[YES] Fable The Forest Spirit Partial by Kawaiimono Fursuits

The item being reviewed is 6 years old and may not reflect the makers current style, or work.




Maker Information

Kawaiimono Fursuits


Year of Project2020

Completion Time (?)Pre-Made

ETA AccuracyThere was no ETA given
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 Date8 June 2022

RelationshipThe maker is NOT a friend
This relationship was indicated by the reviewer at the time this review was written.


Review Information
ReviewerTwitter: TarnishedFables

Prior ExperienceNo, this is my first commissioned suit

Wear Time20 hours

Informed Maker of Issuesno, there werent any issues that required attention and anything i did take issue with was either a mistake i had made when sending information or was just part of the maker's processes.


Fable mini partial

Positive

ProjectThis item was purchased as a pre-made

Paid: A Payment Plan of $1000 - $2999

Initial Contact: July 2020

Completion/Ship Date: August 2020

Shipping Origin: USA

Type: Partial

Style: Toony

Padding: None


SpeciesName: no species/forest spirit

Found in: Monster, Kaiju, or Demon(?)

Features: Horns or Antlers, Spikes


Concept Art


Photos of Completed Product



Overall

Initial ContactSUPER easy. i contacted her through twitter comments and then in DMs.


Maker CommunicationTay is an amazing communicator. when i had a question usually she would get back to me within a few hours to a day. We communicated strictly through twitter dms.
Tay was just as excited as i was about the project, and we brainstormed a lot of ideas together. She was casual, yet professional, and treated me very well throughout the entire process. Tay shared every bit of the process with me and took plenty of pictures, even taking extra pictures when i asked. overall, the commission process for Kawaiimono Fursuits is a pleasant one.

Project Completion Timethe project got done way sooner than expected (2 months from initial contact, less than a month from project start date!)


Overall Project Qualityi love Fable to death. generally, the quality and durability of the suit was good, but there are some parts i wished were made of better materials or with sturdier techniques. despite this, the suit is in great condition after 2 years.
visually, everything matches up to the ref, is symmetrical and matches, sometimes surpassing expected maker quality. materials are inconsistent in quality in my opinion, but are generally good.
the head fits a little weird, but it's fine. the paws fit great, the tail is a perfect length.
basically, you get what you pay for.


Components


Head

Wear SatisfactionNote: during this review i will be refering to Kawaiimono Fursuits's sole maker as "Tay" since that's her name and it's easier to type out than "Kawaiimono" every time lol

the relationship i have with how this head fits is a little complicated. it's loose. on one hand i LOVE this because it gives a wide range of expressiveness that can be achieved with this looseness, but in order to wear the head properly i have to have my nose basically between the eyes of the suit to get the full effect of the vision. i dont mind this, i have to adjust ever once an a while to get proper airflow and it rubs my nose a little raw it i wear it for 3+ hours at a time. however, like i said, i dont mind it.

ventilation is fantastic, vision is literally perfect with almost no blind spot and the peripheral vision is phenomenal. the head is lined with cotton which i know some people dont like but i think is adorable, and, despite what i've heard people say, is perfectly safe when washed properly.

after 20+ hours of wear hardly anything in the suit's head has required maintenance. the only thing that's needed repair at all is the part where the mouth lining connects to the inner head lining, but it's my fault. i had left the head in a hot car for a couple hours and the hot glue melted a little.
(also, yes, it is worth noting that the mouth lining is glued to the inner lining, i know that sewing that part is really hard so i literally do not mind)
The maker let me know that she was worried about the resin horns staying on the head since they're so heavy, but they've stayed just fine! the head overall is super sturdy, i love it!


Visual Satisfactionlooks fantastic!
there was one marking that i had added to the head that wasnt in the original ref that was also not added to the suit (light yellow triangle behind the ears) that i was okay with being left off. other than that, the markings are perfect and crisp, no complaints with the shaving (though there are like two nicks on the eyebrow ares, negligible and not even noticible unless you're really looking hard). the muzzle gets around possible shaving errors by using minky, which is placed really well, is very even, and has no wrinkles or bubbles despite not being glued securely like you would a piece of fur (i'm assuming to keep the hot glue from making it bumpy underneath). All fur lengths, when not shaved, work very well together. i assume they're the same length.
The freckles are dry-brushed with acrylic paint and they have not come off.

the main fur used is this soft, UV-reactive yellow that's absolutely perfect for Fable. The brown color is also soft and perfect. the light-yellow color (i assume is "banana", which has a notorious reputation for being a thin, non-shaving fur and has, as far as i know, mostly gone out of production in favor of "sunshine") actually shockingly looks good when shaved down (under the eyebrows) but looks a little "skrunkly" when used on the ruff/mane no matter how much you brush it. i think it's endearing though, and you can't see the backing so i dont have any issues with it.
Fable's ears are one of my favorite parts of the suit, the applique parts are machine-stitched onto what the maker called a "one-of-a-kind fabric" she had found at an antique shop. you can see the stitching where the fabric was handsewn to the back of the ears
Fable's horns were actually made by Tay's friend, TheLuckyMerrow (who usually makes dice for d&d) and are definitely my favorite part of the suit. There are no bubbles or imperfections, they're translucent and the gold flakes and glitter pieces sparkle so well in the sunlight. In the 20 hours i've worn Fable's head, there has been no chipping or visible wear on them.
The expression of the suit is really great. they look so happy! i love the eyes and how they're painted, and i love the felt "eyelashes" even though i dont include them on their ref art. (occasionally, the "eyelashes" become unstuck from the head on the edges, i sometimes have to glue them down again. this is my fault tho because last time it happened was when i left my heads in the car.)

another note: At the time, Tay would source all her fur from LA's fashion district, so i knew it would be difficult to color match, i'll talk about this in the bodysuit review because some stuff went wrong regarding that aspect that wasnt necessarily her fault. i have heard that maybe she's going to be switching to ordering fur fabrics online, which would be better for having consistent



Hands

Wear SatisfactionThe fit is great! no complaints, other than the fact thay they're marked left and right, and seem to fit better on the opposite hands they're meant for.

Paws are fully lined with cotton and are easy to put on and take off with no issues at all. wrists are also cuffed to precent fur stretching
The way these are constructed is a method i'm not entirely familiar with, but it involved gluing the paw pads to the lining, which i am not entirely a fan of.
The seams on the fingers are honestly not that great. they seem to be stitched with a wide whip stitch and have popped after a couple of wears. i was aware of this issue prior to commissioning though, as i have repaired several sets of paws from this maker between 2018 and 2019. it's an easy fix, and compared to the paws i had repaired previously, the fit was relatively the same. definite improvement!
i do not have a lot of dexterity, which is to be expected in puffy-style handpaws, but the fingers do not restrict my movements. the large paw pads keep me from picking stuff up well, but that's to be expected and i do not mind. with how easy they are to put on and take off i do not ever feel like i'm on any danger.

the paws are machine washable on cold, i like to put them in a pillowcase before throwing them in the wash to prevent the fur from snagging on anything and ripping. i have had no issues with this.


Visual Satisfactionthey look pretty good.
visually they match the ref perfectly, and i love the material used for the claws and paw pads. on the concept sheet i provided, you'll see that i had changed the back of the fingers to have yellow and brown instead of all white, which the maker vetoed (and i'm glad she did, all-white fingers is perfect)
however, i am not happy with the white fur used on the fingers. it was not shaved too short, but because of the nature of the type of fur that was used you can see the backing through the fur. it also usually looks dirty despite being washed repeatedly, and i cannot tell what's dirt and what's just the fur. (this makes me think this is an issue with the fur itself.)
i dont blame the maker for this though, fabric sourced from the fashion district is inconsistent in quality.


Tail

Wear Satisfactionworks great! i love how big and swishy it feels on my back and against my legs. it's a floor dragger, but i havent had any issues cleaning it or with wear and tear (yet). it stays solid against my back when i wear it as a partial due to the upholstery foam circular plug that was placed where the tail meets the body

my biggest complaint about this is that the tail cap was completely glued on instead of sewn, including the belt loops.
however, something i love about the belt loops is that there are two on the top and two on the bottom. i normally just use the top one for ease, but you can loop two belts for extra security and/or keeping the tail higher up on the body. the belt loops are even and function properly without breaking, tearing, or coming loose despite being glued.
When i commissioned the bodysuit about a year after this partial, i also sent the tail and paws back for some modification. the tail had a zipper installed to attatch to the body, as well as a clip on the tail tip.
one of the paws got a d-ring to clip the tail to if i wanted to keep it off the ground, and it works perfectly!
it's only now, after about 20 hours of wear that the zipper is coming loose and exposing the foam underneath, as it was glued to the tail cap as well.


Visual Satisfactionoriginally the partial was supposed to be just a head and handpaws, and i designed the tail myself. Tay beautifully translated the design into reality with everything looking exactly like my concept art.
the spikes are made of the same material as the claws, and look fantastic! i literally couldnt imagine the tail looking better.

the same thin white fur that was used on the paws was also used on the underside of the tail. however because it doesnt come in contact with anything (body or floor) it's okay. it matches the aesthetic i was going for, actually.
There is no wear on the tail after 20+ hours of wear despite being being a floor dragger and stepped on several times.


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 Kawaiimono Fursuits.

Final CommentsPrices are great for the quality you get and project completion speed! maker is a fantastic communicator.
generally i would recommend this maker to someone looking for a toony-kemono suit, the style is so unique!

this is part 1 of a two-part review, as i commissioned a bodysuit from this maker a year later. i'll post that one soon!


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