Sailor Chibimoon Fuku - Anime Version

This is a general front and back view of Sailor Chibimoon's fuku. In the anime her skirt and collar are a very bright and distinguishable high saturation bubblegum pink. Her front and back bows are both crimson (if you're following along with your book but don't know much about colors, crimson is a cool red, meaning it tends to blue shades as opposed to tending to orange shades). The gloves are to the elbow and a matte white. Each glove has two "caps" of bubblegum pink (compare this to the inner senshi who each have three caps on each glove). These are three dimensional rings usually produced as stuffed fabric. The actual material they're made of is never directly stated or observable in the anime, but they don't reflect light like they're satin or vinyl, so a matte fabric for them.

As far as I'm concerned, her little pink skirt features box pleats. I'm making this statement based on the amount of spring the skirt has. The hem of the skirt flares out quite a bit and is very flouncy in most representations. The skirt is mini skirt length. If you're wearing it in an above-the-knee cut, then that's way too long. If you're sky about someone seeing you in your leotard panties, then maybe you should choose a different outfit to cosplay.

The bodysuit itself is one piece and made of a white matte fabric. The legs are semi-bikini cut. The white trim of the skirt is actually attached to the bodysuit. At the sides, it rides on the hipbones, but as comes around the front and the back it dips down into a gentle v. This line of fabric really exists at nearly the same height and cut as the top of a pair of bikini cut panties, except the v in front and back comes down to a sharper point. This line in the fuku is a very critcal one and is often placed incorrectly (almost always too high). When its where it's supposed to be, it should more or less be over the top line of your underpants (provided you're not wearing granny underwear or something). Although you can't see the front of the suit in this picture, if you look above you'll see that it has a V-shaped neckline that dips all the way to the sternum. The neckline is simple and round in the back. You should also note that Chibimoon's fuku is not one of the sleveless ones. Instead it has two protective bands of fabric at each shoulder hole. Rather than being made of stuffed fabric, it always seemed to me as if these were made of a heavier material, like foam, or fabric covering foam. Something that can hold its own shape. This is also the way they're portrayed in the live action series, Pretty Guardian, although there they shoulder cuffs are presented as part of a larger piece of chest armor worn over the bodysuit and under the bows. The anime bodysuit is clearly one piece, not two. The line under the bust and around the back (I feel) represents an interior bra support built into the body suits, the line being just where the lowest line of a bra sits. This is supported by the fact that if you look at the image above you will see that the bust line actually goes up between the breasts briefly, the way sewn in cup support would.

The sailor collar is that bright high saturation bubblegum pink, as you can see. It is trimmed in two white accent lines. I believe that the collar itself tucks into the body suit, as opposed to siply lying on top of it and trimming the v-neck. Again, this is the way it is constructed in PGSM, and this makes both the collar itself and the front of the costume considerably less bulky. If you're concerned about the sailor collar pulling too far away from your front bow even after it's sewn inside the suit (which sometimes happens in the action sequences of PGSM), then consider pinning it just the way you want with straight pins. Here you can also see her choker. Keep in mind that this is a real chocker, not just a band of pink fabric, or a ribbon (although Naoko describles their chokers as ribbons in the manga, as presented in the anime they seem to be of stronger construction). Note that the heart on the choker is the same color as the fabric of the choker.

As for the bow, don't let your bow hang limply! No one likes that, and from the perfect way the bows stay constantly in the anime, they must be wired lightly inside (like a large bow you'd use for Christmas decorations). This shoud go without saying, but be aware of size too! Don't let your bow excede the width of your shoulders or be considerably narrower than your chest. The bows in the anime are not fantastically huge. You should be able to see some of the bustline of that white bodysuit underneath it. Also keep in mind that the bows are made of ribbon not droopy fabric in a ribbon shape. Luckily Chibimoon's ribbons are red, a color that's likely to be found in the extra wide ribbon you'd need for the job.

The Prism Heart Brooch looks like this. When it is displayed in a simplified manner it just looks like a gold disc with a pink heart on it. The Bandai toy matches this design very closely and with a little modification could be made to sit squarely in the center of a bow. If you instead want to make your own, then I suggest stitching a few layers of craft foam together, like a sandwich and using a few beads at the top for accents. You could also sculpt it, if you were feeling very artistically inclined. How detailed you decide the make the brooch is up to you. Both the simplified and the full brooch will complement your costume in different ways.

Chibimoon's earrings are simple pink studs. If you can't find pink studs at any mall accessory store you can always buy little faux pearl ones and paint them yourself with pink craft paint. Be sure to mix a color that matches the pink on your fuku and make sure the posts on the earrings are such that you can wear comfortably. No one wants an ear infection to ruin their beautiful costume!

The tiara is cut in a curved V, as you can see. The trim is a slightly raised edge both on the top and the bottom, making it clear that the tiara is not simply a very flat piece of metal. Although sometimes the tiara is cosplayed in metal I think a more appropriate looking prop would be made of high impact plastic painted in a pearly metallic finish, or perhaps something hand sculpted out of craft clay on a light foam base. The stone in the tiara is the same crimson as her bows. Again, the tiara is made of something rigid with a little weight to it, so when you cosplay it, do not simply fake it with a stone glued to a bit of fabric. It won't look right at all, and probably won't sit right on your head.

Chibimoon's boots are her primary pink and just to the knee at the highest point. They have low heels in the back (although these are sometimes hard to catch on camera) and a white upsidedown V of trim in the front. Depending on how they're drawn and how the light reflects on them they either look like they're made of something that reflects the light quite a bit (shiny pink vinyl) or something matte (some kind of short pinky fuzz, suede, or other fabric covered). I know it is possible to permanently cover a low heeled shoe and make it into a nice pink costume boot, but I am without a tutorial to point you to at the moment. If all else fails then you can order some boots made by a costumer who does boots. To make sure your boots will match, send them a scrap of your primary pink fabric and ask them to match as closely as they can to that. As you notice, Sailor Chibimoon's boots do not have crescent moons at the white points. These show up only on Super Sailor Chibimoon.

As for the hair bits and bobs, pears, odango guards, etc, we'll be covering those in accessories, as well as which accessories go with which incarnations of Chibimoon.