[YES] Blue Sky the Unicorn Partial by Scarlet Wings The item being reviewed is 3 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work. Maker Information Scarlet Wings Year of Project2023 Completion Time (?)7 - 12 Months ETA AccuracyNO - the ETA was passed An ETA is the Estimated Time of Arrival for a project. In other words, an estimated turnaround time. An ETA is not a deadline. Review Date3 January 2024 RelationshipThe maker WAS NOT a friend when the item was purchased, but they ARE a friend nowThis relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written. Review InformationReviewerTwitter: RS_Glide08 Prior ExperienceNo: While I did wear fursuit heads at conventions before, this is my first fursuit. Wear Time~6 hours 35 minutes Informed Maker of IssuesYes: I could not wear the head while wearing my balaclava, and I told this to the Maker. At first, I assumed this was because the head's opening was small; in reality, this was because at the time I was using a thick balaclava intended for Ski, rather than a thin sweat-wicking balaclava. Blue Sky the Unicorn Partial Positive ProjectThis item was a commission Paid: A Payment Plan of $3000 - $4999 Initial Contact: January 2023 Completion/Ship Date: October 2023 Shipping Origin: Canada Type: Partial Style: Toony Padding: None Specialties: None SpeciesName: Horse (Unicorn) Found in: Euungulata(?) Features: Horns or Antlers, Wings, Hair / Wig, Hooves Concept Art Photos of Completed Product Overall Initial ContactI found the maker by pure coincidence, on 9 January 2023, by searching for fursuit makers who are open for commissions. I initiated the contact via direct messages on Twitter: first, I provided the reference sheet and asked for a quote, which the Maker provided quickly alongside a compliment on the design. After that, I asked about shipping, and the maker told me that she can ship to my country and via a delivery company (which was my preferred method). At that point, I submitted an application for a commission via a Google form. The following day, she told me she accepted my commission, and asked for my PayPal details, which I quickly provided; after that, I asked her about the extent to which I can share the suit-making progress with others, and the necessary measurements. Maker CommunicationThe Maker was very friendly, helpful and pleasant, and answered my questions clearly. In a lot of the more technical aspects (such as the precise choice of furs), I asked my maker to go with what she thinks best, since she has extensive experience in suitmaking and knows those aspects much better than I do. I feel like I was treated well. Since this was my first time commissioning a fursuit, I was consumed by uncertainty and excitement, which my maker reined in effectively and professionally. Initially, me and my maker communicated via Twitter direct messages. Later on, we opted to communicate over Discord. In the initial DM, I provided my maker with my shoe size and head measurement; later on, when we were communicating over discord, I provided her with 300 DPI scans of the contour of my hand and the necessary measurements for the armsleeves. Project Completion TimeAt the initial commissioning in January 2023, the maker estimated that the suit would be done in half a year – in July 2023. In fact, due to the Maker's other engagements, including moving from the United States to Canada, the suit was made between August and September, and arrived in early October. Although I wanted my suit to be finished in time for a local convention in early October, I did not ask for a completion date, since it appeared from the ETA that the suit would be finished well in advance. The maker takes as much time as she needs to finish the suit to perfection, without any fixed deadline. The time expectations were communicated clearly. The maker provided me with a Trello queue, which I routinely checked. Initially, due to the date of the local convention and horror stories about my country's postal system, I wanted to opt for an express delivery using DHL. However, this was prohibitively expensive – to the point where taking a transatlantic flight to my maker and collecting the suit in person became a more viable option – so I opted for a tracked package using the ordinary mail system. Despite a longer estimate from the postal system, the suit arrived just in time for the local convention, and was released swiftly from customs. Overall Project QualityI am very happy with the final product I received. Components Head Wear SatisfactionThe head is comfortable to wear; it fits my head well, though without much clearance. The interior lining sits against my cheeks, and the fan's cable sits in front of my mouth. The head's interior has quilted broadcloth lining, which both adds to the coziness and protects the suit's structural foam in the unlikely event I wear the head without a balaclava. It is easy to breathe through both with and without the fan. Although the suit has a blind spot in the front, I can make up objects while wearing the suit just as well as out-of-suit, and even make out the details in a smartphone screen from close distance. The clarity of the vision was a bit surprising – I expected it to be blurrier. Visual SatisfactionOverall, I am very satisfied with the appearance of the head. The fur material is soft to the touch and easily brushable, and the shaving is even. The eyes are follow-me. The ears are rigid and flat. I can achieve various expressions from different angles. The head also has magnetic eyebrows (which give off a sassy expression or an angry expression, depending on the angle), and a pair of interchangeable tongues connected by Velcro – one short and one long. The hair was created by putting panels of fur back-to-back against each other. There's a portion of the hair where there's only a panel on one side, though that portion isn't seen during normal wear, only during head disinfection. The head matches the reference sheet excellently – even in places I didn't expect, such as the color of her nostrils. I'm satisfied with the changes my maker made to the design – some of them were at my own request, such as making the muzzle's bald spot a separate panel of fur rather than airbrushing. Upper Body Wear SatisfactionThe upper body consists of two separate components: a pair of wings and a pair of arm-sleeves. The pair of wings is worn over my back, with straps running over each shoulders. The straps originate from a block, with fur on the back, and are closed using buckles. By themselves, the wings are easy to put on; I only need help when I wear them together with the hoodie (mentioned under "special features"). The handsleeves are connected together with a strap. While this does make putting them on more complicated, I can put them on on my own, and only need help in tucking them in under the shirt. The strap connecting the two sleeves sometimes curls on in itself; while I don't know how to straighten it, the curl doesn't disturb me in actually wearing the sleeves. The handsleeves are comfortable and allow for good movement; they do not sag under my arms. The sleeves also leave a small residue of fur on the shirt i'm wearing them with, though I've been assured by other members of my fursuit family that this is normal. Visual SatisfactionOverall, I am very satisfied with the appearance of the upper body pieces. The fur material is soft to the touch and easily brushable, and the shaving is even. Only one change was made to the design relative to the reference sheet; the wings' top-line isn't flat, but rather curves towards the back of the body. I am satisfied with this change. When I asked my maker about it, she said it's meant to make the wings easier to wear. Hands Wear SatisfactionThe character has human-like hands with hooves at the tips of the fingers. Because of this, the handpieces are five-fingered gloves, and differ from Scarlet Wings' conventional fursuit handpaws (for example, while Scarlet Wings' conventional handpaws are lined, my fursuit's handpieces are not). Since I was new to fursuits, I thought the humanlike hands would allow me to retain full dexterity even when wearing the handpieces. In fact, while there is a slight reduction (which means that I can't use touchscreens), this reduced dexterity has not been a problem to me. The humanlike design also allows me to both easily tell apart the left hand and the right hand while wearing the fursuit head, and to put on the handpieces without outside help/finger escapes, which is an advantage compared to conventional fursuit handpaws. Because of the handpiece's glovelike/humanlike construction, my hand touches the outer fur's backing directly. Therefore, the handpiece's interior is rough to the touch, and the tips of my fingers roughly align with the transition seam between the "fur" portion and the "hoof" portion. Visual SatisfactionOverall, I am satisfied with the appearance of the hands. The hoof portion is made from the same minky as the fur portion, which means that the hands are completely soft and fluffy, fingertip to wrist. The fur material is soft to the touch from the outside and easily brushable, and the shaving is even. The use of minky for the hand portion and longer fur for the wrist portion gives the appearance of feathering (the thick fur around the hooves that draft horses have), which was an added bonus. Tail Wear SatisfactionThe tail is large and pillowlike, and does not restrict my movement at all. While it is comfortable to wear, putting it on is a bit hard; the belt loops are fixed into place and not very stretchy, which made putting the belt through a rather complicated process. The tail also slightly tugs down the back of my pants, something which was unexpected to me as I was new to fursuits. Visual SatisfactionOverall, I am very satisfied with the appearance of the tail. The fur material is soft to the touch from the outside and easily brushable, and the shaving is even. The stripes in the tail are not "horizontal" as in the concept art, but "diagonal"; they use more of the tail's surface area. I am satisfied with this change, since it makes the colors more prominent and visible. Feet Wear SatisfactionThe feet are indoor feet. I asked my maker if she could make outdoor feet as well, though I ultimately opted against them to save time and money. Rather, I commissioned outdoor sandals from a local maker. Wearing the footpieces like wearing house slippers. Their interior is lined with fleece, which adds to the slipper-like experience. Visual SatisfactionOverall, I am very satisfied with the appearance of the feet. Although it isn't obvious that the hooves are cloven from afar, the W-shape of the cloven hooves is easy to discern from up close. The outdoor sandals have a single front strap which serves as a visible interdigital cleft. While the dewclaws are located at the back of the leg, rather than right behind the hooves, I am satisfied with this change because it allows the footpieces to have a sufficiently large "sole". The fur material is soft to the touch from the outside and easily brushable, and the shaving is even. The long fur gives the appearance of feathering (the thick fur around the hooves that draft horses have), which was an added bonus. Special FeaturesThe suit has a hoodie with two slots in the back. Thanks to these slots, the hoodie can be worn together with the wings with the stripes hidden from view, thus preserving the magic when the suit is worn as a partial. The hoodie is pullover (in other words, it has no zipper in the front) and has a print that matches the hoodie in the reference sheet, as well as two slots for the wings' straps. The hoodie also has a pocket, which is very convenient: During conventions, I can put my phone in the pocket, ready for use in case anyone wants to take photos of my suit (with the passcode changed to a generic 1234, of course). RatingFursuitReview rates by asking the question: Would you recommend this maker? YES This review has been marked with a positive rating. This means the reviewer would recommend Scarlet Wings. Final CommentsScarlet Wings is a joy to work with, and her suits are high-quality, fun to wear, and very adorable. She did an excellent job brining my character to life, and I highly recommend her for those of you who have no issue with a long wait. Are you the maker of this item? Would you like to leave an official response? Click here. In case the button above doesn't work, you can click here to launch the maker response form.
