Sailor Mufti - Favourite Outfits of Sailor Moon
Mufti, or civies/civvies (slang for “civilian attire”), refers to ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform. (British Army slang derived from Arabic.)
One of the reasons I was drawn to Sailor Moon when it first came to my attention in the mid-90s was the fact that the characters wore a variety of outfits, which was unusual for cartoons in my experience (the other main example that comes to mind is Jem & the Holograms, in which fashion was a major theme). The girls had to wear school uniforms, as I had recently had to, but they had an assortment of other clothes that they changed into after school or wore on weekends. It was a pleasing element of realism, although the realism didn’t go quite so far as to have the characters mix and match pieces of clothing; the same outfits were always worn as a set (for convenience of animation, obviously). I can’t really explain why it appealed to me so much that each character had a wardrobe from which she or he chose each day, but I know I still enjoy an episode a bit more when it begins and I see that so-and-so is wearing my favourite top.
SO.
These are my favourite outfits worn by each character, with a bit of explanation for each. The pictures were all found at Fuku Fashion, a nifty (and thankfully, well-organised) Sailor Moon fashion tumblog.
Usagi/Serena/Sailor Moon
Usagi’s taste in clothes is near the childish end of the ‘girly’ spectrum, in keeping with her personality. Her outfits aren’t sophisticated, and a few are outright ugly, but we all wore some hideous things when we were fourteen; learning what suits you is a long process. At their best, Usagi’s clothes are cute and playful, with shapes that allow her a freedom of movement that’s important for both her energetic moments and her slothful ‘I’ll just take a nap right here, k?’ ones.
This is my number one favourite Usagi outfit. It first appears in season one, and if memory serves, was still making the odd appearance as late as SuperS.
- Usagi wears a lot of pastel colours, and light pink seems to be a favourite with her. This outfit is kind of the epitome of that tendency. She’s dressed in the colours of those little conversation heart candies, evoking sweetness and an innocent, slightly corny/tacky version of romance. The moment this girl steps out, you can tell what she’s all about. (Of course I quoted a Holograms lyric.)
- THIS LOOKS SO FREAKING COMFORTABLE. A huge part of my judgement of any of these outfits is whether it looks comfortable to wear. Would it be easy to walk and run in? How about sitting down, on a chair or on the floor? Would you feel like you had to be careful of the skirt to avoid flashing your knickers? Would you be warm but not too hot? Would it stay looking nice all day or get crumpled and come untucked? This one ticks all the boxes.
- I really like the juxtaposition of the tomboyish denim jacket and similarly-styled shirt with the soft femme quality of the skirt. It reflects the ‘girls can do anything, girls are multi-faceted’ spirit of the show.
- I LOVE HER TWO-TONE SHOES TO THE MOON AND BACK. I actually own a pair of two-tone shoes very like these, so now I’m basically just looking for the rest of the outfit. They’re very dapper, aren’t they?
- I also adore the fact that this outfit comes with accessories for her hair, two little bows that match the pale pink of her skirt. Allowing for the fact that Usagi is going to wear her hair in the same style every day, because it’s an iconic part of her character design (also I can tell you from experience that these buns are hella cute and convenient), it absolutely makes sense for her to ring the changes with ribbons, clips or bobbles.
- The one weak point of this outfit, in my opinion, is the socks. Obviously, you need to wear socks with shoes like that, otherwise they’d be uncomfortable, but high-riding ankle socks worn with a skirt that falls below the knee will, on most people, be fairly unflattering to the lower leg, breaking it up horizontally. She’s pulling it off because she’s a cartoon. It wouldn’t look so good on a human.
- A recoloured version with a darker blue jacket shows up in SuperS, but phooey on that.
Another favourite is this casual pastel blue sundress worn with a sleeveless white hoodie top.
It’s basically the same aesthetic as the one above - combining the sporty/tomboyish hoodie with the delicate/girlish dress, in summery pastel colours, set off with white push-down socks that the Baby-Sitters Club would approve of. I’m not such a fan of the butt bow (too many of my own dresses have butt bows that serve no purpose and tend to come untied during the day) but this outfit is super cute and casual - and once again, has an awesome accessory! I like to think Usagi bought herself this crescent moon pendant after she became Sailor Moon. When she wears it, she feels very clever, like she’s hiding her secret identity in plain sight.
Definitely an outfit for the girl who likes to lounge around playing video games, but still wants to feel reasonably cute.
Then there’s this outfit, which I’m pretty sure we see only in the SuperS movie, which is basically a cosy wintry version of the above, with the more saturated colour palette and shorter skirts that Usagi adopts increasingly as she gets older. Clearly, I like Usagi in hoodies. It’s very cute, looks extremely comfortable (true, the skirt is more mini than I like to wear myself, but the opaque tights reduce the knicker risk factor), and feels very real to me.
Next time, Ami!
I love this! I’m definitely going to post my own favorites later!
