#Poodling is a term coined by the #fursuiting community to denote #fursuiters who permit some of their human skin to show while wearing a #fursuit #costume. As we have posted about before in our post about types of #fursuits, poodling isn’t necessarily the same as wearing what’s referred to as a “partial fursuit”, in which only the headpiece, gloves, and footpaws are worn because the the wearer is usually wearing other clothes that cover the rest of his or her body.
While some fursuiters frown on the practice of poodling and sometimes refer to it as “breaking the magic”, it has very valid medical reasons: namely, not overheating. Fursuits can become very hot to wear, which is exacerbated when temperature and/or humidity is very high and there’s no air conditioning available. There are also very valid logistical reasons for poodling: the paws that fursuiters wear essentially make it impossible to do anything with their hands, such as eating, drinking or using their phones.
Other costumers & cosplayers sometimes frown upon the partial removal of a #costume while in public view. While they don’t refer to this as poodling or “breaking the magic”, it’s essentially the same and is a common complaint that some #StarWars #CostumeClub members have when one of their own partially removes a costume (especially a helmet) while in public view. In this case, this is often referred to as a “helmet’s on” rule, which only some of the costume club local chapters actually have in place and enforce.
Our thanks to Stormi Folf for sharing this video on the subject of poodling:
References
Costuming, Cosplay & Costume Clubs 101 