As many may have seen over the past few months, I have brought up a couple of times about upgrading the products in my Etsy and my store here at FishPishStudios to be made from luxury faux fur instead of basic. However I do not think I have ever explained as to why I wanted to make this change.
The Differences
The cheaper faux fur, which I often refer to as "basic", is, as stated just now, cheaper than its luxury counterpart. It is a good starting material for any worker of faux fabric, it is often available at many online sites and highstreet material stores and comes in many colours.
However it can look and feel rough, requires a lot of brushing to stop excess moult and using it for anything other than tail work is often tricky.
The luxury faux on the other hand is far smoother, easier to work with, gives a more professional finish and is often the go-to choice for any fursuit or plush maker. It is, however, far more expensive and a little harder to acquire if you don't know where to look.
The visual differences between the two types is extremely clear though as shown below with Luxury on the left, and "Basic" on the right. Both are the same product: same colours, same pattern, given a little brush and a small shake to simulate what they'd look like after wearing. (click image to expand it/see full view)
The Upgrade
As luxury cost a lot more (basic generally is £20 p/metre whereas luxury is £60 or thereabouts p/metre) it was quite a big jump to move from what I knew to something else. As products sold perfectly well with the basic, I decided to stay using it, while occasionally using luxury if commissions called for it.
However as time went on, I began to realise how much nicer the luxury was and as I had built up a little leftover stash from commissions, I was able to create some demos and so began offering both basic and luxury on select products from around 2016 onwards.
Nearing the end of lockdown in 2021 I made the decision to only use luxury faux going forwards in 2022. Often the only criticism I would receive from my products was that the faux was rough. This statement that kept appearing made my choice for me, as I am a perfectionist and like to make my products as good as they can be, having "rough faux" is easily fixed with a swap of fabrics.
As such I am currently creating demos of all tails and ears to photograph and add to my stock on both stores. Some patterns will also be retired once the move to luxury is finalised, but some new patterns will replace them in time.
For now both basic and luxury are on offer in both stores, but as more demos are created and listings made for the new items, the basic will be stopped. I am toying with the idea of potentially continuing to offer basic faux in very limited colours on some of the more popular, smaller items as a "basics" range but we shall see at a later date. I am hoping this answers everyone's questions about why I decided to update/change the fabrics I use but as always, if there are any questions; send me a message on Twitter or via email!