Shimamura x Chiharucat Anna and Elsa Nightgowns

Today, we will talk again about Shimamura and their collaborations with Chiharucat on Instagram. I think the brand has the potential to release great Disneybounds and Cosplays in the future with the help of Chiharucat, so I want to talk about more of their pieces to get to know the brand better together with you.

How to Buy Shimamura x Chiharucat Disney Pieces?

Shimamura releases limited Disney collections in collaboration with Chiharucat (and others). If you want to buy something, keep an eye on Chiharu’s instagram, she always announces the time of release in the shops and on the website. Shimamura does not ship internationally, but you can buy from the website with the help of World Shopping. Shimamura will ship your pieces to World Shopping who will then forward the parcel to your address. For me, the website automatically uses World Shopping when I put something in my cart.

Pre-Order Items

Most of the time you pre-order your pieces and Shimamura gives you an estimated date of delivery. You will have to be quick for some pieces though. Although they are pre-order, the quantity is limited and they sell out very fast. Others remain longer on the website. Always check the description too, I wanted to order something one time and the description said “shop pick up only” in the first round of pre-orders.

If you miss the pre-order but still want a piece, you can normally find it on buyee. The prices will probably be higher, but there are usually pieces for around the original price too, just be patient and check mercari. I have a blogpost on how to buy from mercari.jp with Buyee, in case you are interested.

Sizes

Check the size charts as well. To me, their size L feels like a size M and so forth, just like Secret Honey’s M feels more like a size S. The sizes do not correspond with the American sizes S, M and L, so check the measurements. And: They cater to a shorter body as well. If you are tall, you may not like how the garments fit on you. On me, everything is short, sleeves, bodice, skirt. But again, I can only speak off of the nightgowns so far. I think the newest Disneybounds would already be a bit better, because it is separates instead of one piece which solves the problem of the short bodice. The problem with the sleeve length would remain though.

I think these are all the tips I have so far, I am also new to buying from this brand 🙂 And I have thoughts after using and buying different things, if you want to know more, keep on reading.

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Every piece I ever covered on my blog is sorted by princess on this page. So if you want to browse options for your favourite girl or guy, check it out.

Upfront

I have to say that I have very high quality standards because I sew myself and am used to Secret Honey’s level of quality. I will mention a few things I noticed quality wise when inspecting and also wearing and washing these nightgowns. Keep in mind, that these are not expensive, so naturally, there are cuts in quality, we have to expect that, they are much less expensive than Secret Honey’s pieces and should not be held to the same standards. But I do want to mention these so you can make an informed decision on wether it is worth to you to spend the 20 dollars plus shipping plus maybe taxes for these nightgowns or not.

The Anna and Elsa Nightgowns

For summer, Shimamura and Chiharucat released two cute nightgowns, one for Anna and one for Elsa. They are inspired by one of the first scenes in Frozen, in which children Anna and Elsa play in their nightgowns in the palace. The label in both of the nightgowns shows Anna and Elsa in these pajamas. I like that Shimamura always does these pretty labels.

You can see on this detail shot, that the fabric already started to pill. I washed this nightgown twice and wore it for about 5 nights in total. I do not know, if this was intended to be worn intensly by the brand though, it may have been meant for special occasions. This is just me, I actually do wear my things and wash them.

Also, I got both of these in a size L. I tried their size M and L now for the nightgowns. I noticed, that bodice and sleeves are too short in both sizes for me (1.74m tall). Also the skirt is much shorter on me than on Chiharucat in the promo pictures.

Since these are nightgowns that Anna and Elsa were wearing as children, I will not model these for you. I see what people google with my name and I do not feel comfortable wearing these in front of a camera.

The Elsa Nightgown

These nightgowns were sold for 2’700 yen plus taxes originally, so a bit more than 20 USD. Size L is a bit big for my dress form, size M looks better on her. But it will do, I hope 🙂 Here is the Elsa nightgown from the front. As you can see, the “waistband” is even too high for my dress form that does not have that big of a chest ^^’

And, for completing the 360 degree view, here is the nightgown from the back.

The Facts

I rarely see them on second hand sites. But when, the price is usually nice. Just keep quality in mind.

Size and Closure

I bought both nightgowns in size L. The fabric is stretchy, so you have a little bit of wiggle room in the bust area. The ribbon isn’t stretchy though, so depending were it hits on your body, you have more or less room in the bust area. Size L is nice, but I feel like for the nightgowns it is almost too big for me and too small at the same time. I would prefer the body to sit more snug on me. The sleeves are fine for these too, they are short anyway so no one will notice they are shorter on me than they should be. But the skirts are very short on me. And the ribbon sits on my bust instead of underneath.

The Bodice

The bodice is decorated with a ice star print in blue and purple as well as a waistband with bow in purple.

There is a collar with two buttons and I am glad there is because the collar is very narrow. I can just pull it over my head without wearing my glasses. And my head is kind of small ^^’ So, if you are as tall as me with an average head, you will probably have to open the buttons to get it over your head:

Here is a close up of the print. The patterns of all prints do repeat and the print is done in the two colours shown on the picture everywhere.

And here is the bow 🙂 From a sewists point of view, I just need to point out the way the bow was sewn down. They just sewed across the knot. This nightgown was not that expensive, this may be one of the places that costs were cut, handstitching it on would take more time.

The Back

The oval shape that you can see is actually a double layer of the fabric to make sure, the sewing line of the label is not visible from the outside. On the outside there is another print, as you can see it picks up the half ice stars from the print in the front. They frame the star in the middle. I did notice that the print is not completely centred. It is a bit too far on the left (left side in the picture).

Here is a closer look at the print. I do like the prints, they seems to be decent quality, I have other nightgowns that I have washed more often and the print still looks very nice.

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The Skirt

Around the hem of the skirt we have another print. It repeats the half ice star and the ice star that were already used on the bodice, adding these “quarter” ice stars (?) in between.

Here is a closer look at the print 🙂

The Anna Nightgown

The Anna nightgown is shorter than Elsa’s which means, it is extra short on me 😛 It has shorter and puffed sleeves and a ruffle around the hem. Elsa’s nightgown is much simpler in design. I do like both though 🙂 I like the more stern approach for Elsa while Anna is more playful. The designs suit their personalities. Here is the nightgown on my dress form from the front:

Here you can see the nightgown from the side, again, the waistband sits too high for my dress form if it is intended to go around your underbust. Also the side seam is a bit wonky again.

And here is Anna from the back:

The Facts

I rarely see them on second hand sites. But when, the price is usually nice. Just keep quality in mind.

The Bodice

The bodice has a beautiful print going around the front with wheat and different patterns:

Like Elsa’s nightgown, this one also closes with two functional buttons that taller girls and boys may have to open to be able to get their head through. The collar is not too tight for me though, when I close the buttons. For me, it is still very comfy to wear.

Here is a look at the pretty print. Done in two colours, but stay tuned, Anna’s print has a third colour while Elsa’s has just two.

Anna’s nightgown has a pink waistband and bow. Like Elsa’s, this one is sewn on with a straight line of stitching across the knot of the bow.

Here is the print in the centre back. This time, it is in the middle. The piece in the shoulder area is also a double layer of fabric.

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The Skirt

Then we have the cute ruffle around the hem. That is a detail I do really like, it is very playful and suits Anna a lot. We need to talk about the fact that the print stops about ten centimetres before the side seam though. I cannot really think of a reason… Other than that they may have cut the pieces out before printing? And it was not possible to print all the way to the edges of the pieces? Who knows, I just want to mention it.

Here is the third colour of the print, a darker green that compliments the other shade of green that was used around the neckline already. It gives some dimension, I do like that a lot. There are also new elements in the print, that we have not yet seen which is cool.

Will Shimamura Become the New Secret Honey?

A question not only I raise, but also some of my friends. From what I have tried and seen so far, my answer would be a “maybe”. I know, I have not tried the Rapunzel costume or the Disney bound skirts and shirts yet. But from what I tried and from what I have seen in the official photos and livestreams (i.e. no boning in the bodice of the Rapunzel costume which will probably lead to it being wrinkled quickly, depending on were your natural waist sits), I’d say the quality is not quite the same yet. I think they would have to raise prices, should they want to match Secret Honey’s quality standard. But they operate in a different price range, as far as I can see. It’s a risk to raise prices if loyal customers are used to another level.

But: I want to mention that the Rapunzel costume costs about as much as the Secret Honey Anna Skating costume did when it was released. Anna has boning and everything though. Why is the price comparable, eventhough the quality is probably close, but not the same? A few thoughts: There is inflation and rising costs of materials etc. And they have to pay all, design, material, production, Chiharu’s part, the Disney license and there should be a profit margin left for them as well.

It is Great to Have Nice Disney Clothes and Costumes Again

All that said, I am very happy, that there is a brand again, that makes nice disneybounds and costumes 🙂 I simply do not expect the exact same level of quality as Secret Honey’s pieces due to the reasons mentioned, which is totally ok and does definitely not mean, that Shimamura’s pieces are bad quality. Just different. I am very happy for Chiharucat that she landed all of these amazing collabs 🙂 I will definitely keep an eye on all new releases and maybe, maybe I will get a costume and some disneybounds in the future and see for myself, how nice the pieces are. I will report back to you.

And that is everything for today’s post on these Anna and Elsa Nightgowns 🙂 Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the post and I will see you in the next one.

Love
Ella