Opinions needed and greatly appreciated!

[PearlieMae]

Hello, my fellow Mers!


I am embarking on a tailmaking quest and need your opinions!


My fabric tails have become a local hit, even now at the end of the Northeast US summer season, and I am getting requests for all sorts of tails. Also, I’m engineering a radically new/different fluke design for both fabric and silicone tails.


A little history about me, I’m a professional artist and crafter (and photographer), and have my own studio at home. I work for a hobby tool and supply company, so I have access to lots of different, and potential, supplies. I’m also well versed in fabric arts, coming from two generations of upholsterers, and my grandfather was an inventor! There isn’t much I can’t make once I put my mind to it! :) I'm just starting out with swimming tails, but I have been making tails for over 30 years, participating in the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade.


I want to make beautiful tails, both custom and some ready-made, both realistic and fantasy tails, everything from very affordable to high-end conceptual art pieces, for the casual Mer to the in-demand performance artist. I will try and chronicle each project as best as I can and I welcome questions and suggestions!


I realize that we are all strapped for money, and we lust after the tails we are left to dream of with our empty pockets...as I develop techniques and build a solid base for my budding business, I am prepared to make tails as low cost as I can...that is, for now. ;) I hope to keep costs low, because for me, the Art of the Process is what I live for!


I won’t bite off more than I can chew and will only commit to making a few tails at a time - To me, customer service and timely delivery are as important as quality, and I plan to offer all three.


So, for the questions...and if you think of anything else I need to ask, please let me know!


1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?


2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?


3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?


4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...


5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?


6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?


7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?


8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?


9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?


10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?


11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?


I'm so glad to have found the Mer Community and am so happy that you are all so welcoming and helpful! I can't tell you how much I appreciate any and all feedback, and I welcome other tailmakers to use any of this feedback in the crafting of their own tails!

[Echinacea]

Ah, I am afraid I understood it as 'Can you think of any other questions I should be asking people?', not as 'Could you answer these questions about yourself?'. Here are my answers to the questions...

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
Currently, I am a fairly casual swimmer, but I am hoping to change that. I am looking for something I can do that will not be too hard on my knees.


2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
There are a couple of State Parks nearby with lakes, but I am also looking into finding a pool to swim in for the colder months. My mum-in-law has a house on Cape Cod, near Falmouth, so some ocean swimming is also possible.


3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
For fun. Not really thinking of it as a profession any time soon.


4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
Starting off with a fabric tail. I love the silicone ones, but until I lose a lot of weight, I am not about to put that kind of money into something I will outgrow.


5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
Nothing, yet.


6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I think my mersona is kind of goldfishy... I like to just swim around sort of languidly.


7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
I have a Fin Fun Monofin Pro, which is pretty floppy. As my swimming improves, and I range further afield, my requirements for a monofin may change, too.


8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
That would be lovely!


9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
Blended is awesome!


10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
Nothing to say yet.


11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
You haven't mentioned anything about additional fins - dorsal, side, pectoral, etc. Might be a couple questions in there... Do you want additional fins, and if so, what fins and what kind? Realistic or more flowy? I would like to have options and accessories that might help portray my mersona better. I have thought about upper armbands with fabric 'hankies' that would swirl and swoosh. (I dream of a goldfish, with those lovely flowy fins and tail!)

Also, do you want to get into tops? Would you be interested in offering matching tops, like a one piece bathing suit or tankini, for those who would like to continue the color scheme further up the torso? I am definitely interested in some tummy-concealing tops! And/or having the top of my tail start above the waist by several inches! (The video that Mermaid Miyu posted, of Stella the Siren in her clownfish tail and top is what I was thinking of when I thought of this question.)

[PearlieMae]

Good points, all! Thanks!

I thought I would get the basic tail questions out there first, and continue on from there, but feel free to add as much info as you like!

[PearlieMae]

Hey Merfolks! I would really appreciate any input...you don't have to answer every question!

[Lyna]

Whoo that's a lot of questions. I love the possibility of another new tailmaker, and I'd love to see your work! I was at Coney last year, but a week after the parade lol. Personally I never swim in pools. I think it's cheesy. I like to be a natural mermaid. I've been in the Atlantic, black river, Lake Ontario, stillhouse and belton lakes, Hamilton pool, etc.... I love big flukes. I love veining detail. but I think their should be a lot of small detail not large abstract ones. I have 2 latex tails and a silicone tail should be being made soon...I ordered one...but I'm still not sure the completion date :/ I don't train or free dive. I don't do kids parties. I'm just a real life mermaid. I love great propulsion, especially for unexpected underwater currents, but I think a tail should flex and move realistically a lot. I've had issues with the amount of time it takes to get into my tail, but I know that's normal and should be that way for a good fit, as I don't like zippers. I also think fins and fringe is weird and looks ridiculous. But that's my opinion. I think that using actual ankle measurements is a bust because when the ankles fit its impossible for us thinner girls to get our feet in. A lot of mers say things about rolling their tails down or looking into the fin...I cant fold, roll, or see past the mid thigh portion of any of my tails because the bodies are too narrow as I have long thin legs. fitting tightly in the thigh and hips is great, but when too much custom fitness is going on with the knees down ...One of my tails I have specially made so I can put it on and then pull open the fluke and get on my momofin then seal the fluke around it. its so tight that there would be zero chance of me ever having got it on otherwise. and that's an issue that makes me weary of buying more tails in the future. I've sunk a lot of money into tails and they all have their pros and cons, but to spends hundreds or thousands on things you cant use...it's getting ridiculous. :( I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!

[PearlieMae]

Thank you, Lyna! That us some fabulous input! I hope to be sharing prototype images soon!

[Anahita]

Oo, sorry, got a little confused when I read this... I thought you meant you wanted input on questions to ask potential customers when I first read it. Oops :) Ok, so here goes (I'll try and make it concise and easy-to-read since I can ramble and be hard to understand at times)

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
I'm a year round swimmer (Thank you SoCal for letting that be an option!) and I do modest freediving (I'm not very good at freediving, but I can and sometimes do when I have the opportunity)

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
I swim in pools and the ocean. I would REALLY love to try lakes and rivers, however, where I live, the ocean is much more attainable (I'm pretty sure it's illegal - and dangerous for that matter - to swim in the rivers in LA)

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
I'm a "for fun" mer.... Although my partner wants me to become a professional mer, and I agree with him. I already am a performer for so many other things, professional mermaiding wouldn't be any different than classical music and dance performances.... Maybe the audience and appeal would be more diverse... That'd be new, and cool.

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
I think this really depends on the situation... Neoprene and fabric would definitely take the cake for a dry stuff just because they're easier to get into, but for swimming, I lean towards full silicone, and my real reason for that is because when it's wet, you don't see individual legs, and because it's easier to dry out and clean than neoprene or neoprene backed tails.

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
I used to have a neoprene backed caulked tail. Bad idea on my part, but that's what I decided to make.

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I need to be able to easily move through ocean currents. That's the one thing I absolutely always worry about with my monofins. I also like the ability to just go fast if I want to... Just because :)

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
Nope, not unless I'm modeling in a pool for a one-time thing... But I wouldn't purchase a tail with one myself. I like the flowy look, but I don't like drag. It could be dangerous given some of the places I swim, so my tails need a fiberglass fin.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
I like the idea, for sure.... I'm not sure how I'd like it in practice though, especially once the monofin (or lack thereof) comes into question

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
Blended, definitely. That was one of the things that always made me a bit disappointed in my caulked tail (aside from the fact it fell apart and made me sick) was that the tail very obviously started somewhere

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
Well, I think all the stuff I didn't like about my last tail was entirely my fault... I bought neoprene - which was the smart move, but I used caulking - a very stupid move. The neoprene did get mold though, despite my best attempts to dry it, and there just wasn't a good/easy way to clean it out (like full silicone, which can be wiped out and gently cleaned to remove the mold)

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
I'm not sure... Lol, sorry, I'm bad at thinking about questions. :)

[PearlieMae]

Fabulous, Anahita! Sorry for the confusion! I would really like to gather a much info from the folks here! And I thought I was being so thorough! Thanks for your input!

[Mermaid Kelda]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
I only swim casually, but I feel confident in the water.

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
Pools and lakes.

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
Personal gratification mostly, but if I could generate some income that'd be great!

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
Silicone, for sure - but neoprene tails can look fabulous when painted right.

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
None at the moment, silicone on the way.

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I prefer to glide languidly, but I wanna be able to get around with some speed if I can. But in the end, it's the look I'm trying to achieve - I want my tail to look like a real fish.

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
Again, realism is what I'd be aiming for; I prefer flowy to stiff.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
I love the idea, if it's possible.

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
Both look great on different people. But blended waists are hard to get looking right - you'd have to actually colour swatch the person's skin (or have them send you a physical thing, e.g. painted paper, which they think matches their belly colour) otherwise you're just blending to a lighter colour, and not their flesh colour, which looks weird in my opinion.

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
No tail at the moment! I'll be sure to update when I get it :)

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
Not that I can think of that other mers haven't mentioned (fins would have also been my addition - I love them! They do a great job of hiding bumps and add to the flowy look).

[Nausicaa]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?

I swim almost every day for at least two hours in the summer, but as for winter swimming I'm lucky if I can make it to a pool any more often then once or twice a week, as I live within a five min. drive from local reservoirs in almost every direction from my house, but it's a 30 min drive to the closest pool. I do consider myself to be a pretty strong swimmer because I'm naturally very buoyant and I can even do a couple of tricks. On the downside though, I can't hold my breath for very long because of my smoking, which though I'm trying to give it up....but it's hard damit!


2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?

I'll jump into just about any water that doesn't have a bio-hazard warning near it, but I do really prefer "wild water" like lakes and rivers.

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?

I'm a mer mostly just for funzies, but it is my ambition to become a professional performer, though that's probably a couple of years down the road.

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...

Well one day I would love to have a professionally made silicone tail, though for right now I use fabric tails, because I like the way that they flow through the water and they're very light and easy to take care of.

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?

I have two fabric tails with finis monofins, one that I made myself and another which is an Angel Tail by aquatails.com

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?

I prefer the medium stiff blades of my finis monofins, though I don't think I would mind something a little stiffer though (If ya know what I mean hehehe ;D) but I have to say that for me personally I'm not at all a fan of tails with out monofins or with very soft propulsion.

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?

For me personally, as I said above I'm not a fan of anything softer than the plastic finis fins (wave and rapid) but that's because I like to use my tails for swimming rather than dry/tank performances. Though now that I think about it, maybe it would be pretty nice to have a good "costume" tail for dry stuff like ren faires or conventions.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?

I'm not, but that's because in the ones that I've seen, that makes it very easy to see the monofin in the fluke. Though if you could figure out how to manage it, I would LOVE to have a tail like that!

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?

I am a fan of the nude faded waistlines, though when you're ordering a tail from someone, particularly online it's extremely difficult to match up the color of the tail to the color of skin, so I think that I would rather have a hard line at my hips than a faded paint job at my waist that's paler/darker than my skin color haha.

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?

I LOVE the extremely flow-y parts of my aquatails tail, and the beautiful fabric that it's made of...but I really don't like how much it cost XD

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?

I would say something about price point like; how much do you think a fabric tail is worth/ how much do you think a silicone tail is worth?

[Mermaid Jessica]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
Casual/occasional

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
Pools

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
Personal gratification. But I have volunteered and performed at a Ren faire.

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
Silicone

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
Latex. I'm working on a fabric one right now.

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I like a lot of propulsion

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
I prefer speed and a lot of push. But flowy is so realistic looking and beautiful.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
YES!!!

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
I love blended waist lines

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
I love how iridescent it is underwater. I hate that it doesn't fit right and the materials its made out of (latex and neoprin). There aren't drain holes in the fluke so it fills up with water and drags me down.

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
I can't think of anything.

[PearlieMae]

Thank you so much, Melaina, Lyric, and Jessica! This is all so very helpful! I appreciate your taking the time to answer everything!

[Mermaid Fenicia]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
I swim (almost) weekly in a public pool (almost) all year round as a freediver.

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
In a public pool most of the time, sometimes in a hotelpool if I'm there on a convention.

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
I like t be a professional mer, but as people don't like chubby mers, I hardly have any gigs :(

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
All the tails I have are fabric (most of them are crushed (stretch) velvet) but I'm saving (very slowly) for a full silicone tail.

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
All the tails I have are fabric (most of them are crushed (stretch) velvet)

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I like to glide trough the water.

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
I love my Triton momofin ;) It's not as big but has a good push through the water

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
Don't need one

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
I like blended transition, but can't have it with my fabric tails.

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
I love the feeling of the velvet when it's wet :)

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
nope

[Echidna]

Chances are I won't ever be able to order from you, since I'm in Europe, but I want to answer your questions anyway.


1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? 
I swim all year round, slowly building my freediving abilities.


2: Where do you usually swim? 
Pools sadly, landbound and no natural body of water far and wide.
If I could, I'd swim in lakes and the sea!

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? 
I swim for my own happiness mostly, but I also perform now and then.

4: What is your tail preference? 
Fabric, because it's lightweight, easy to handle, and inconspicuous in public places.

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
Far too many fabric tails, most of which I made myself.

6: What level of propulsion do you require? 
Speed! Power!
For swimming languidly through pools I don't even need a monofin xD

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
Mmm.
I can do with any sort of fin. I like to have several and choose which kind I need for the occasion.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
YESSSSSSS! OMG YES!
I love tails with diaphanous flukes.
Have gone for that look myself, which sadly always ended up looking pretty and swimming badly :p

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
I like both styles.

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?

I love how realistic it looks outside of the water, and how light it is.
I don't like how it looks when wet (the colours dull, in some cases the whole scale pattern is no longer visible when wet), and how fabric tends to soak water and drag.

[PearlieMae]

Thank you, Caltuna and Fenicia! This really helps a lot! All the responses help not only give a greater insight into the wants and needs of Mers, but with each response to my questions, I am inspired further with even more ideas! I am looking forward to the weekend when I can start fleshing out some of them! I will try and post progress photos, but my home internet access is spotty at best.

:D

[PearlieMae]

Who else would like to share some thought? :D

[Echinacea]

I redid mine, since I had misunderstood what you were asking for. :)

[PearlieMae]

I redid mine, since I had misunderstood what you were asking for. :)

Thanks!

[Miyu]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver? Currently only occasional, but I will be making the commitment to swim more as my ability grows.


2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into? I generally swim in water. I try to avoid swimming in hot lava. :p (Anywhere I can)


3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both? For now it's for personal gratification, though I hope to work up to being a professional - I adore performing!


4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid... Anything that looks nice, preferably not latex.


5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now? Working on making my first fabric tail; silicone tail is in the works!


6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between? I plan to require each of these options at some point.


7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin? YES OMG YES GIVE ME FLOP!


8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke? OH YES


9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition? I like blended or "The Little Mermaid" style.


10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail? The fact that it's not done due to my lack of knowledge.


11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial? Nope!

[Mermaid Octavia]

My turn!


1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
I swim year round and am working on becoming a freediver. I'd say my swimming ability is pretty decent. I don't have much in the way of a breath hold (yet) but can do flips, rolls, turns, etc. in the water. I'm also working on depth!

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
There's a pool near my house that's heated, 10 ft deep and allows mermaids. I go there twice a week!


3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
I'm a little of both - I got into mermaiding for the exercise to shed pounds and inches and have since become a mermaid performer/volunteer for a charity group.


4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
Pure silicone is my preference for my next tail.


5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
Neoprene!


6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I would switch tails depending on what I needed but my current tail allows for pretty decent propulsion in the water and is great for dry gigs because it's so easy to move in. For a silicone tail, I would require damn good propulsion for freediving, just in case currents become a problem. I'd like to be out there as safely as possible.

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
I wouldn't consider a softer fin - flowy is nice but I like function vs style.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
Ehhhh that worries me - it depends on whether you can see the monofin. If you can't see it, then awesome! If you can, then the fluke looks unfinished to me. :(


9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
I prefer the look of blended but like seeing tails of both types!

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
The only thing I don't love about it is that I can't sink in it, but that's simply because of the material, not the fault of the tailmaker!

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
Uhhh don't think so!

[PearlieMae]

Thank you, Miyu and Octavia!

"I generally swim in water" :doh: Girl, you crack me up!

---

heated, 10' deep and allows mermaids year 'round. I don't see a green with jealousy emoticon, but rest assured it goes right here. ;)

[MerMarla]

Hi PearlieMae, Some how I missed this! Here goes! Hope I'm not too, too late!

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?

At 61 years old, I still swim laps both regular (just no butterfly any more) and underwater laps. My current underwater endurance is 1 ½ laps doing dolphin kick (with my Weeki Wachee Mer fins) working on full 2 laps in a 25 meter lap pool. I also do syncro moves (dolphin, forward dolphin, sculling, leg lifts, periscope, shark, twirls & twizzles, forward and back somersaults...) I am trying to up my pool time to 3 times a week now. The club I belong to has 3 pools, two indoor pools (one goes to 9 feet, the other is a lap pool) & one outdoor unheated pool that goes to 12 feet where I practice deeper water choreography (the fourth pool is a the kiddie wading pool !). There are no Freediver groups near me, so I would have to learn from tutorials. I used to free dive to 50-60 feet, in tail or with just fins - no problem, but there's no place here in Mass to dive deeper than 12 feet in a pool, that I could find. When I swam at Weeki Wachee, we used to perform Deep Dive into the deep hole entrance to the spring head fighting the current outflow with our air hose (about 80 feet to first stop, could go deeper if you wanted to), but free ascend without air hose and perform our routine at about 20 feet from surface. You had to have excellent buoyancy control to do that. My record in summer of 1970 was long ago left in the waves, but for a while I held the deep dive record of 4 minutes 12 seconds, during a performance (timed as soon as the show director saw the air hose as it was taken away).

2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?

Currently a gym pool, but yet have to try the small river behind our house (called the Nissitissit River). In places that wee river is barely deep enuf for my now BIG mermy butt... but would make for awesome surface wet shot photography, because of it's shallow areas!

3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?

I was a professional Mer at Weeki Wachee Springs, FL (1969-1972). I swim now for my own enjoyment. I was thinking I might do a friend's childs' birthday party. The gym I belong to said I could do Mer parties there, but need to check out all their requirements.

4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...

I have only swam in fabric, but the fabric of today isn't the same as our tails were made from at Weeki, which was a very heavy duty lurex, elastic fabric. The heavy duty spandex of today is still like wearing tights, not the quality of the lurex we had, which was more the weight of heavy Carhartt farmers twill-denim (of the 16-20 oz fame).

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?

I have fabric of my own design to fit my MerFins from Weeki.

6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?

I require good propulsion for good control. Fin or monofin, requires at least medium to heavy composition for excellent drive/push thru the water. I am used to the ScubaPro heavy black diver's fin, and my fins from Weeki, altho those were cut to fit the tails. Even so... Voit who made the basic fin had a blade that was quite stiff and didn't flex. I would love to give a mermaid ride, sounds like fun!

7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?

My preference for flowy would only be at the very end of the flukes, and then only about 4-6 inches. I prefer no drag.

8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone flukes?

Yes! I am working on one using fins similar to my Weeki fins, doubling the width of the fins. Then adding a little length with transparent vinyl. Just an experiment that has taken a life of its own! I keep thinking of other things to add! :)

9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?

The soft line blended transitions are really nice, but difficult to match skin color. I personally still like the solid silver or gold "suits and tails" we swam in at Weeki, because those tummy rolls and love handles don't show at all! I also like my upper tail portion at my waist, similar to my jeans.... butt cracks may look good on Mers, ages under 30, but I passed that uncomfortable fitting stage ages ago, swimming and having your tail slip down is not a pleasant feeling in front of your audience! Same with my jeans or riding breeches, judges frown on butt cracks!

10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?

I love all the colors available in Spandex now-a-days, and the ability to paint on them, or buy scale-looking fabrics. I could wish for more colors, in the nude, beige, tan spectrum for my full swimsuits. If I could find the right color, I would design a bra-to-midriff-to-tail that blends into the tail fabric, bra being only an undergarment to protect skin from shell edges or sharp prickly plastic plants... My latest design is a Unisuit: one piece bra, midriff and leggins, so you only need to don the tail. The leggins part serves to ease donning the tail. I'm still working on fabric choices for that. My disappointment is in the performance heavy weight spandex, just not heavy weight enuf for me. My latest tail is silver and black, and I had to line it because I felt the spandex was too lightweight.

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?

Maybe... what are the uses each Mer wishes for their tails? To exercise, play/swim in a pool, do birthdays: pool side or dry, perform as paid professional, parades, Renaissance festivals ... and... What kind of bra/tail for dry parties? I personally wouldn't want to use a silicone tail for outdoor summer dry party, too hot, but very realistic and beautiful! But young kids might not know the difference. So a Mer should be comfortable. Only you would know how comfortable you are in each type of skin.

Respectfully submitted,
(((Hugz))) and Bubble https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/e/B0C'z
Mermaid Marla



I'm so glad to have found the Mer Community and am so happy that you are all so welcoming and helpful! I can't tell you how much I appreciate any and all feedback, and I welcome other tailmakers to use any of this feedback in the crafting of their own tails![/QUOTE]

[The Harlem Mermaid]

MerMarla (http://mernetwork.com/index/member.php?992-MerMarla) im so proud and honored to know you MerMarla you also are my inspiration to continue with my dream of being a Mermaid dreams come true luv ya. Squeeeee

[Mermaid Jaffa]

1: What is your Mersonal swimming ability? Casual/occasional swimmer? Year round? Freediver?
Casual.


2: Where do you usually swim? Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans...any puddle you can fit your mermy butt into?
Pool.


3: What sort of Mer describes you best? Are you a mer for personal gratification? Are you a professional Mer performer? Both?
Recreational.


4: What is your tail preference? Fabric, neoprene, silicone, hybrid...
Would love to have a silicone tail one day...

5: What kind of tail(s) do you have now?
2 Fabric tails.


6: What level of propulsion do you require? Do you like to move quickly through ocean currents? Do you like to glide languidly through a pool, offering mermaid rides to kids? Somewhere in between?
I don't know. I've only had one kind of monofin, the Finis Wave, so I don't know about other types of propulsion. I would love to glide underwater really fast by myself.


7: Monofins are expensive and sometimes cumbersome. Would you swim in a tail with a softer fin? Maybe not as much “push” as a commercial monofin, but a more flow-y look? Would your swimming style require a commercial fin?
No. I've seen the cheaper kids monofins and I don't like how they don't have any swimming speed.


8: Do you like the idea of a translucent silicone fluke?
Yes. Even more if had some sort of shimmer or glitter in it.


9: How do you feel about the transition between waist and tail? Do you like the hard line? Would you like a blended transition?
Blended.


10: What are the things you love/don’t love about your current/favorite tail?
Love both my tails!

11: Have I forgotten to ask anything crucial?
Um.

[PearlieMae]

Wow, I had forgotten about this thread and was just about to answer my own set of questions! Thanks for reviving it!

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