We got the opportunity to try out one of the latest offerings from Morphsuits. To be honest I had stumbled across the site a few times here and there, but I had no idea at the quality of suits they offered. I was under the impression that they simply sold solid color body suits and after reading about their history this was mostly true….at first.
Starting up in 2009 with three members and offering only six solid colors they set out on their journey with a $700 website.
Our best mate Stew Walker rocked up in a dodgy fetish suit, he couldn’t see much and it didn’t fit well but he was King of the party that night. That was our eureka moment… Inspired by Mr Walker’s dodgy outfit and the reactions it received, we thought that we could develop the idea into an awesome fancy dress costume. We worked for months designing, prototyping and tweaking to get the quality and design just right so you could see out, but no one could see you. Then we ordered some suits – just 6 plain colours to start with. We set up a website for $700 (I know what you’re thinking, “that much!”) and Morphsuits phenomenon was born.
Harnessing their momentum they would continue to grow and eventually merge with Digital Dudz to include some pretty amazing effects In their costumes. As of 2014 they have grown to thirty members and offer an insane catalog of Morphsuits, Morph Costumes, T-Shirts, Jumpers and much more.
We were lucky enough to get our hands on the Beating Heart Muscle Morphsuit which can be found here. I was happy to see this particular suit in person so I could not only check the quality of the suit, but to experience the digital effect in person. Could it be that convincing? Let’s dive in…
The first thing I noticed was the suit has a surprising thickness to it. I guess I’m not really sure what I was expecting going in, but this isn’t just a thin layer of imaged Spandex. Bringing a blend of 87% Polyester and 13% Spandex, these suits bring a perfect amount of transparency, durability and comfort. Another great thing is the double stitching on the inside of the suit as I have encountered issues with spandex costumes in the past coming apart at the seam. I haven’t quite gave this one the test of time, but it appears to be well stitched and doesn’t give me any indication that I would be in need of a replacement sooner rather than later.
The fit of the suit was about as expected and didn’t give me much issue getting “Morphed”. The zipper was located on the back of the head and upper back area and worked well enough, however I did need help getting suited up the first time. Also due to the nature of the material and printed image on the costume it took me a minute to get the suit properly aligned. You wouldn’t think this would be that difficult but since the image consisted of muscle and bone the alignment was pretty crucial and somehow got twisted in the process of suiting up. I can’t really fault the costume and mostly chalk it up to my ability, but one thing is for certain… be sure to straighten the suit up before you zip everything up. This would have likely been a whole lot easier with a simpler design, but again I don’t really see it as a fault of the costume.
After zipping the suit up it took me a minute to adjust enough to see through the suit. It’s not that it was terribly difficult, but it also wasn’t the sheer black material that I am used to having in masks and other costumes. I’m sure it probably depends on the image of the suit, but the inside of this morph suit was white which took a bit of getting used to. I wondered at first if this was going to work but after a few moments I got the hang of it and it wasn’t really an issue. Things did get slightly more difficult when I moved into dark areas. I could still see but visibility was certainly effected. I don’t think this is too much of a deal breaker though since any costume that covers your eyes would have this issue.
With that out of the way let’s move on to the visual effect. My mom just so happened to be in the room when I walked in wearing the costume for the first time and got a little weirded out at first. Again this depends on the design but with the suit being covered in visible muscle and bone it really provides a unique visual image. Watching someone walk around with the suit on is odd due to the skin tight nature of the suit. It doesn’t quite seem like a costume even with you being completely aware that it is.
The look of the suit was perfect and highly detailed, although I do have one complaint. (at least with the suit I had) Across the butt of the costume included the word Morphsuits printed in large letters. I could see this being annoying to some customers and I think some alteration to this design would be good idea in the future. Although I do understand the inclusion from a marketing standpoint.
The suit also includes a pocket in the front that was pretty difficult to separate the first time around. I kept feeling like I was going to pull too hard and rip the costume. The purpose of the pocket however is meant to holster your smart phone leaving the screen visible. Whether you have an iOS or Android phone you may then download their free app that includes all sorts of animations like a beating heart, gears turning, maggots etc. Each one of these screens also have a few settings that be applied to fine tune your visual effect and once placed in the pocket looks pretty cool. One thing I really liked about this pocket is it seals with Velcro not leaving your phone vulnerable to falling out and hitting the ground.
Overall I feel that this suit provides a really unique visual effect and will most likely become a great conversation starter. I was impressed with both the quality and comfort of the suit and wouldn’t have any issue wearing this for an extended period of time. They even advertise that you can drink through the material, although I’m not quite in a hurry to try that out. I feel that the asking price for each of these costumes are more than fair and will quickly provide an interesting costume with very little effort.
For more information on Morphsuits and to check out the many costumes they provide visit their Official Site here.
