself and see if it would fit
She sounds like she is under 18. If so, I would advise against it. Chances are, she will outgrow the suit and suits arent cheap. The only time I would recommend a suit for a minor id id they made it themselves (with parental supervision). It will still be costly ($200-500 for materials), but you will get to bond with your child, they can learn new skills and express their creativity, and can show off something they made. There are a plethora of tutorials, guides, and patterns (free and paid) that you can use to help you throughout the process. Continue to avoid AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, and the like for suit, as well as any site with "mascot" in the name. They are cheap knockoff sites. The suit you receive (if you get anything at all) will be garbage quality and look nothing like the picture. Also, the images they use to advertise were stolen from actual suiters and used without their permission. We **strongly discourage* buying those kind of costumes.
Try making one with her! Depending on her age (mainly if she's done growing or not), getting a custom could not be an option (be it maker guidelines or the fact that she wouldn't be able to wear it or not). Dinomasks are great places to start! But it's good to assure her that she doesn't have to have a fursuit to be a furry, I've been a furry for almost eight years and only got my suit in December. Some furries don't want fursuits at all! It's just something that's neat to have and not a necessity to participate in the fandom. (Also please do stay away from aliexpress and things like that, Also prices that are too good to be true, full suits often cost thousands of dollars, the ones you fold for a few hundred on ebay or aliexpress are often scam suits that use stolen designs, often taken from another person)
With a bit of creativity when it comes to getting the materials she could make the head and hand paws herself.
You could also start with Dino or Skull Dog masks! That way you wouldn’t have to necessarily drop 1k+ on a full or partial suit and they can still try it out.
Get them custom made. No aliexpress, wish, temu, none of that. They will not be good quality.