Construction Details:

When I first approached this design, I decided the bodice needed to be stiffer than just plain fabric, and decided to make a boned, corset bodice. I patterned a narrow boned bodice, which I then covered in two top layers and two lining layers of interfaced pink cotton in Chibiusa's scalloped pattern, which was closed with satin stitching. This was the most time consuming aspect to make everything line up, but it allowed me to create a clean and sharp bodice. The skirt is a two layer gigantic circle skirt; the under layer is made from casa satin, and the top layer from a silky casa overlay which is gathered in tiny knife pleats at the waist. I was able to find wide enough fabric (and it helps that I'm short) that the skirts only have two seams which are barely noticeable. Sketch cut my bottom hem while I stood on top of a table in order to get the length even, and then both bottom hems were run through the serger and the entire skirt was attached to the bodice. The sleeves were made from stiffer casa, serged into half moon shapes and top stitched together before being sewn to the bodice. The back bow is made entirely of leftover skirt fabric, with the giant bow being double-layered with wire threaded through the top seam to keep its shape and the tail one layer of serged casa. I hand-sewed the plastic pearls to the waistline of the dress using heavy duty fishing line for strength.

After ten years of cosplaying Chibiusa and making her wig to varying degrees of failure no less than four times, I decided to bite the bullet and have it commissioned. This wig was made by Ms. Rae Cosplay and it is amazing! I made the pearl hair accents using hairclips with plastic pearls hot glued on. The necklace was made by AkaneSaotome from the Katsucon 2013 group, and I made the bracelet with items from the jewelry section of Joann's. The shoes were also reused from the 2013 version and are very comfy ballet flats. I absolutely love how this version came out, and I adore its full skirt even though the gigantic mass of fabric is a pain to keep under control when actually walking around a convention.

Personal Thoughts:

Growing up watching Sailor Moon, I always liked Chibiusa and I love the manga version of her princess gown. The first time I cosplayed the princess version of Chibiusa I wore AkaneSaotome's costume for a group shoot at Katsucon 2013, but I always wanted to make my own version. After a trip to the Sailor Moon Expo in Tokyo in 2016 I was inspired to finally make this for myself. My goal was to create something flowly, full, and ethereal.

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