Modesty's Costume Closet

One of the most iconic accessories for Kitsune characters (or skilled swordsmen) is the fox mask. To be fair, this likely is mostly associated with Japanese Kitsune, but they do not hold the monopoly on fox fairy creatures.  I don't think it'll fit right. LOL! Mask Considerations For your own costume, regardless of the culture of origin, the common features to consider are:  Mask Size  How much of your face will the mask cover? Will it go over your whole head like fursuit head?  Or is it meant to be more of a decoration that sits on your head or off your waist?  This will determine how much material you need to use and how to incorporate the mask into the costume. Full Face Mask   Half Face Mask Basic Mask Shape This may sound confusing but what I mean here is if the shape of the mask will resemble the features of a fox closely or take on a more human shape with fox features.  Leather Fox Masks from Etsy . Basically, will the mask have a snout or look more human? Eye Holes How

 Ears and Tails really steal the show for a kitsune costume. But who doesn't love adding a bit more detail and intrigue into a costume design? Five tails and no cares! Tooth and Nail An animal feature that often gets added to animal-human hybrids are fangs and claws .  Little Tooth, Long Nails The design of your kitsune will determine the length and ferocity of the claws and fangs. They evoke different things.  Large, prominent fangs or claws suggest something more monstrous, carnivorous, and dangerous.  Smaller fangs pose less of a threat. It simply showcases that there's something not just human about the creature.  More often than not, false nails tend to be what constitutes claws. Paws Something that is more animal than human are paws.  Those aren't people feet! Generally, these types of parts are more common in fursuit style costumes. You could got satyr or faun style with digitigrade legs or just go with foot paws. Here are a couple of tutorial references: That shoul

Right...back to some of my typical posts.   The second common identifier for a kitsune is fox ears. While the tails may steal the show, you may opt to go with a tail-less version but still include the ears. (I think that'd be an interesting design personally.)  The main thing to consider with ears is how to attach them to your head. The thing to determine the best attachment method is the weight and size of the ears. Your material will determine the weight of the ear.  There are many materials and methods to make ears. Here are a few that I have found/used:  Faux Fur Minky Faux Fur Yarn Wool Yarn Mohair Yarn Acrylic Yarn Felt Velvet Leather Suede Plastic Colored paper Attaching Ears Ideally, we want the ears to appear on our heads seamlessly. The most common method I've seen is to use a plastic or metal head band. These come in many colors, widths and styles to match your costume's hair color and provide a solid base to support ears of various sizes.  Other Bases include: 

 In the world of Kitsune characters, there are popular characters that have tails made out of non-fuzzy material. Crystal tails and elemental tails (such as fire tails) are a fairly common interpretation. So this post will go into different considerations and methods for designing a costume with a magic tail.  Crystal Persuasion  Thanks to some popular characters, there are lots of tutorials and patterns available for crystal tails. I have linked to a few below.  So some of the design questions to answer for your crystal tail are:  Is it going to be opaque or semi-transparent (see-through)  What color(s) to use Adding any lights or special effects Position and number of tails  Since crystal tails are not flexible, you are going to end up with some sort of posed pattern. Although you could make it a hanging tail and not need a bunch of internal structures.  Materials for the Tail For opaque tails, you can use EVA foam, PVC board, foam boards, cardboard, card paper or regular paper.  Tra

  A classic look for a kitsune character is a fur tail. They can be very pretty and it's versatile. Whether you go for realism or a more romanticized version of a fox tail, a fur tail looks good. Methods Fabric Sock Tail  Fundamentally, it's a fabric tube filled with stuffing or internal wiring.  This is by far the fastest way to make a tail, and while it can be a bit tricky to cut and sew fur-like fabric, it's a relatively easy process. It's a versatile method for making a pre-posed tail, a loose tail, or a poseable tail. Depending on the size of your tail and the fabric you use, it can be economical.  Suggested Fabrics:  Faux Fur - this is a blanket term since faux fur can come with different lengths of fur (called "pile" in fabric terms). Minky - short pile synthetic fur usually used for short haired stuffed animals. Fleece - economical, slightly fuzzy. Good for a cartoon look.  Velvet - Usually has a nice glossy finish, may be a bit pricey Mohair - Usually

The key element of a kitsune character is the tail (or tails in most cases). You'll need to determine what you want the tail to look like so you can determine the best method of attachment. The primary consideration for attachment is weight . The things that affect weight are size and materials. So let's get into it! Tail Shapes These are the common shape profiles I see for making kitsune-style tails whether it's a fur tail or crystal or unnatural.  A: Tube Sock - a uniform girth and rounded end. Close to reality.  B: Pointed Tube - a uniform girth that tapers at the tip.  C: Squirrel Style - wider in the middle rounded tip. Very much like an oval shape.  D: Pointed Barrel/Paintbrush  - the tail gets wider in the middle and tapers at the tip and at the top.  Tail Poses Another aspect of tail shape is how you want it to pose or hold in place.  Limp - a relaxed tail that hangs down loosely. It doesn't hold any pose.  C Curve - the tail is arched in a c-curved manner.

 Kitsune or fox characters are not strictly a Japanese only thing. There is a Korean and Chinese version. European and Native American cultures have their own version of fox beings. I mention this because although my titles say "kitsune", I'm lumping in other fox traditions too. (And I wanted to pretend I'm not as ignorant as I may seem. *hiding*)  Your fox can be red! For this costume concept, the most identifying or Iconic Feature is:  Tails and Ears. That's right, foxes have distinctive tails, ears, and markings but kitsune are specially identified by these features. Specific types of Kitsune have multiple tails. (Kyuubi has 9 tails.) This is certainly a feature we must consider... Considerations for Kitsune/Fox Person Costume When coming up with your costume design, these are things to take into consideration during the planning phase:  Number of Tails : At the minimum, one tail is expected. However, as previously mentioned, some versions of the creature have

Ah, what anime/manga nerd hasn't run across at least one instance of the Kitsune. For those unfamiliar it's a fox spirit. The more romanticized version of characters found in media depicts them as beautiful ladies or men with fox ears and tails. As depicted below. ;)  /sigh/ I can never get a proper photo of my costumes Yes, one year for Halloween I was a kitsune...and currently, I'm making another one. So unlike some of my other concept costume series, I've got stakes in this one. Yay! But while contemplating this series, I started having a whole chunk of fun finding characters and inspiration for concepts to cover so you can feel equipped to create your own kitsune or fox-person character.  The plan for this series is as follows:  Concepting a Character + Design Considerations Tail Design Considerations Creating a Fur Fox Tail Creating a Crystal Fox Tail Fox Ears Mask Design and Make-up Design Other Fox Parts: Claws, Fangs, Eyes Example Templates

Creating a solid colored tail is certainly a legitimate method and may work out best for your mercreature design. But more likely than not, you will run into the necessity to design and incorporate markings. These can be as minimal as a color shift in scales or a distinctive set of markings only found on that species. I'm looking at you blue-ringed octopus and Blue Tang and Orcas.  My focus for this will be on fabric based tails. The tutorials for silicone or latex tails can be found in the Basic Tail Design post.  Make your Mark So, we have four approaches to creating markings:  Pre-Printed Fabric Paneling Applique Fabric Paints or Dyes Pre-Printed Fabric For this method, you would create the design or find one with a fabric printing service. Many of them will print onto spandex or similar fabric types. I also believe that the FinFun brand has a design-your-own tail product which may be a method. For a pattern like fish scales or tiger shark stripes you will be fine with a defaul

The major part of our mercreature costume is the tail! By which we give up our legs for...well...nothing else. I did not get gills or hypnotic singing out of this deal. Just can't use my legs. For this, I'm going through what I've thought about when designing potential tails for my mercreatures.  For this exercise, I am going to consider choices for a Koi fish mermaid, an orca mermaid, a selkie, and an Eldritch Horror...aka a cephalopod.  Basic Tail Anatomy  This isn't going to be the technical anatomy of aquatic life, but just the parts of the costume. The tail is made up of the body (usually the tube portion that fuses your legs together), the fluke (Caudal/tail fin), and the waistband at the very basic level. You can add other fins that correlate to your sea creature (things like a dorsal fin or pectoral fins or pelvic fins).  But for this, we do want to get some guidance from references.  (Pics of Butterfly Koi, Orca, Seal, and giant squid) Tail Body For most of our