Sailor Moon Cosplay Tips

We, the first time sailor moon cosplayer, want to learn from excellent cosplayers to avoid ruining our outfits and first show with some simple mistakes. So here I collect some good and bad things for reference.

1. Don’t stuff your bows.
The bows on the Sailor Soldiers' uniforms are big and fluffy and larger-than-life; so, obviously, an instinctive reaction when converting them to a real-life costume is to cut out a bow shape in fabric, and then fill it up with stuffing like a plush toy. However, this has the opposite effect; instead of being plump and perky, the extra weight of your plush-bow makes it hang down unflatteringly from your hips and chest (and tug on your costume), and it’s strange, irregular shape makes it barely even recognizable as a bow. The best ways to go are to use some kind of backing or iron-on interfacing; my personal favorite is when cosplayers utilize the enormous bows you see in Lolita fashion - they suit the look of the Sailor Soldiers’ bows perfectly.

Sailor Chibimoon Costume Bows

2. When cosplaying with a group of Sailor Soldiers, make sure everyone is working from the same pattern. Even if individually your costumes are all beautifully-made, if they’re all of wildly different styles, your group photos are going to look disorganized and disjointed. It’s easy enough to assume that costumes that look so similar in the series will wind up looking similar in real-life, too, but even the smallest differences in things like skirt/belt placement/length/shape, collar cut, sleeves, etc. can add up and rob your group of its unity.

3. Wear makeup. But don’t go crazy with “anime” makeup.
Wear foundation, wear a little blush. Try powder on top of the liquid foundation. Powder reduces glare and kills the shiny face syndrome. There are some tutorials you can find on YouTube that teaches you how to look like an anime character. These videos are usually made by people with incredible makeup experience, but for most cosplayers, who aren’t professional makeup artists, the result is flat-out creepy. Those who try going for the white eyeliner/giant anime eyelashes/”cheek lines”, etc. usually end up falling into serious Uncanny Valley territory. Remember, you’re trying to represent a “real-life” version of the character and some things just don’t translate well when applied literally. Giant anime eyes are one of those things. Rather than trying to make your face actually look like an anime character’s, consider going for colored/themed eye shadow or lip gloss that matches your character’s color scheme - it’s a nice way to add some flair to your cosplay and highlight your features without coming off as creepy.

4. Pay attention to your shoes.
Remember to make or buy boot covers or get a paint made specifically for shoes, if you don’t, your perfect Venus heels will flake everywhere. The shoe-paint in particular is a very important point. I have seen the most gorgeous boots ruined because the paint has flaked off, which usually doesn’t start to happen until you’re already in costume at the convention.

lovely boots

5. Research the accuracy of accessories like tiaras, earrings, sword, wands, and etc. Little things like those always catch people’s eye, especially when they’re done well.

Sailor Mercury Mizuno Ami Costume accessories

6. Double check your character outfit resources before you start making your props/costume. There’s nothing worse than being 3/4 of the way through a costume when you realize that the character you could’ve sworn wore purple pants actually usually wears blue, or that the earrings you spent $50 on actually don’t have the right number of points/beads for your purpose after all. No matter how well you think you remember a character, always, always, always double-check. Good resources for double-checking things like costumes and magical accessories.

7. Know your own weaknesses. If you’re not good at making Sailor moon cosplay props or costumes, then find a good store to buy your sailor moon suit,wands or brooches from them. There’s nothing worse than a beautiful costume with an ugly cardboard brooch hanging off it. It’s important if you know you can’t make something yourself, don’t settle for some crappy stand-in. Find someone who can make the perfect props/shoes/jewelry/whatever, because one little thing that seems “off” can ruin an entire cosplay.

Princess Serenity Tsukino Usagi Brooch

How to Make Your Sailor Moon Suit

Sailor Scouts

Sailor Moon is a popular Japanese anime series about a team of teenage school girls who transform into warriors with the destiny of saving the planet Earth, and later the entire galaxy. Usagi Tsukino is the main character and leader of the female warriors. She is one of the most immediately recognizable and iconic anime characters worldwide. And her costume is versatile for women and girls in that you can make it as fun, cute, and flirty as you want. With time, patience, and the right materials you can transform yourself into one of these heroines.

The following steps describes how to make the costume of Usagi Tsukino, however, you can always change it up and dress up as one of the other members of the group. This is also a great idea for a group Halloween dress-up idea for girls. First of all, please find a picture of Sailor Moon for reference when you're creating this outfit.

1. Dress Start with a plain white bodysuit and a navy blue school-girls uniform skirt. Depending on your preference and want for accuracy, you can make it as short as you want. You can make a naval collar like Sailor Moon's from dark blue fabric. Make two large bows out of bright red ribbon. One bow should be glued or sewed on the chest onto your naval collar. The second bow will be attached at the small of your back near the top of the skirt.

2. Accessories Find a gold locket and attach it to the center of the front bow. You can find cheap tiaras at your local toy store in the "dolls" aisle. Put red wristbands at the ends of the gloves. For added details paint small moon designs at the front ends of the boots, on your locket, and tiara. Complete the costume with white elbow-length gloves and red knee high boots.

3. Hair If you don't already have long, long blonde hair, obtain a wig or extensions. Tie the hair into two long pigtails, securing each one with red hair ribbons.

You can complete your sailor scout costume with red socks, boot covers and a tiara. If you are not good at handcraft, My suggestion is to buy an affordable Sailor moon suit with necessary items included.