Mascot/Fursuit Advice

Feign enthusiasm for your school's sports teams (it's sad that SUNY's linguistics department was scrapped, while its football players receive lavish salaries), assuming you don't care about them, and act friendly towards anyone coming to you. Maybe you can have a say in the costume's design.

Maybe: So... Is there a "proper" way to put on? The suit consists of a bodysuit with a tail attached, head with chin strap, feet, and really big and fuzzy gloves. And also, if it matters, the vision is through the mouth and two little nostril-looking holes. (My school is a high school, btw)

Also, how does it compare to a fursuit? What is the vision like, how hot does it get, and is it possible to DJ with one on?

Simply put, it gets hot.

Vision differs even among the costumes. Sometimes vision is designed to be out the eyes, the mouth, the nose, the tear ducts, the neck, etc. Most fursuits are often designed with vision out of the mask's eyes or tear ducts. For me, the vision is no more than about 60% of normal vision. I move my head around more often to increase my vision.

Drink lots of water and cool off whenever you can. You'll have to be the judge of when you think you need to cool off as each person has a different tolerance level to heat.

There usually is one DJ at AC that wears a full costume while DJing one of the AC dances. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name at the moment.

That's a brief answer. Hope it helps.

-Mr Mutt

I've never worn a fursuit before.  I did put a mascot head on once when the guy playing as the mascot needed a break.  (We were being goofy with the head.)  It was pretty dark trying to see through, and the field of vision was quite limited.

There isn't really a "proper" way to put a suit on, it really just depends on how it is made. Typically you would probably put the body on first, then the hands and feet, tucking them into the body if necessary, followed by the head, making sure that the neck flaps are properly smoothed/tucked as needed. I usually put my head on first, then the gloves, because the head is too tight to put on with paws on, but it really just depends on the suit. Just try to look in a mirror and make sure it looks good from the outside, thats what matters.

Mascot costumes in general tend to be a bit larger and baggier on the wearer, since they are often designed to fit a range of body sizes. Fursuits can be a lot more form-fitting to the wearer. With a loose mascot costume, you'll have a little room for air circulation, making the wearer feel cooler than in a fursuit (I would think). Also, mascots aren't always full fursuits, so they can be made with lighter materials.

There's no single right way to perform, but it is certainly possible to be a bad/boring mascot. The main thing to do when mascotting is to have fun and try to get people into the game or event that is going on, while keping your health in mind. Take breaks if you get too warm, and drink lots of cool water.

Rover and Rakedu nailed a lot of points, but lemme give you my take on this as well.

First off, name's Mollie. I'm the University of Vermont mascot, Rally Catamount and I also have two fursuits. My mascot suit is similar to yours in that it has the body suit with attached tail, footpaws, a muscle pad, arms, hand paws and a comically large head created on a football helmet with soft, removable padding. When it comes to the dynamics of wearing the costume, always make sure your skin in hidden, kids pick out skin really quick and it ruins the magic for them. Wear a bandana or skull cap under the head to protect your hair from sweat and damage. Wear very light clothes, such as underarmor or shorts and a light tee. Some guys I know even go shirtless with underarmor shorts. If you're going to different sporting events, try to ask for a jersey that matches the team. Fans love that!

For animating the character, remember that you're a school icon. Always look animated, and energetic and keep in mnd your audience. Is this a family event? If there's kids mess with them. Turn there hats around, put there hoods on, mess with thier hair, play peak-a-boo, act like the animal you represent by getting down on all fours and rolling around. If a kid pulls your tail pretend they were super strong and fall over. If you see a kid scared of you, do not try and get closer, just cover your eyes and back up, like you feel bad. Is your audience just your fellow highschoolers? Pull out some modern dance moves like the Soulja Boy, Duggie, Cupid Shuffle and others. Flirt with the girls, bro it up with the guys, do push ups, mess with the enemy team and refs, and don't be afraid to make an ass of yourself. You're not in college so don't get too innapropriate and don't make drinking references (that's only found funny when the population is close to 21).

Keep in mind, when you're just walking from one place to another, keep some bounce in your step. And if you stop to watch a game for a bit, make sure to make big motions and over animate your emotions, cause I can gaurentee someone in the audience is watching you.

It certainly does get hot in a suit. I'd suggest taking a cold shower before suiting up so you're hair is still wet and cool, that will keep your body cooler longer. Take water breaks when you can, hydration is key! You're going to sweat while performing and you're going to get out of breath, no matter how in shape you are. Just remember it's only an hour or so and the more active you are the more people will adore you.

When it comes to a fursuit, keep in mind hey are generally form fitting an lighter. You can choose between a partial and a full, and most mouths on suits are open enough so you can drink from a straw or water bottle in suit to keep hydrated. When it comes to performing in a fursuit and not a mascot suit, the only difference is you're not a sports icon, you're a costumed character. Still stay bubbly and animated as much as you can. 

Hope that helps and feel free to contact me if you wanna chat about the mascoting world!

Thank you everyone for your advice! I really appreciate it! I have only been a mascot two times. The first time was when I was a freshman and I was EXTREMELY nervous. When I was just about to get used to being a mascot, when a junior was telling me what to do. He told me to go up into the stands and do something. I put my pointer finger in front of my mouth (my face, but the mascot's mouth), and he got furious, and started screaming my name so that everyone could hear, which made me even more nervous. I told my student activities advisor I was all done and she took me back to the room to change out of the suit. When I got there, he was there, putting on another suit (we have three). That was the worst experience I had with the mascot. The second time was for our hallway decorating competition and every different class had to do something different. Our class did a circus and instead of liontaming we did titain taiming (our school's biggest rival). I was our mascot and my friend was the titain. I had a really fun time with that, which was WAY better than the first time. I still have yet to do it a third.

As to NexusFolf, I would love to talk more about both the fursuit and the mascot worlds! I will be sure to send you a message, and if you want to know anything about me, just send me a message! I would love to talk to you! :)