DIY Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino) Costume

This is me (Emily) as Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon R for Anime North, Fan Expo, and Halloween. I made/modified most of the costume, wig and accessories myself. The bows on the front collar and back of the skirt were made with red fabric and felt on the inside for support. Each bow had 2 felt/fabric pieces, bunched together and secured with a middle fabric piece to make the classic Sailor Senshi bow.

Everything was joined together with hot glue (a sewing machine would’ve been better but mine is broken). The back bow can be detached and reattached with a safety pin. The uniform was made from 2 separate Sailor Moon costumes bought online and modified by me. The top piece with the collar was a top from Dolls Kill. I cut the top and hand sewed it to the shape I wanted and cut the bow it came with off. I also fabric-glued a second white ribbon stripe to the collar. The torso and skirt were from a complete costume set from the online store Light in the Box that I modified to be worn under the top piece.

I cut the entire collar, front bow and back bow off and painted the skirt with metallic shimmer fabric paint for a personal touch and to match the metallic finish of the collar fabric. The gloves the costume set came with were left as is. I made the choker with the same red fabric from the bows, hook and eye clasps, and a moon charm I made with polymer clay painted with shimmery gold nail polish.

The earrings are made by me with glass faux pearl beads and more polymer clay moon charms. I made to boots using inexpensive ankle boots as a base, I then took stretchy red vinyl fabric and hand sewed 2 tubes to fit my legs. I then attached the tubes to the boots with E6000 glue. I painted the heels and bottoms of the boots with red paint. Then I used E6000 to glue the white vinyl stripes at the top of each boot. Then I glued gold moon shapes I made using gold vinyl fabric to the tops of the boots.

The tiara, made of hammered brass and a resin gem, is from Etsy and the pendant is from Light in the Box, painted with more gold nail polish by me. The base hair for the wig is from Arda wigs. I bought a pigtail style wig and extra long hair pieces in a matching colour to start. I turned the pigtails into buns using Styrofoam balls, hot glue, hairspray, hair ties and bobby pins. When the buns were done, I sewed the hair pieces under the buns and in such a way to hide the separation. I made the odango gems with amazing mold putty, opaque white resin and dyed red clear resin. I also glued metallic paper to the backs of the gems to add more detail. The gems were then glued to the buns. The Moon Stick prop is from light in the box and I added extra gems on the front and sparkly nail polish to the crystal top piece. The blue circle lenses are from honey color.

I did an Anime cosplay makeup look to finish the whole cosplay. My costume inspiration is my mom. She made a Sailor Moon costume for me for Halloween when I was 6 using a figure skating sewing pattern as a base and my Sailor Moon doll as a reference. She taught me so much about sewing (although I haven’t been able to sew lately because of my broken machine haha) and how to make awesome costumes.

(View this next: Wicked Lady Sailor Moon Costume)