Free Guide

How to Draw Japanese High School Girl Sailor Uniforms (Summer & Winter): A Step-by-Step Guide by Japanese Pro Artists

The short answer: A sailor uniform is three things: a wide collar with a scarf, a short boxy top, and a pleated skirt. Get the collar wrapping around the shoulders and the pleats fanning out from one point, and it reads as a sailor uniform from any side.

If yours keeps coming out as a white shirt with a blue bib, the collar and the pleats are usually why. Here's the summer set, the winter set, how each piece is built, and what the cloth does when she moves.

An anime girl in a summer sailor uniform next to the same girl in a winter sailor uniform Illustrated examples
The same uniform twice: the summer set and the winter set.

The five steps at a glance

Summer sailor uniform shown from the front, the side and the back 01
Summer setShort sleeves, firm cloth, straight creases.
Winter sailor uniform shown from the front, the side and the back 02
Winter setLong sleeves and heavier cloth.
A sailor top on its own, showing the hook at the collar and the zipper at the side 03
The topA hook at the collar, a zipper at the side.
A pleated skirt showing the hook and zipper, next to a diagram of pleat lines fanning out from one point 04
The skirtPleats that fan out from one point.
A girl with her hands behind her head and the hem of her top lifted, and a girl sitting with her knees up and her skirt pleats opened 05
MovementArms up lifts the hem. Sitting opens the pleats.

Step 01 · Summer set

What does a summer sailor uniform look like from the front, side and back?

Short sleeves, a wide collar with two or three lines, and a pleated skirt. Draw all three views before you pose her.

The summer top is cut from cloth a little firmer than a dress shirt, so the creases come out straight. The sleeves are short and end in a cuff with a line on it, matching the lines that run around the collar. Under the V of the collar sits a small chest panel.

Now look at the back view. The collar isn't a bib that stops at the shoulders. It runs over them and drops into a square flap behind. The side view shows the thing most people miss: a zipper down the side seam. The skirt is pleated, most often with 24 pleats.

Red-pen checkDraw the back view once, even if your final picture is from the front. If you don't know where the collar goes behind her, the front looks pasted on.
Summer sailor uniform shown from the front, the side and the back Illustrated examples
Summer set: front, side and back.

Step 02 · Winter set

How is the winter sailor uniform different from the summer one?

Same shapes, heavier cloth, long sleeves. The line on the sleeve moves down to the cuff at the wrist.

Nothing about the design changes. The weight does. Winter cloth is thicker than summer cloth. The sleeves run to the wrist and end in a cuff with a line on it.

The scarf changes with the school: red, white and navy all turn up. There's still a zipper on the side, and the side view is where you'll see it.

Red-pen checkDon't just lengthen the summer sleeves. Thicker cloth should look thicker. Give it fewer, rounder folds than the summer top.
Winter sailor uniform shown from the front, the side and the back Illustrated examples
Winter set: front, side and back.

Step 03 · The top

How is a sailor top actually built?

The one shown here is a pullover. A hook closes the collar at the chest and a zipper opens the side.

Lay the top flat and it makes sense. The V of the collar is closed by a small hook at its point, done up after the top goes on.

The opening is on the side: a zipper running up from the hem. That's why the front stays clean, with nothing breaking it between the scarf and the hem. Once you know where the hook and the zipper are, you stop adding fastenings that aren't there.

Red-pen checkOn a pullover top like this one, nothing runs down the front. If you added buttons out of habit, you drew a shirt.
A sailor top on its own, showing the hook at the collar and the zipper at the side Illustrated examples
The top: a hook at the collar and a zipper at the side.

Step 04 · The skirt

How do you draw skirt pleats that don't look flat?

Pick a vanishing point above the waist on the skirt's center line, and fan every pleat line out from it.

Pleats drawn as parallel stripes turn a skirt into a barcode. Real pleats spread. Extend the center line of the skirt upward, pick a point on it, and pull each pleat line down from that point.

Then watch the spacing. The pleats get narrower the further they sit from the center. As for how it fastens: there's a metal hook at the waist, and the zipper hides in the valley of one pleat.

Red-pen checkThe same width everywhere reads as flat. Wide in the middle, narrow at the sides.
A pleated skirt showing the hook and zipper, next to a diagram of pleat lines fanning out from one point Illustrated examples
The skirt: how it fastens, and pleat lines fanning out from a vanishing point.

Step 05 · Movement

What happens to a sailor uniform when the character moves?

The top is short, so it follows the arms. The skirt opens wherever the legs push it.

Raise her arms and the whole top goes with them. The hem lifts off the waistband and the layer underneath shows. Two kinds of wrinkles turn up: fold wrinkles where the sleeve bunches, and pull wrinkles running from the armpit.

Sit her down with her knees up and the skirt changes too. The thighs push the cloth up and pull it tight, so pleats that were folded shut come out and open. Picture a folding fan spreading.

Red-pen checkA uniform that keeps its standing shape in a moving pose looks like cardboard. Work out what the arms and legs are pulling on, then let the cloth follow.
A girl with her hands behind her head and the hem of her top lifted, and a girl sitting with her knees up and her skirt pleats opened Illustrated examples
Movement: arms up lifts the hem, sitting opens the pleats.

Arms down, arm raised

Same character, same top. The only thing that changed is one arm.

The same girl in a summer sailor uniform, standing with her arms down

Arms down: the hem sits at the waist.

The same girl in a summer sailor uniform, with one arm raised and the hem of the top pulled up

One arm raised: the short top is pulled up with it.

Where people usually get stuck

My pleats look like parallel stripes.

Fan them out from one point above the waist, and make them narrower toward the sides.

My collar looks like a flat sticker.

It wraps over the shoulders into a square flap at the back. Draw the side and back views once.

The uniform goes stiff as soon as she moves.

The top is short. Lift the hem when the arms go up, and open the pleats when she sits.

Sailor uniform drawing FAQ

How many pleats does a sailor uniform skirt have?

Most often 24. When you draw them, fan the pleat lines out from one point above the waist so they don't look like parallel stripes.

What is the difference between a summer and a winter sailor uniform?

The summer set has short sleeves and lighter cloth. The winter set has long sleeves with a lined cuff and thicker cloth. The collar, the scarf and the pleated skirt keep the same shapes.

How do I draw the sailor collar?

Treat it as one piece of cloth that runs over the shoulders: a V at the front, a square flap at the back, with two or three lines following its edge.

How do I get feedback on my sailor uniform drawings?

When you join an Anime Art Academy course, a professional Japanese artist gives you personal advice and draws red-line corrections directly on your drawing. There is no limit on how many times you can submit. The only rule: post one drawing at a time, and wait for your teacher's reply before posting the next.