Why This Furry Is Spending $5,500 On Her Fursuit — And Thinks It's Worth Every Penny

"Compared to what people spend on wedding dresses that they’re gonna wear once, this is actually not that bad."

On today's episode of BuzzFeed Daily, we broke down the top pop culture headlines AND discussed the furry community and how Sexy Beasts is (and isn’t) connected. You can listen below or scroll down to read more about the interview!

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So let's dive right into it! Recently we talked to author Riley Black about Netflix’s dating show Sexy Beasts and all things furry. Here's some of what we learned:

BuzzFeed Daily: As someone who is actually part of the furry community, what was your initial reaction to Sexy Beasts?

Netflix

Riley Black: So, when I saw that trailer, it just looked like, Who came up with this concept? It kind of seemed like somebody saw a news article about furries and went like, “But what if that were a dating show?” It seemed to be sort of trying to reclaim — I don't know if you saw Blind Date, like back in the late '90s, that kind of show: “We're just going to put two people in an enclosed space and see what happens.” So it just seems like that with this attempt to make it grander or more sort of insightful, but like, “Well, what if you can't see their faces? What if you can't tell that they're, you know, thin pretty people under all that makeup? What's going to happen?” So, there's this kind of breathless take to it, so I was like, Oh, my god, I'm going to hate watch the hell out of this. I wanted to withhold judgment, but it's one of the things where you can judge some books by their cover.

BuzzFeed Daily: You mentioned creating a fursona helped you find and embrace yourself as a transgender woman. Could you talk a little more about that process?

RB: I think it was really critical to have a space where I could experiment and explore, because when you're talking about gender, the lines can be so rigidly defined in day-to-day life... I've known that I'm trans since I was about 10, but I never really had the ability to express that, and that was really the only outlet I had for this kind of freedom where I felt safe to explore it. And the fact that furry is an incredibly queer fandom. I think it's, you know, less than 20 percent of people in the furry community identify as heterosexual or not queer in some way. So the fact that this is a group of people were kind of self-selected of other queer nerds who are like figuring out their gender and expressing it as vibrantly as they want to, it was really the perfect setting to jump in and see how I felt about it and to see myself sort of projected as I wish I would be an overall form. I mean, unfortunately, I cannot be a glorious glitter punk jaguar lady as much as I try. But just to even have the outline and say, yes, this speaks to me like I felt like it was something that I could hang on to early on, because you don't know what's going to happen when you start transitioning.

BuzzFeed Daily: Does everyone make their own suit?

Michele Tantussi / Getty Images

RB: Even though fursuits are kind of synonymous with furries, only about a third of people in the fandom have them because they're heckin' expensive. I'm just commissioning my first one, and of course, I had to pick a character with rosettes and colorful spots, and that's difficult to do. So the one that I'm in the process of commissioning is going to cost about $5500 dollars, when all is said and done, at least before any extras I want, like arm vents, or a fan in the head to keep you cool, because those things get hot. So they're often expensive but they're really worth every penny when you're getting something that's like it's basically you. This is something that, you know, it's almost like Hollywood-level sort of artistry.

And just like that, we’re even more excited for the Sex and the City reboot.

Craig Blankenhorn / Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Over the weekend, Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth — aka Carrie and Big — shared photos of themselves on the reboot set, including one where they look super lovey dovey.

On today’s episode we also talked about Dev Patel’s recent interview about how he’s often been made to feel “not British enough” to play British roles and “not Indian enough” to play Indian characters.

Barcroft Media / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

He told The Guardian he was surprised when his breakout role in Slumdog Millionaire, which he was heavily praised for, didn’t lead to bigger roles. Instead, he was mostly offered “cliché” parts, or was expected to “put on a thick [Indian] accent” despite being British. Dev went on to say he’s felt “stuck in this cultural no-man's-land,” but thinks the entertainment industry is "moving in the right direction” for people of color.

As always, thanks for listening! And if you ever want to suggest stories or just want to say hi, you can reach us at [e-mail] or on Twitter @BuzzFeedDaily.