Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Tag: Vice magazine

Furry internet history, tragic accident takes RedSavage and Milofox. NEWSDUMP (7/29/15)

by Patch O'Furr

Tips: patch.ofurr@gmail.com

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Guest posts welcome. “Local correspondents” wanted to talk about your local networks. 

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Media and Fandom news.

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New from “Culturally F’d”: how the 1990’s internet made a Furry phenomenon.

I highly endorse this Youtube series, which investigates everything this blog is for!  Host blackbird, Arrkay, sent this.

(Arrkay:) “This week we are “Ctrl:F’d.” Culturally F’d looks at furries and the history of the internet.

The episode was later than expected for 2 reasons: 1) I was hosting a Drag Party (Howl Toronto‘s “Fierceness Party”,) where I recorded footage to feature soon where we discuss the commonalities of fursuiting and drag queens. 2) It’s our longest episode so far, and will probably be the longest of the season!

As Michael from VSauce recently pointed out, on the internet, no one know’s if you’re a dog. This meme was originally from the July 5, 1993 edition of the New Yorker. No group on the internet holds this adage more closely than furries.

MUDs, MUCKs, and early chat rooms made Furry visible in the first online communities of the 1980’s and 90’s. That happened before computers were widely accessible, and even before the mega-infrastructure of the internet was built.  This aspect of the fandom grew largely from colleges and universities, equipped with online connections and computers that were still far too expensive for home-use.

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Furries and fashion: do’s and don’ts

by Patch O'Furr

VICE magazine is reputed to be some kind of a “hipster” bible, earning love or hate, depending on your perspective. Actually, their news documentaries have earned plenty of respect. Even when they mess with readers, it can be surprisingly informative. You can see it in their “Furries” tag. (Notice the coverage of furries and the adult-crowdfunding site Offbeatr, a topic that can’t be left out of any discussion of a “furry economy”. You won’t find many journalists covering that.)

Fashion “do’s and don’ts” is one of their well-known features. (I’m told these are actually decided by a coin flip.) Today’s “Don’t” may disappoint a few costumers, and inspire others (like me): if you’re going to dress furry, don’t give it weak effort. Yiffy Sparkledogs or nothing!

I don’t follow VICE, but I’m checking in this week to see when they post my photo. One of their photographers got me to pose this weekend outside a show. I won’t post it here because my outfit wasn’t a fursuit- just a glitter-bedazzled nightmare. But it was an ensemble I did build to match a partial suit, for the right furry occasion. I’ll rock it elsewhere.

Dressing a character in endless wardrobe options is an under-appreciated partial-fursuit performance tactic, I think. The more cartoonish, the better. I have an article sitting in drafts about the fun of furry fashion experimenting. It concerns topics like ridiculous thrift store finds, that couldn’t have a better match than a fursuit.

“Patch’s fursuit fashion tips” is coming whenever I get the inspiration to finish it.