Tailmakers woes!

[Traveling Merman]

Hey guys, I've been looking at getting a tail (I've got the £££) but I'm a bit dissatisfied by the fit of all the tailmakers tails I see on the Internet a trusty you tube! My issue being that the tails are baggy round the waist and this is mainly seen during a dolphin kick where a big gap appear above the bum!

I'm assuming I do have enough to visit the tailmakers personally and get a life cast of my lower half, but I'm weary of asking them to do this as it may cause undue offence and I wouldn't want that!!!

[MerEmma]

I don't think it would offend. I know Mertailor has done body castings before, but if you look at the H2O girls (very expensive tails even with the leg casting) the tail flaps up on their backs as well. The only real fix for it (as it seems) is for it to come up higher on the back.

[Ashe]

A belt could also come in handy around the waist. But it would still flip up a bit. Agreeing with Emma, a high waisted tail would be recommended if you can't do the casting. I don't think it would be offensive to an experienced tailmaker as they should surely know about the waist issue when the measurements aren't exact- which they usually never are. :)

[Kanti]

That's actually a simple fix
You can just get a silicone tail, make sure it's platinum silicone, Mertailor, Merbellas, and Mermaid Creations all make theirs from Plat. silicone. And you can actually buy a silicone adhesive to stick the tail directly onto your body.
http://www.smooth-on.com/index.php?cPath=1193

It's a great adhesive too because it doesn't stick to hair! So it's easy to take off!

It's a little more money to do it this way, but it will keep the upper body from going every which way.

I'm hopefully going to be working on tails soon, I have an idea that might fix it, but then again, you do need it to be big and loose enough for your body to go in there so sometimes it's not so bad that the upper part of your tail is a bit big.

[Traveling Merman]

Thank you kanti! That looks like the best option! Here's hoping that with a live cast and that there wouldn't be any slippage!

Also why do they pop up at the back more than any other bit? And it's the same on boys and girls (thought it'd be different with girls having wider hips and bums)

[Kanti]

Getting your legs cast will be really expensive!
I don't even know the price of what that could possibly be since everyone always just gets the tails made for them. But I'm sure the tailmaker is going to want you to go to them and then charge you for all the extra supplies, so I wouldn't go down that route, to be honest.

And it probably just goes up because of the downwards movement of the stroke. Since your butt is generally larger than the groin area, it causes more of a hump so the base of the tail has less of a grip there.
With guys I imagine it's a lot less annoying.

[Aino Revontuletar]

I was also wondering about this, since I will be making a tail and would want to avoid it if possible. I really like the look of the lower waisted tails, so I don't want mine to be too high-waisted. Thanks for that link, Kanti, I might look into getting some of that too

[NerineArcticMermaid]

My silicone tail does not flap on the butt

[Traveling Merman]

@nerine does yours go to the waist or the hips? I think waist looks fine on the mermaids but for merblokes I feel like it should sit on the hips like most mens trousers do.

[Rat-Soup]

What needs to happen with fit is that the back needs to sit higher than the front. I see too many tails that are just a straight line at the top, and this just does not ensure a good fit, especially for low-cut styles. Lay your jeans out flat, with the crotch lining up. You'll see the front dips down while the back slopes up. Also, the back panel(s) is wider than the front, again to account for butt. Same should be taken into account with tails.

[Mizuko]

The issue with a higher back is drag. When you curve your back to swim- the higher seam will 'bloat'. Adding elastic may help, but it will also stop the over-all look of the higher/lower as the tigher elastic will want to pull up on the front.