Video Game / Love Nikki - Dress Up Queen

Which cute outfit should you wear today? How about... all of them! Featuring Lunar, Bobo, Nikki, Momo, and Kimi.

Love Nikki - Dress Up Queen is a mobile dress-up game with RPG Elements developed by Paper Games (formerly SuZhou Nikki Co.) and published in the West by Elex Technologies. It is the global English language version of the Chinese app "Miracle Nikki", which launched in 2015. ("360Mobi Nikki", the version targeted at Southeast Asia, also contained an English language option during its operation.)

As the story begins, an average teen girl named Nikki and her talking cat Momo find themselves magically transported to a world called Miraland, where all conflicts are resolved on the catwalk. Even conflicts of international importance: years ago, following the death of the beloved King Sayet, his three most treasured designs were distributed to the winners of an intense fashion contest called the "Nine Day War." One of the winners was Queen Elle of Pigeon Kingdom: she took home two of the three treasures, and has been using their power to rule as a tyrant ever since. (The third treasure disappeared with Elle's rival, a mysterious pink-haired contestant named "Hostess L", and neither has been seen since...)

Nikki (herself an amateur stylist) can't go more than a few paces without someone challenging her to a battle of the ballgowns - or a sportswear skirmish, or a denim dispute, or any other sort of clothing contest. Her natural talents quickly endear her to Bobo, a student from the Lilith Kingdom, and Lunar, a designer from the Cloud Empire. It also earns her the attention of Kimi and Mr. Joe, two stylists working for the Apple Federation Apparel Group.

With the help of her new friends, Nikki will embark on an amazing journey across the seven nations of this new world: the modern and fashionable Apple Federation, the magnificent eastern Cloud Empire, the cute and fairy-like Lilith Kingdom, the wild and untamed Republic of Wasteland, the cold and stern North Kingdom, the elegant but magisterial Pigeon Kingdom, and the mysteriously high-tech Ruin Island. As she travels, she'll learn the designing styles of each country, build relationships with the designers & stylists she meets along the way, and prove that she's got what it takes to be the best stylist in Miraland.

She might even save the world while she's at it!

The game has been adapted into three different comic series: one released officially in English by the Love Nikki team, one published only in Japan in the Princess magazine, and another that was published only in the Nakayoshi magazine.

A sequel to the game, Shining Nikki was released in Taiwan and Mainland China in 2019, with a global server released in July 2021.

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The game contains examples of:

Tropes Related to Gameplay and Story

• Achievement Mockery: The "Momo's Nightmare" achievements are obtained by failing stages.
• Aerith and Bob: Due to the numerous Fantasy Counterpart Cultures featured, this is inevitable. There are common names like Nikki, Lisa, Joe, Debbie, and Royce alongside Nidhogg, Starphenie/Starlet, Ransa, and Nanari.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl:
  • Lunar, who's quiet and reserved (though she warms up to Nikki and the crew ). She's taller than both Nikki and Bobo (and of course the diminutive Kimi), with the typical Raven Hair, Ivory Skin combo. In fact, at first she refuses to let Bobo and Nikki help her recover her stolen designs, only allowing herself to do so once Nikki defeats her in a fashion duel.
  • Neva fits the trope as well, what with her standoffish personality (save for being shorter than the standard).
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Beating a story with an "A" grade results in a 15%-30% chance (depending on the story) of a story-specific item dropping. Beating it with an "S" grade can grant players an even rarer item.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • The "Light Fairy" outfit, which must be crafted to progress to Chapter 9, requires several Epic-level evolved items, making it much more complicated and time-consuming to craft than previous chapter-completion suits. The developers realized the difficulty was off-putting to many players, and instituted a workaround to make things easier: players receive several pieces of the suit in their in-game mailbox after beating all Chapter 9 stories in Maiden difficulty (save for the sidequests, of course).
  • While crafting recipes and evolving items require a specific number of each ingredient, a copy of the original item(s) will be left in the inventory - for example, an evolution that requires 6 copies of a wig will only burn 5 of them to create the evolved version. A recipe that only calls for 1 copy of an item merely requires that players have that item in their inventory: crafting the finished product won't destroy the original.
  • Momo's Tracker, which allows players to keep track of their progress when crafting a suit, has an option to make sure players keep copies of original items when recolors are needed for crafting. This comes in handy when crafting the recolored version of a suit, as it accounts for the materials one would need to craft two copies. This option can be toggled on and off.
  • Princess levels can only be attempted three times per day (though paying players can get extra attempts). However, failing the level doesn't count against the attempt limit, so players can keep trying until they scrape together a passing score (or run out of stamina).
• Art Evolution: The art quality of the outfits has increased dramatically in the years since the game was first released. Compare gowns from the time of the game's release like "Nikki's Dance" and "Blue Lily*Rare" (and even "Star Sea," which is said to be "the most precious dancing dress in the Miraland") with latter offerings like "Evernight Monologue" or "To No End" or "Snow Queen" or "Graceful Venom". The early gowns are drawn with harder lines (much like a coloring book) and minimal volume/ shading, rendered with large swathes of unembellished fabric and simple details. By contrast, the newer gowns are more detailed. Fabrics are rendered with realistic textures, weight, and shading — ruching, drapery, ruffles, and tucks are used to give the 2-dimensional illustrations the illusion of volume. Embellishments like translucent lace panels, intricate embroidery, and sparkling beadwork are applied liberally. These elements work in concert to give the outfits a more luxurious and expensive feeling. In 2020 the Chinese server even released an updated version of the "Star Sea" gown (and in 2023 that same updated dress debuted on the English language server).
• Battle Couple: A curious interpretation. Since conflicts big and small in Miraland are solved via fashion shows rather than fighting (and models can use different skills to non-lethally damage their rivals and lower their scores), if a stylist and a model compete together in events they'll probably fit here or at least have Ship Tease.
  • The best example would be Bai Jinjin and her boyfriend Zhong Lizi, with Jinjin as the model/frontline fighter and Lizi as the stylist/strategist.
  • Royce and his Beleaguered Assistant Neva would fit in nicely... if he wasn't constantly complaining about her presence scaring away potential models, and if she wasn't a Reluctant Fanservice Girl who doesn't think that modeling his designs is a part of her duty.
• Bleak Level: Chapter V1-15-II. The background shows a burned forest outside the crumbling walls of Cloud City as the North Kingdom forces advance, and it's the only Maiden difficulty chapter to include the "rainy" weather effect normally reserved for Princess chapters. It's also the chapter where Lunar suffers mortal wounds in single combat against Nidhogg and dies in Nikki's arms.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: Things have improved after multiple (and seemingly ongoing) rounds of "translation optimization" by the developers, but the English language version still contains some glaring errors in spelling, poorly constructed grammar, and inconsistencies in the translations. A number of Chinese onomatopoeias are translated literally which makes trying to work out certain reactions very hard. The translation quality took another drop after the SEA server closed and suddenly Elex had to do all of the global translations themselves instead of just borrowing and updating the SEA English scripts as before. Issues with translation quality has particularly affected gameplay during special events due to the fact that the limited run of the event means the scripts never get a second pass. Some examples include:
  • The "Star Lily Case Files" event of September 2018 required players to solve simple logic problems to progress. Some players found the translated text of the puzzles nigh impenetrable, and were forced to guess randomly among the provided answers. This is a repeated issue for "quiz" events, requiring players to find guides to complete them.
  • There are also ongoing issues with text wrapping, where item descriptions and event dialog excerpts are unreadable in their entirety due to the text running past the maximum size of the text boxes.
  • Chinese as a language can be read both horizontally (right to left) and vertically. The former is less of a problem for the English server, but the latter means that the game should be trying to reorient text to look cleaner in English. Instead, translators slapped the English letters on sideways, requiring players to turn their phone around and squint at any place where vertical text was displayed in the original version.
• Break the Cutie: Despite being taken from her family, Trapped in Another World, and facing down hardships like attempted muggings and intellectual property theft (Chapters 1 & 5), the threat of kidnap and imprisonment by agents of Bai Jinjin's father (Chapter 7), a failed coup in Lilith (Chapters 11 & 12), and seeing the desolation of the Cloud Empire by it's own soldiers trying to resist the North Kingdom invasion (Chapter 15), Nikki was able to maintain a strong and optimistic demeanor because her skills as a stylist gave her the ability to confront "the bad guys" and protect her friends. But she breaks down and cries for the first time when Lunar dies in her arms after trying to protect the Cloud Empire from the North Kingdom's militaristic advances — even Nikki's styling skills can't protect her friends when Nidhogg straight up stabs Lunar with a magic sword. It's in this moment that the gravity the her situation finally dawns on her. One of her first friends from Miraland is dead, the foundations of Miraland as a fantasy world free of violence have been utterly destroyed, and any powers she might have had to shield the people she loves from harm are utterly meaningless in the face of this grim new reality.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Nikki's companions are guilty of this:
  • Bobo is probably the second biggest offender, referencing how many Chapters have passed in the game and complaining that the developers won't give her a date.
    Bobo: Before the developer gives me a date, I'll prevent anyone from laying a finger on the only handsome guy who has appeared so far!
  • Momo handily takes first place — he is part of the game's scoring system, after all: he shows up to give players helpful commentary at the end of each styling contest. In-story he often references events that happened "six Chapters ago", he name-drops specific tropes like Plot Armor, and often complains that Bobo is stealing his lines.
    Momo: That dress has been a recurring theme for 2 chapters. It's even more priceless than grilled fish!
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: It's not too egregious in this game, as the main story can be completed in a reasonable amount of time without having to fork over any real cash. But completing many of the outfits requires a lot of drops from Princess-difficulty stages (which are normally limited to 3 tries a day) or rare drops from the Pavilions. More Princess tries can be purchased with Diamonds, but both the Diamonds themselves and the number of extra tries the players are allowed are purchased with cash. (The game does give out some Diamonds during normal gameplay, but the fastest way to acquire them is to pay.) The Pavilions allow 1-2 free pulls per day but more cost either Gold or Diamonds. Most of the events also require spending Diamonds to get the whole outfit.
• Broken Bridge: Starting in Chapter 2, the player can't advance to the next chapter until they assemble a particular suit of clothes. To get to Chapter 3, one has to craft all pieces of the "Panda Dreamland" pajama set. To get to Chapter 4, assembling all pieces of the "Rock Singer" set is required.
• But Thou Must!: The Dream Weaver stories will occasionally offer players dialogue options that they must choose between to advance the story — they even warn that "fate becomes divergent from this point" when collecting prizes for completing each story segment. But the player's choice only affects the next two to three sentences after the dialogue option is chosen.
• Cerebus Syndrome: The game starts out with Nikki traveling a fantasy realm and engaging in fun fashion battles with friendly opponents. Sure, she might have a magical destiny to live up to, but her biggest challenge in the first chapter is helping Lunar recover stolen intellectual property.
  • By the time the game gets to Chapters 11 and 12, Nikki finds herself embroiled in a violent coup d'état and a possible royal kidnapping. The fashion battles are still just as ridiculous as the first chapters, but the stakes have been raised.
  • The situation only gets more grim as Nikki tries to fulfill her destiny, and by the time Chapter 15 rolls around six hundred years of peaceful coexistence in Miraland are shattered by a declaration of open warfare between the North Kingdom and Cloud Empire. Nikki, Bobo, and Momo wander through the scorched landscape left by the Cloud Empire generals who retreated from Cloud City and left their own civilians to the mercy of forces from the North. As they sneak into the besieged town in an attempt to save Lunar, Nikki & Bobo & Momo find they are too late: they can only watch as Lunar is grievously wounded in a duel against a nigh invincible opponent — all Nikki can do is hold Lunar as she dies.
    Ransa: You think Miraland is only an innocent dressup world? Actually, it's much crueler than you imagine. If you can't pick yourself up, you won't even be able to protect yourself...
• Changing Clothes Is a Free Action: It had better be in this game. Nikki gets challenged to fashion battles half a dozen times a day, even by people who are running off to job interviews, in the middle of gym class, or actively encouraging her to run after a thief.
  Innocent Passerby: Humph! You don't know what you're doing! Hurry and put on running gear, so you can catch the bad guy!
  *commence fashion battle*
• Character Level: Players gain experience points by passing new stories (or replaying stories they've defeated). Leveling up grants players increased maximum stamina and access to new game facilities.
• Character Portrait: 90% of the fashion battle opponents get a character portrait - even the unnamed passersby that appear on a single stage. This is probably why Nikki keeps running into (and battling) Aron the Sporty Girl, Lovestruck Girl Toto, Annabel the Manga Artist, Timi the Shy Girl, Kaja the Lead Singer, and Vivi the Office Lady. In all fairness, they get new portraits each time she encounters them (to show off their new outfits before the competition). Curiously, this doesn't apply to the characters who only appear in "Dream Weaver" side quest lines, so even highly dramatic moments in those quests often involve the primary character having an intense conversation with nothing but a floating text box.
• The Chosen One: It would appear that Nikki is the "chosen stylist." Bobo confirms this in a chapter 4 sidequest:
  Bobo: It means you are the chosen stylist and your destiny is to rebuild Miraland. Free the land from torture by Queen Elle and the Iron Rose stylists!
• Cool Airship: The Iron Rose Stylists Legion has at least one at their disposal, as this is how Mela, Sherry, and Ransa arrive at Cloud City in Chapter 15, and how the Iron Rose manages to evacuate Nikki, Bobo, and Momo from the battlefield. It's unknown if airships are common outside of Pigeon Kingdom.
• Costume Porn: The rarer an item is, the fancier, more elaborate, and more detailed it'll be.
• Crossover:
  • The Chinese and Japanese language servers have had several crossovers with franchises like Sanrio, Hatsune Miku of Vocaloid fame, and multiple events featuring Disney properties.
  • The English language server received its first crossover event in March 2019 with Barbie, where two new suits (and a limited pavilion for players with linked Facebook accounts) were introduced to the game. "Round 2" of the Barbie crossover event was announced in September 2019, with three new suits (and another limited pavilion for fans with Facebook accounts) were introduced.
  • The English language server also hosted their first Disney Crossover events in 2020, with Pavilion and Recharge events for Disney princesses. The first, in February 2020, featured both Pavilion and Recharge exclusive outfits depicting Princess Anna and Queen Elsa from Frozen (2013). The second, arriving in June 2020, included a Pavilion with exclusive outfits depicting Princess Cinderella and Princess Ariel, while Princess Rapunzel showed up as a Recharge exclusive outfit. The third arrived in October 2020, and included a Pavilion with three outfits inspired by Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Tokyo Disney Resort.
• Cyberpunk: Ruin Island seems to fit this aesthetic, when it actually appears. All of the suits and items in its gallery category relate to aliens or Cyborgs, and it has advanced technology that far outstrips anything else in Miraland. The only Ruin citizen to appear in the story proper is Gray Raven, a Mad Doctor who grants people talents and glory in exchange for their souls.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Nikki can only watch helplessly as Lunar is fatally wounded in her duel with Nidhogg in Chapter 15. After the decisive blow has been struck, Nikki rushes to cradle Lunar in her arms as Nidhogg disparages the dying girl for thinking she could defeat him.
• Ditzy Genius: Starphenie/Starlet is a talented dress designer, fortuneteller and astrologer who tends to be rather clumsy and forgetful, with tendencies to wander astray from the main path, once using an astrolabe to find her way to Hrawi/Hela 6 and nearly drowned when it led her to a lake.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: The "Fairy Dream" recurring event (including "Fairy Tale in Bottle", "Heroic Romance", and "Mystery Radio") has a unique game mechanic among the "Stage" events. For each stage, players must assemble one outfit that is then judged in two successive styling battles with different attributes. If the scores from the two battles are within a certain range, players are awarded extra event currency to put towards buying suits. Strategies to ensure the maximum amount of currency from the battles encourage players to assemble suits with low-scoring pieces that only just allow players to beat their ai opponent, without using any skills to boost their own score or attack their opponents.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In Chapter 13, the chief of the Pota tribe is revealed to have fallen into a coma after consuming "a strange elixir" produced for him by "the foreign woman Ransa," who took his illness as an opportunity to install herself as leader of the Pota. The chief's son, Tuda, describes the elixir as "worsening his father's condition" when he seeks out Nikki's help. After Nikki and Tuda defeat Ransa in fashionable combat and administer the antidote, the chief laments "if I didn't crave for Ransa's potion, this wouldn't have happened!" Given that the Pota tribe is based loosely (very loosely) on Native American cultures, and that Ransa is from the European-inspired/ western-coded Pigeon Kingdom, it's not hard to view the "strange elixir" as a thinly veiled reference to alcohol, and the interactions between Ransa and the chief as a reference to the historically damaging effects of alcohol on Native American communities.
  On the other hand, it's difficult to imagine the developers put more than a cursory thought into the backstory for Chapter 13, so it could just be an inadvertently symbolic bit of storytelling.
• Dub Name Change: As of December 2017, 8 months after launch and with 12 chapters of the story released, developers on the English language server changed the names of several major characters. On their Facebook page, they claimed the changes were "for better localization, and to make the names present the characters' backgrounds better." Fan reaction at the time was almost unilaterally negative as by that point they'd gotten used to the old names. Though this is less of a Dub Name Change and more of an Original Name Restoration, as these were their names in the original Chinese server―the names before the December change were actually a Dub Name Change to begin with. It appears this is at least partially based on Elex using the SEA English scripts as their base for the global English version, which themselves were translated from the Japanese scripts which changed most of the characters names. In the years since, as the player base has churned, these complaints have gone away as most current players are familiar with the current names and aren't even aware of the changeover. However, because this is still a "Blind Idiot" Translation, there are still existing references in the game that accidentally use the Japanese names.
• Duels Decide Everything: In Miraland, all conflicts are resolved through fashion battles. Justified because Miraland's subjects are Perfect Pacifist People who can't resort to force.
• Elopement: Zhong Lizi and Bai Jinjin eloped because Jinjin's father, a powerful and wealthy man, did not approve of Lizi's poorer social standing. Lizi had originally intended to make his fortune and return to ask for Jinjin's hand, but Jinjin found out his plan and showed up at his house with a suitcase the day he intended to leave. The two of them then headed off to Wintermount.
• Equipment-Based Progression: On Maiden difficulty, beginning in chapter 2, players need to craft all of the items in a particular set in order to move on to the next chapter. Some individual stages also require particular clothing, and in general, acquiring new clothes makes stages easier to pass.
• Equipment Upgrade: Players can "evolve" some article of clothing by collecting enough copies of it - usually results in a Frilly Upgrade. This increases the number of stars and the base stats of the clothing, but it can also change which stats are highest. Fortunately, the players get to keep a copy of the original item.
• Evil Uncle: As revealed in one of the Dreamweaver stories, Elle and Ace's uncle, Derrick/Draco, first appointted himself Regent for Life and then attempted to covertly assassinate his nieces to remove any possiblity of Elle regaining her rightful throne.
• Evolution Power-Up: Some suits can only be completed by evolving certain articles of clothing (that either drop when passing a stage or can be crafted in the Recipes Workshop). These items can have either one or two evolutions, and the evolved forms get progressively better stats.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Some of the seven nations of the game are based on real countries or historical empires:
  • The North Kingdom is based in part on soviet-era Russian stereotypes (as evidenced by the commentary of Kane, a Northern designer Nikki meets in Wintermount). Many of the outfits draw their inspiration from military uniforms and fantasy armor: epaulets, peaked caps, camouflage patterns, decorated greaves and gauntlets, medals, holsters & utility belts all make frequent appearances in the Northern lookbook. (It also appears to draw some inspiration from Canada of all places, with an entire outfit built around the theme of "maple leafs.")
    Kane: The North Kingdom is a nation far in the north that worships the army and combat. It's just like a solemn military base. It's known as 'The arctic country bathed in storm and fire.' So most of us are accustomed to a warm and neutral style.
    Momo: Northsky, coldsky, militarysky. Somehow it seems right that way.
  • The Cloud Empire is an amalgamation of thousands of years of Chinese culture, with outfits that run the gamut from Tang dynasty inspired gowns to more modern looking cheongsams, but it most closely resembles Imperial China. Overworld maps set in the Cloud Empire show the architecture is comprised mainly of pagodas. There's a lot of Far East thrown in, as Kimono-inspired designs (like the "Fragrance Villa" and "Higanbana Princess" and "Maple Leaf Ninja" suits) and Korean hanbok (suits likes "Sweet Hanbok," "Fallen Butterfly," and "Silk Aroma") are categorized under the "Cloud Empire" gallery. The Cloud Empire also includes some "Arabian Nights" Days, as belly-dancer inspired outfits (like "Tarot Fortuneteller" and "Flying Peafowl" and "Western Dancer") appear in the same gallery as ruqun and modern takes on hanfu.
  • Pigeon Kingdom seems to be based on western European fashion from the Renaissance through the 1890's. The description on a rather Victorian looking dress called "Pigeon Manor" reads "Pigeon Kingdom has inherited the tradition of west, and has a deep culture of noble manors."
    Momo: The Pigeon Kingdom is similar to Europe during the Renaissance. People around here excel at sophisticated fantasy style. It's a fantasy kingdom where elves, dwarves, humans and goblins live in harmony.
  • The Republic of Wasteland is a bit tougher to pin down. The emblem of the Wastelands is an Aztec Sun Stone. Many of the non-suit items attributed to the nation have bold, geometric patterns (not unlike those produced by pre-colonial cultures in the Americas), and make use of feathers and beading as decoration. During the Lilith Fantasy Styling Contest, Mr. Joe makes the comment that clothes from the Wastelands "are wild and natural, filled with uncertainties and raw desires." But the style seems to take an equal amount of influence from sources as disparate as modern Bohemian style (floral patterns and headdresses, looser silhouettes) and cowboy attire (bandannas, fringed leather jackets, boots). Additionally, plenty of event suits in the Republic of Wasteland gallery have an "Arabian Nights" Days flavor — the "Golden Shadow" suit even has a camel.
    With the release of Chapter 13 (the first to take place in the Republic of Wasteland) and introduction of the "Pota" tribe as denizens of the country, it would appear that a mishmash of Native American cultures (particularly that of the indigenous people of the plains) was a big influence on the look and feel of Wasteland.
    Bobo: It's a nation built in the southern wilderness, with an archaic and untamed style. People there are good at tribal aboriginal styles; it's an ancient civilization in the wilderness.
    Annabel: Yeah!... Imagine this... on the exotic grassland, the heroine in untamed bold traditional clothes is standing in the beautiful sunset...
• Fashion Show: Shows up a lot in the game:
  • The "Nine Day War" for the three legendary treasures of King Sayet at the beginning of the story was a days-long fashion show, in which the winners were awarded the treasures.
  • Each of the "stories" is presented as a mini fashion show competition between Nikki and her opponent.
  • The Lilith Fantasy Styling Contest is a rather straightforward example, with designers and stylists competing for the post of "Imperial Stylist" of the Lilith Kingdom and the honor of designing a "Fantasy Concerto" suit for the Lilith Royal Family.
• The Fashionista: Everyone in the game, by the virtue of living in a world where all conflicts are resolved through contests of fashion.
• Fictional Currency: The game contains multiple shops in which clothing, recipes, crafting material, and other items can be purchased, all of which have their own form currency. Those currencies include:
  • Gold, which is used in the main Store, in recipe crafting, and to improve battle skills.
  • Diamonds, which are used in the main Store, to purchase extra stamina or story attempts, and to participate in time-limited events.
  • Association Coins, which are won by completing daily commissions for an association or sorting material in the library. They're used in the Association Store to purchase exclusive clothes & regular crafting material, and in the association library to read "books" that grant a permanent boon to gameplay.
  • Starwish Hairpins, Starwish Earrings, and Starwish Pendants, which are won by completing daily commissions for an association. They can be spent in the Association Fantasy Workshop to purchase components of the "4 Seasons" outfits.
  • Starlight Coins, which are won in the Stylist Arena and can be exchanged in the Store of Starlight for crafting material and recipes.
  • Crystal Roses, which are won in the weekly Competitions and exchanged in the Crystal Garden shop.
  • Jade Bi Discs, which come free with every Porch of Misty draw and are exchanged in the Porch of Misty shop, "Pavilion of Jade".
  • Destiny Hourglasses, which come free with every Corridor of Clock draw and are exchanged in the Corridor of Clock shop, "Pavilion of Time".
  • Karma Crystals, which come free with every Time Yard draw and are exchanged in the Time Yard shop, "Pavilion of Glaze".
  • Suzaku Bells, which come free with every Tower of Zen draw and are exchanged in the Tower of Zen shop, "Villa of Cloud."
  • Crystal Shoes and Crystal Shoe Shards, which come free with every Pavilion of Mystery and Pavilion of Fantasy draw. They're exchanged in the "Room of Cinderella" (the combined shop for the Pavilion of Mystery and Pavilion of Fantasy).
  • Heart Tickets, which can be gained by performing "Life Bits" quests in the Home feature. They can be exchanged for furniture in the furniture shop or the time-limited "Group Buy" shop.
  • Honor, which can be obtained by commenting on other users' submissions in the Starry Corridor, and can be spent in the Starry Memorial shop to purchase assorted button styles.
  • Dazzle Stones, Stones of Shadow, Sky Stones, Stones of Love, Stones of Dream, and Stones of Night, which are earned by drawing from the Dream Isle pavilion and by completing Institute Quests in the Dream Weaver feature. They are used to complete Dreamland quests.
  • And various special event tokens, including items like chess pieces, ticket stubs, balloons, dream points, wish knots, oath rings, ether, etc... an archived list of event currencies from 2017 - 2019 can be found on the game's wiki.
• Final Speech: When Lunar is fatally wounded in her duel with Nidhogg, her last words as she lays dying in Nikki's arms (after trying and failing to protect Cloud City from the onslaught of North Kingdom forces) are "I promised myself to be the greatest designer... to let war cease forever... Sorry... I failed..."
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Momo and Bobo take turns stealing each other's lines in 1-4 and 1-5:
  Vivi: Why don't you compete with me in the chic, polished, professional style to give me some inspiration for improvements I can make on my interview outfit?
  Bobo (in 1-4): No biggie, Nikki, go for it!
  Momo: Hey, that's my line, stop stealing my spotlight!
  ...
  Toto: How about one of you compete with me and provide some ideas?
  Momo: No biggie, Nikki, the cute romantic date outfit is perfect for you! I choose you as our representative!
  Bobo: Momo, you stole my line!
• Frilly Upgrade: It's possible to "evolve" some articles of clothing if one gathers enough extra copies of it. Evolved articles of clothing have higher/ more valuable stats than their earlier form, and the evolution tends to add embellishments like frills, ruffles, feather, lace, patterns, etc... where there were none before.
• Funny Animal: Nikki's cat Momo - he walks on two legs, wears a hooded cape, and can talk. And is super snarky.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In one level, players must craft a dress described by an NPC as "capable of defeating the legendary Star Sea!". The level is scripted to require that dress, but comparing both dresses' stats reveals that Star Sea would win in a fair competition.
  • Somewhat justified, as the game states that Nikki's wins have less to do with the garments she's wearing and more her own innate talents in styling. This could be seen as an acknowledgement that base suit stats aren't enough if the player isn't using abilities. However, it's also not quite true as a bad suit score is not going to be overcome no matter how well upgraded a player's abilities are.
• Gameplay Grading: Each fashion battle is graded: truly terrible performance yields an F, while the passing ranks are C, B, A, and S. The best grades depend not only on the player's score, but the difference between Nikki and her opponent. Some clothes will only drop if players achieve an S rank. Unlocking side quests for the story chapters requires players to get an S on all the main story levels in that chapter. Completing a level with an A or S also unlocks the "Done Now" feature, which allows players to instantly complete a level without replaying the fashion show (which is a big time saver when one need lots of copies of an item).
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Queen Elle of the Pigeon Kingdom won two of King Sayet's three legendary treasures when she was still a young princess. With this power, she maintains a legion of "Iron Rose" Stylists, whose job it is to steal designs from around the seven kingdoms and demand tribute in the form of beautiful clothing.
• The Good Kingdom: Lilith Kingdom seems to be a version of this mixed with Magic Land.
  Bobo: The Lilith Kingdom is a neighboring country of the Apple Federation and the Cloud Empire... it's like an adorable fun-filled fairy tale land. We specialize in enchanting fantasy styles.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • Kaja's challenges tend to be a HUGE wake-up call for newbies. Kaja is a bifauxnen rock singer and her stages require Nikki to wear "Unisex" clothes and accesories... which, considering how the major part of the potential clothing and items tend to be pretty girly looking, can be a bit of a drawback.
  • Level 8-2 (the second match against Mela) in Princess difficulty. Unlike the corresponding level in Maiden, it requires a specific suit. Unlike most levels, where scores are maximized by piling on accessories, it penalizes adding almost anything besides that suit. There are a select few accessories that the level allows, but figuring out which ones is arguably an even bigger Guide Dang It!.
  • The Special Stages in general require clothing with very specific tags, and not having them handy will lead the player to either losing BADLY or barely pass. A good example is Level 4-12: players must assemble what's basically a Playboy Bunny outfit, and the most important parts are the "Bunny Girl" suit, the "Bunny Girl Heels" and the "Bunny Headwear." The suit and ears are the only part of the outfit tagged "Bunny," making it necessary to craft and equip them to pass the stage.
• Guy of the Week: Toto is a recurring character who seems to have a new boyfriend every time Nikki talks to her. Momo even lampshades her serial dating when players get a less than stellar score on a challenge, taunting that "You'll never catch up with Toto. She has almost collected all 12 zodiac boyfriends."
  Nikki: Toto! How was your date with the Aries guy?
  Toto: It went well, thanks to you! But now my new boyfriend is a Capricorn working in this theater as a manager!
• Head Swap: Game developers reused the sprite bases of several side characters by dressing them up with different hair, facial features, and outfits. An incomplete list of examples includes:
  • Sofia's base was reused to make the one-off character "Blue" for story 6-S1.
  • Timi's base was reused to make "Orange," a denizen of Wintermount who appeared in several stories in chapter 4, and a "Contestant in Group C" for the Lilith Fantasy Styling Contest in story 10-7.
  • Dansu's base was reused to make "Mira" (a swimsuit model visiting Wintermount in chapter 4), the "Ruin Shadow" opponent from story 12-8 (which was reused as the "Tech Girl" opponent for the first stage of the "Ultimate Race" event), and the "Bonfire Girl" opponent from story 13-S3. The Dansu base also appeared as one of the "Fog Fairy" opponents in the "Treasure Island" event.
  • Annabel's base was reused to make "Passerby Girl" from story 2-2, "Innocent Passerby" from story 3-8, "Pota" tribe member from story 13-1, a futuristic "Passerby Girl" from story 13-S2 (which was reused as the "Future Girl" opponent for the first stage of the "Void Singer" event of March 2018), and the "Repairer" in story 16-6. The "Passerby Girl" from 2-2 was re-used as Nikki's opponent "Beka", and the same Annabel base was re-used as the opponent "Fatumah" in the Score Race portion of the Nine-Night Tales event of March 2020.
  • The "Pizzagirl Charbes" sprite has seen a lot of mileage, appearing as the "Flower Field Hallucination" in story 6-1, the "Passerby Girl" in story 11-9 (which reused wholesale as the "Waste Woman" opponent in the third stage of the "Wind Deep Legend" event), the "Apple Shadow" in story 12-7, the "Lilith Girl" in story 13-7, the "Federal Girl" in 13-S1, and the "Traveler" in 14-3 & V2:3-4. The same base was used to make the "Winter Coat Girl" opponent from the fifth stage of the "Void Singer" event, and the opponent "Larissa" from the Score Race portion of the Nine-Night Tales event.
  • Vivi's sprite has been reused to make an Actress in story 2-S1 & V2:3-5, the "Nobel Ladies" in story 6-2, the "Cloud Maid" in stories 8-5 and 8-6, the "Cloud Shadow" in story 12-6, and the "Cloud Girl" in story 13-6.
  • The "Wasteland Contestant" base from story 10-6 has been reused as "Ransa's Minion" from story 13-8, "Tribesman A" from story 14-4, and in several limited events.
  • The Ancient Pavilion Sisters are a particularly egregious example, all using the same head, torso, and legs (though one of Autumn's legs has been edited so her knees appear closer together). Spring and Winter use the identical bases with their arms posed at their sides, while Summer and Autumn's arms were redrawn in unique positions.
• The High Queen: Queen Nanari of the Lilith Kingdom appears to be this - she's an ethereally beautiful woman with magical powers, who is beloved by all her subjects. Unfortunately, she's an ill girl who hasn't been seen in public for years, and has had to step down from her administrative duties due to an unnamed affliction. After the attempted coup, it's revealed she's missing entirely, leaving Royce to take over after Nidhogg's betrayal.
• High-School Dance: The theme of the Homecoming Reunion event, which featured the Prom Princess (fancy dress) and Alumni Ace (football player) outfits.
• Hopeless Boss Fight:
  • Lunar's Challenge is like this at first sight, since there's no way to win against her. It's fortunately subverted: it's a part of a tutorial to learn how to customize clothes, and when that part is done the player gets a similar but much better dress that lets Nikki challenge Lunar again and win.
  • The battle against Nidhogg in Chapter 15 — no matter how well players accessorize, his "Dark Verdict" skill instantly reduces an opponent's score to a measly 10,000 points. In order to win, players must challenge him and lose 15 times in order to access the side-quests for Chapter 15. Playing through all the side quests rewards players with the mythical "Dawn Blade" sword that can counter Nidhogg's skill.
• Hufflepuff House:
  • Out of the seven kingdoms, Ruin Island and Wasteland get the least focus in-story focus. They have fewer gallery suits than Cloud, Apple, Pigeon, and Lillith, and comparatively little of the main story takes place in either nation. North has a similar dearth of suits to pad out it's gallery, but plays a larger role in the plot.
  • North still qualifies however, as it has the least amount of suits of any Nation, with fewer than 30 suits in the gallery (as of mid-2023). To put this into perspective, Apple, Cloud, and Pigeon all have 200+ suits, Lilith has 150+, while Wasteland and Ruin have just over 50 each. The only galleries with fewer suits than North are Happiness (16), Stars (8), Fairy Tale (6), and Wonder Museum (6); and all of those are recurring events.
• Hyperspace Arsenal: Nikki can use any of the thousands of pieces of clothing in her Wardrobe to assemble an outfit on the spot for a styling contest — that means hundreds of individual dresses, wigs, pairs of shoes, and includes accessories like wings, furniture, vehicles, live animals, atmospheric conditions like rain, and the moon. After story 1-9, Mela says she "did not bring her collection" to the Lilith Kingdom (implying she lost because she didn't have her best clothes with her), so this ability is apparently unique to Nikki. (A supplemental manga published by the developers reveals that Queen Nanari gifted Nikki a magical suitcase that could hold all her clothes & shrink to the size of a small handbag, but it remains to be seen if the manga can be considered cannon for the game.)
• Identical Stranger: Bobo, Lunar, and Momo comment on how strange it is that Nikki and Bai Jinjin look so similar. This turns out to be convenient when agents of Bai Jinjin's father show up to kidnap her back to her family's compound — Nikki is easily able to disguise herself as Jinjin, giving Jinjin and Zhong Lizi time enough to escape the country.
  Lunar: Um, Nikki, did your twin sister come here too?
  Nikki: What?! I have no twin sister. Why do you ask that?
  Lunar: Look at the neighboring booth. That lady near the scholar looks a lot like you.
  Bobo: Let me see... WOW! Isn't that just Nikki with short hair?
  Momo: So similar! Nikki, since when do you have such a classy twin sister?
• Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The normal levels are "Maiden" levels, while the hard versions are "Princess" levels.
• Inconsistent Dub:
  • Used to be more prevalent in the main game, before multiple rounds of "translation optimization" by the developers did away with some of those issues — but not all of them. Some examples include:
    • Chapter 16 is rife with translation errors. Mela is rendered as "Meira", Sherry is rendered "Xue Yi", Ransa is rendered "Lansa", Queen Elle is "Queen Ayli"; and the evolved forms of items that drop on the Princess difficulty (like "Lost Butterfly" and "Butterfly Change") are translated as "Gorgeous" (first evolution) and "Treasured" (final evolution) rather than "Rare" (first evolution) and "Epic" (final evolution).
    • The recurring special event character "Starlet" was originally named "Starphenie". It seems she has quietly had her name changed, but Chapter 14 storyline battles still display her name as "Starphenie".
    • The game frequently flips back and forth between the original Engrish name of "Apple Federal" and the correctly localized "the Apple Federation". Players can still spot "Apple Federal" in the initial loading screens upon launch as well as many wardrobe item descriptions and of course the Time Diary.
  • The Time Diary is loaded with these.
    • Wintermount is "Wentmont" in the title of the entry about the Designer's Tea Party.
    • King Sayet is translated as "King Sayah", Mela is "Meira," and Ransa is spelled "Lanza."
    • Queen Elle is rendered as "Queen Ayli"... which is wrong, but strangely the dubbed dialog in the main game seems to pronounce "Elle" like this, leading to only further confusion.
  • Translation consistency remains an issue in the special events. The "Ultimate Race" event of April 2018 was a particularly glaring example:
    • The Apple Federation city in which track races are held is alternately translated as "City Rosset" (in the event menu), "Rosey City" (in Kimi's challenge description), "Rosai City" (in Kimi's dialogue), and "Rosa City" (in the description for the "Speed SUV" accessory). An in-game map feature designates it "Rosset," and the same spelling is used in the dialogue for Chapter 15.
    • One of the characters introduced in the event — the driver of the race car, and the inspiration for one of the limited event suits — has her name translated as both "Joy" and "Joey," sometimes even in the same sentence. The description for the "Flaming Helmet" accessory from the "Track Blazer" suit reads "They form a team with only two persons. Joey trusts Alinda and Alinda is influenced by Joy's vitality."
  • The "Wind Deep Legend" event of May 2018 was another example:
    • The name of the "legendary sorceress" of the Wastelands is alternately spelled "Kassandra" and "Cassandra."
    • The griffon-riding heroine who rescues her is spelled "Lika" in all item names & descriptions, but "Rika" in the story segments.
  • The "Angica's Dream" [sic] suit (originally available during the October 2017 "Interstellar" event, later made available for crafting) is another glaring example; the posed version of the suit is called "Angelika's Dream," while the unposed version is "Angelica's Obsession." The item descriptions for "Angelica" (the suit's wig), "Lovely Justice" (shoes), and "The Hidden One" (mask) all spell the name "Angelica," while the description for "Cute Rabbit" (motorcycle/ background object) spells it "Angelika."
  • The "Dawn Front" event of August 2018 boasted several poorly translated sections of text:
    • Nidhogg's "League Till" force (first mentioned in Chapter 15) is translated as both "League Till" and "the Tyre Coalition"... with both spellings used on the same page.
    • Prince Chloris was misspelled "Prince Kloris" in several sections.
  • The recurring Happiness event focuses on Nikki and Momo's repeated visits to the destination wedding town of Hela Vi/ Hrawi/ Hellawell, with the spelling varying wildly between each round of the event.
  • After the names in the English translation were switched back to the names from the original Chinese version, the original English names remained in at least some of the voiced dialogue.
  • In Queen Elle's Dreamweaver storyline, her uncle's name is usually given as Derrick, but sometimes as Draco.
• An Interior Designer Is You: The Home System gives players an expandable, customizable home to decorate. Furniture, wallpapers, and architectural features like doors and windows can be purchased in the "Users Furniture" shop or won in dedicated pavilions at the "Wish Court."
• Internal Homage:
  • In story 14-S3, Starlet mentions that a designer created 28 suits based on the celestial mansions of Chinese astrology - these refer to the suits that appear in the "Stars" clothing gallery (which can be collected during the recurring "Star Secret" event).
  • The "Cloud Tea Party" suit from the "Nine-Night Tales" event and the "Sea Tea Party" suit from the "Treasure Island" event are sister suits, designed many years ago by two friends to commemorate a tea party held on the beach. Descriptions of items in both suits include callbacks to the legend of the mermaid who befriended a bird in the "Caelum et Ocean" event. The relationship between the bird and the mermaid is framed in a way that mirrors the relationship between the friends (who ended up growing apart due to their different desires).
  • The "Arcane Astrolabe" event of August 2020 included a "War Report" component, which took the form of a newspaper editor's desk where players could read short reports on the in-universe fighting around Black Water City, and publish daily bulletins and advertisements. One such bulletin was a notice from Agent Doris requesting information of the notorious Thief Curt, both characters from the Midnight Escape event.
  • The "Cali and Phantom Thief * 1" dialogue, which can be randomly triggered by traveling to Wheat Leaf Bar in Wheat Field, Apple Federation, throug the "Around the World" feature, mentions the suits "Madam Sylvia" and "Jewel of the Ocean" as paintings that are housed in the Rolterdan Museum.
  • The "Absurd Tale" Hell Event of November 2020 event featured a wealth of internal crossovers:
    • The "Backstage Story" component (similar to "War Report" from "Arcane Astrolabe") took the form a a bulletin board that displayed various in-universe advertisements, newsletters, poems, and other ephemera related to the December Troupe. Several such "memories" revealed that a production of "Joker & Diamond Mask" had been targeted by the Phantom Thief Sapphires, only for the stolen props to be returned in an mysterious parcel smelling of orange blossoms. "Sapphires the Phantom Thief" is an Association Shop evolution suit, while orange blossoms are the signature scent of "Miss Swenny" — a Volume 2, Chapter 3 evolution suit depicting a noblewoman who masquerades as a thief and a foil to Sapphires.
    • The Kloss Family of Hoteliers, previously only mentioned in the "Gentle Waiter" hidden suit and it's recolors, are said to be investors whose contributions kept the December Troupe afloat through hard times.
• Internal Reveal: It takes until Chapter 19 for Nikki and Momo to tell Kimi that they come from another world.
  Kimi: Wait. What?... You were brought to this world?
  Nikki: Well, the truth is... Momo and I are from another world. We aren't native to Miraland... It may sound crazy, but I'm telling the truth.
• Item Crafting: The Recipe Workshop facility allows the player to "Customize" (change the features of clothes already collected), "Design Craft" (create new articles of clothing by combining old ones), "Evolve" (upgrade clothing to have better stats), and "Decompose" (take clothing apart to get raw material). In order to craft items like wigs, dresses, shoes, and bracelets, players need to acquire the recipe and collect a certain amount of components. To craft higher lever items, those components can be things players have already had to craft and/ or customize at great expense.
• Just Add Water: The Item Crafting system includes some rather nonsensical recipes:
  • In order to craft a wig like "Small Poem" (a bobbed black wig with two hair pins) players need to win four "Ice Warrior" wigs and four "Sweet Jasmine * White" blouses. Because combining silver wigs and white blouses creates a black wig.
  • Gets even more ridiculous with items like "Witch's Scarf" (a white, haori-like jacket with gold decoration). The components are four copies of "Lime Coat," two "Magical Realm Kite Elf" dresses, and three "Ghost Flower * Rare" gowns. "Lime Coat" is a bright green shirt, "Magical Realm Kite Elf" is a goth-looking black dress (itself requiring crafting in the Recipe Workshop), and "Ghost Flower * Rare" is a strapless pink wrap dress, the evolved form of the "Ghost Flower" dress. Players would need to win sixteen copies of the regular "Ghost Flower" dress in random item drops in order to make the "Witch's Scarf" jacket.
• King Incognito: At the start of the game, it appears that Prince Royce has taken a little time away from the palace to explore the seven kingdoms and "find inspiration by traveling." His personal assistant Neva is trying desperately to get him to return to the royal palace and resume his duties. It takes her five Chapters before she succeeds.
• Land of Faerie: Momo mentions that the Pigeon Kingdom is where "elves, dwarves, humans and goblins live in harmony." A number of the Pigeon Kingdom suits show this, at least the "elves" part, with a few events even involving Nikki and Co. meeting some elves in Pigeon Forest.
• Like an Old Married Couple: In 1-8, Lunar compares Momo's and Bobo's bickering to this:
  Bobo: Don't worry, it'll be no biggie for Nikki! Ouch! Why are you stepping on me, Momo?
  Momo: Bobo, whenever you're here, you either steal my shines or my lines! What are you gonna do next, steal my grilled fish?
  Lunar: Stop arguing, you two. Nikki needs another practice session to defeat Mela for sure.
• Menswear Ghetto: There are a few sensible trousers, unadorned shoes, and plain shirts tagged "unisex," but their numbers pale in comparison to the staggering amount of frilly skirts, floral ballgowns, and flouncy high heels one can acquire during the course of the game. When menswear challenges do show up, the player may find themselves utterly unprepared and in need of a visit to the store to supplement their wardrobe.
• Microtransactions: The entire business model, as there are no ads in game. It overlaps with Freemium a bit, as the total cumulative amount players spend on Diamonds unlocks "VIP levels" with more perks (such as extra Princess retries and exclusive outfits).
• Mood Whiplash: This happens frequently in the later chapters, as by that point the game has grown the beard and become so serious that mechanics like style battles seem slightly out-of-place. It's not uncommon for characters to divulge devastating information to Nikki, only to immediately challenge her to a dress-up battle right afterwards (complete with flashing pink lights, cheery music, and little yellow birds serving as judges.)
• Motion Parallax: Simulated by the main menu —the buildings in the foreground (Free Dressing and Store) move farther when swiping left or right than those in the middle ground (Recipe Workshop, Competition, and Stylist Association), and the buildings in the background (Stylist's Arena and Mystery House) less so than those in the middle.
• Ms. Fanservice: Almost every chapter has one:
  • Chapter 1 features Mela, a thief, whose style of dress resembles a goth stripper. Even Lunar gets a turn as the fanservice girl when she dresses up in a revealing nightclub outfit— to help Nikki practice for the battle against Mela, of course.
  • Chapter 3 has Lisa the Phantom Thief, who was introduced in Chapter 2 as Manager Lisa. Her Spy Catsuit is more fishnets than fabric and incorporates a Cleavage Window large enough to drive a truck through.
  • Chapter 4 introduces Mira, a model working in Wintermount. Her first appearance is in a string bikini. She reappears in Chapter 5 to model Lizi's bunny girl costume.
    Momo: She's in good shape... and what a pretty Bikini...
  • Chapter 5 features "Dansu," a famous "Ghost Dancer" from the Cloud Empire. Her character portrait contains a sleeveless kimono minidress open to the navel, a bandage bra, and a single stocking held up by an overtaxed garter.
    Bai Jinjin: Besides assassination, her most important skill is dressing up.
  • Chapter 6 has the Summer Flower Field Fairy, a busty woman who appears before Nikki in a fancy bikini and challenges her to craft a swimsuit as elegant as hers. Then players meet Summer's sister the Autumn Flower Field Fairy, another well endowed woman who wears a tight-fitting qipao.
  • Nikki herself must play the role once in a while. Her body model shows that she isn't exactly flat-chested (despite Momo's comments), and to match the fanservicy ladies above mentioned she must also put on pretty revealing clothes; i.e, the two fashion duels with the aforementioned Mira require her to put on a bikini or a Playboy Bunny outfit.
• No Communities Were Harmed: The Lilith Kingdom town of Wintermount is clearly based on the Greek city of Santorini - it's a picturesque vacation destination full of white-painted houses and shops built along the slope of a hill, descending to the beachfront and the ocean. There's even a blue dome atop the town's church.
• Nonindicative Name:
  • The town of Wintermount is a beautiful, tropical paradise taking design inspiration from Santorini, with white sand beaches and palm trees. Nothing winter-y about it.
  • Ruin Island is the most technologically advanced of all the nations.
• One Size Fits All: Any and every article of clothing in the game that one can buy, win, or craft is an item Nikki can wear... it kinda goes with the dress up game territory.
• Opulent Outfits: Outfits that can be won or purchased during special events tend to have some pretty opulent dresses to start with, including extras like elaborate backgrounds and large or animated props.
• Paper-Thin Disguise:
  • Gameplay wise, any time Nikki & Co. need to "dress up to sneak past the guards" or "blend in with a crowd."
  • Story-wise, Kimi has a particularly egregious example in Chapter 17. The extent of her disguise during an infiltration mission at a high-class auction in Apple Federal, where she is currently wanted by the government, is a tuxedo and a ponytail. No makeup, no wigs, no sneaking around.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Some of the dresses start out covered in frills and lace, and others can get a Frilly Upgrade when players "evolve" them. Most of the dresses that come out of the special events are fancy as well.
• Perfect Pacifist People: In Miraland all conflicts are resolved with fashion shows, so there's no need for violence. Not that Miraland is lacking for conflict or crime, but the seven nations have officially been at peace for 600 years by the start of the game. It's later revealed in Chapter 15 that this is the result of the "Curse of Blood" imposed on every inhabitant of Miraland, preventing them from hurting their fellow citizens lest they be consumed by the agony of "the backlash".
  Bobo: The people of Miraland can't resort to force. It is a curse and oath bound in everyone's blood. Once using force, one will be devoured by burning pain.
• Play Every Day: The game runs on this:
  • The "Nikki's Month Sign in" allows the player to claim a new reward every day (ranging from Gold, Diamonds, Stamina, and Starlight Coins to special clothing items).
  • Stamina, which is required to play story levels, regenerates over time and eventually caps based on a player's Character Level.
  • The Association Commission stages, Pavilion free pulls, and Princess Stage retries also reset each day.
  • The "Daily Lucky Draw" feature is a sort of lottery that grants players small amounts of gold, diamonds, stamina, or star coins each day. Drawing from the lottery for 5 days straight builds up a "Lucky Streak," which doubles any reward drawn while maintaining the streak — failure to participate on a daily basis breaks the streak.
• Please Wake Up: Lunar dies in Nikki's arms after suffering a fatal blow in her duel with Nidhogg. Momo pleads with her to wake up, promising her all his grilled fish if only she'll come back. Momo may be a talking cat with a smart mouth, but to watch him reduced to begging Lunar to wake up only makes an already tragic scene even more heartbreaking.
• Plot Armor: Mentioned by Momo at the Fantasy Styling Contest:
  Nikki: I feel so nervous. Last time I had Lunar by my side in Wintermount; now I'm all by myself.
  Momo: Easy, Nikki! You are the protagonist so you'll be protected by Plot Armor!
• Premium Currency: The game utilizes two main currencies, gold and diamonds. Gold is won by completing and replaying stages, and is used to upgrade skills, purchase clothing in the main shop, and to craft new items. Diamonds are also used in the shop, and can also purchase extra stamina, gold, and stage re-play attempts. Additionally, diamonds are the only currency that can purchase extra re-play attempts in limited stylist battling events and extra "pulls" in lottery-type events. It's possible to collect about 65 diamonds a day while remaining free-to-play, but with weekly events that run between 500 and 5,000 diamonds to complete (and new content being introduced all the time), players are often encouraged to make real-money purchases of diamonds.
• Prince Charming: Prince Royce, the brother of Queen Nanari of the Lilith Kingdom. He's dashingly handsome (as Bobo attests) and on the run from the palace so he can do a little exploring and get free of the stifling responsibilities coming from being the heir to his ill sister's throne.
• Rainbow Pimp Gear: The game works by grading the articles of clothing in an outfit on a sliding scale from "Gorgeous" to "Simple", "Lively" to "Elegant", "Mature" to "Cute", "Sexy" to "Pure," and "Warm" to "Cool". A challenge could involve assembling a "Cute and Lively" date outfit, but without any items with good scores for both cuteness and liveliness, a player might have to improvise with a lot of items that are "Cute and Gorgeous" or "Lively and Sexy." It's possible to win a story by donning a bright pink wig, leopard print blazer, belly dancer shirt, overalls, fishnet stockings, lime green rain boots, cat ears, fur-lined cape, and a broadsword, but the results aren't going to be pretty.
• Random Drop: How clothing items are obtained in Story levels, although the "battles" are mini fashion shows, not physical combat. Presumably the loser gives Nikki the item as a reward for defeating them.
• Rule of Seven: Miraland has 7 nations (Apple Federation, Lilith Kingdom, Cloud Empire, Pigeon Kingdom, North Kingdom, Republic of Wasteland, and Ruin Island), all with their own unique styles.
• Sacred First Kiss: During an infiltration mission in Chapter 17, Kimi's cover is almost blown when her disguise begins to slip during a dance with Reid. To distract onlookers, Reid swoops Kimi into a very dramatic kiss & embrace in order to hide her face. Ever the romantic, Bobo is vocally upset that Kimi lost her first kiss... but Kimi herself is nonplussed about it.
• Schizo Tech: The seven nations of Miraland each have a distinctive cultural aesthetic that supersedes the integration of whatever technology is actually available to them:
  • Apple Federation appears the most similar to Nikki's home, with a modern level of technology seen in the skyscrapers, automobiles and helicopters there. The suits associated with Apple Federation depict modern doctors, businessmen, students, musicians, skaters, fashionistas, and other similar roles.
  • Pigeon Kingdom takes its cues from a fantasy version of Medieval/ Renaissance Europe and Victorian London. Although it has the same technology available as Apple Federation, aesthetics takes prominence. The Pigeon Kingdom gallery is stuffed with ballgowns crusted in Steampunk-inspired trappings, the soldiers fight with bows & swords, and the Queen's personal taskforce uses an airship to get around.
  • The Cloud Empire takes inspiration from Imperial China (with a hefty dash of Far East). Most citizens seem to go about their daily lives in cheongsams, kimonos, ruqun and hanfu, and even military officials wear lamellar armor and swords. The architecture seen in the the Cloud Empire is chock full of pagodas and moon bridges, while train lines that connect to Apple Federation are all done up like wood-paneled tea rooms.
  • The Republic of Wasteland also has access to all the technology of Apple Federation (as evinced by the transportation infrastructure mentioned in Chapter 13) but most of the citizens introduced so far appear to live in semi-permanent structures and dress in painfully stereotypical "native" attire.
  • Ruin Island has access to incredible technology, including the ability to transfer consciousness between organic and mechanical systems and the avocation to create artificial intelligence pop stars. This level of technology spills over into much of their fashion; the Ruin Island aesthetic favors hyper-futuristic bodysuits, geometric cut-outs, transparent materials, glowing panels, integrated circuitry, mechanical prosthetics, and tech-y accessories like plastic visors and small robot companions.
• Scunthorpe Problem: Expect to see lots of words like "h*e" (have) and "compe*ion" (competition) in user messages and Starry Corridor posts. This is due to the censorship filters being left mainly unchanged in translation from the East Asian servers. A(n incomplete) list of censored words/ abbreviations includes:
  • "av" — short for "Adult Video" in East Asia. Interestingly, the words "adult video" are not censored, nor is "porn" or "pornography."
  • "sm" — short for "S&M." Words like "sadomasochist" are not censored.
  • "sb" — short for "sha bi", meaning "stupid cunt" in Chinese slang.
  • "wg" — possibly short for "Working Girl," a.k.a. a lady of the night.
  • "tit" — self evident.
  • "teen" — a mystery.
  • "sex" — self evident. Variations like "s e x" are not affected by the filter.
  • "aids" — self evident. Makes it very difficult to post an entry with "mermaids," "milkmaids," or even just regular "maids."
  • "suck" and "sucker" — self evident.
  • "heroin" — also self evident.
  • "911" — also self evident, though substitutions like "9ll" or "9II" are accepted.
  • "lolita" — a particularly egregious example, as "Lolita" is a searchable attribute on several dresses.
  • "dang" — possibly offensive.
  • "triangle" — fan speculation posits that this is a reference to "Triangle Boy", a proxying tool used in China to skirt firewalls and censorship issues.
  • "ligen" — a mystery. Fan theory posits that this odd inclusion on the censor list could be due to the Chinese translation of Ronald Reagan's name. The name "Reagan," however, is not censored.
• Show Within a Show:
  • The December Troupe theatrical company has put on several shows that end up as the setting for Story Mode Stages and Special Events:
    • Black and White Swan: A production famous for the costumes and jewelry designed by Miraland's one and only Star Seer, which appear in-game as the "White Swan" and "Black Swan" Lifetime Crafting Suits. A ballet that follows the story of a demure white swan whose ambition and desires transform her into a seductive black swan.
    • Candy Witch and Star Sea: The debut of the Star Sea (both as a Lifetime Crafting Suit and a plot point), featuring famed actress/ dancer/ model Sofia. The production was disrupted when threats were sent by a "Phantom Thief."
    • Echo of Seasons: Two productions (Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer) of this show were put on by the December Troupe, and provided the setting for both of the game's Crossover events with the Alphonse Mucha Trust.
    • Fighting Danas: An older production, starring the now-retired actress Miranda. Ends with the heroine, a cowgirl, sacrificing herself as she rushes towards an exploding mine to save a friend.
    • The Joker & The Diamond Mask: A circus/ carnival inspired show, notable for the introduction of the clowns "Smile" and "Claire." Following Smile and Claire's departure from the December Troupe, a later production of the show became the target of the Phantom Thief Sapphires (whose efforts were ultimately thwarted by Miss Swenny.)
    • Lie of Moonlight: From an in-universe review — "Being trapped in the dark and damp basement, the skylight became the girl's only spiritual support. One day, a figure appeared before the skylight... This seemingly beautiful encounter had been a lie from the start as the singer turned out to be a phantom thief. After the phantom thief succeeded in stealing the treasure he was seeking, he was caught when trying to save the girl, who was then forced into a family marriage."
    • Magic of Magi: A play about a young girl seeking out an experienced sorcerer in order to learn magic. Starring Sofia as Magi, the young girl, and supermodel Hiber as Lucien, a reclusive witch.
    • Uptown Girl and Magician: Introduced in the "Rising Stars in Choreodrama" event of 2023, the show is a combination of acrobatic and dance acts. It stars actors Patty and Merida as a free-spirited Magician and a dispirited Heiress respectively.
    • Mask Town: The December Troupe's production of this original work was the setting of the "Absurd Tale"/ "Light in Mirror" Hell Event, introduced in November of 2020. The play itself is an interactive production where audience members become part of the show and are encouraged to talk with the performers. The plot of the show involves a town wherein devotees of a masked god could be granted their deepest wishes in the form of masks that can give them power, wealth, talent, etc... but at a price. Starred the Magician Noah as Norris the Prophet, and actress Sofia as Sonya the Dancer.
    • The Parrot Light: From an in-universe review — "The pure and kind parrot princess fell in love with the prince, but he imprisoned the parrot princess in a birdcage in the palace. Despair shrouded the sky as the parrot princess plucked off her pure white feathers and bleed [sic], drenching her wings in red. Finally, black feathers grew and the parrot princess returned to the forest. Some things, however, have changed."
    • The Phantom of the Opera: Not The Phantom of the Opera, apparently — but a show about a theater haunted by a phantom none the less.
    • Romeo and Cinderella: A play that has become popular after other theater companies started performing it. Romeo rescues Cinderella from her evil stepmother and stepsisters, and fights off a prince who comes for Cinderella with a fake Crystal Shoe.
      Romeo: Juliet, I swear by this fair moon that painted these branches in silver—
      Cinderella: Oh no! Please don't swear to the moon yet. My name is Cinderella, Your Highness.
      Romeo: I'm Romeo, not the prince...
    • Summer of Star City: A play about a girl, Starcy, who moves to the big city and becomes a movie star.
    • Swan Love: From an in-universe review — "Once upon a time, there was a huge lake where two cursed swans lived. The white swan turned into a girl only from dawn to sunset, while the black swan turned into a boy from dusk till sunrise. They seem to lead parallel lives, but during a romantic sunset dance, they met in their human forms.
      This play is adapted from the famous fairy tale 'The Swan on the Island' by Hayden, and in that fairytale, even when both the hero and heroine turned into swans, that couldn't stop fate from being together."
    • Sword of the Knights: Not much is known about this show, besides the fact that it featured a character called "Henry the Knight."
    • Glazed World: A play about a lost traveler in another world; as part of the event, the player could not only earn suits based on "Glazed World," but also read through an interactive version of the story.
  • The "Smile Circus" carnival was not a production of the December Troupe, but did feature the characters of "Smile" and "Claire", former members of the December Troupe.
• Stop Poking Me!: Characters in the Dream Weaver feature will react negatively if tapped, cycling through several phrases that express their displeasure. Lunar's avatar will cease responding after players pass stage V1:15-8, during which she dies in combat with Nidhogg.
  Bobo: Don't poke me! I'm not meatball-like Momo!
  Yvette: Um, please don't touch me...
  Bai Yongxi: That is not polite.
  Fu Su: Don't touch me...
  Orlando: It is fundamental for a gentleman to tolerate a lady's improper demeanor.
• Talking Animal: Nikki's pet cat Momo - he mostly goes on about how much he wants to eat grilled fish, but he also offers styling tips to Nikki.
• Temporary Online Content: Mostly averted, which is a relief for completionists since developers release so many outfits in time-limited special events and recharge formats. The vast majority of these special event outfits return as craftable suits, or become available for purchase in the main store (though they tend be costlier to craft or purchase).
  • Of particular note are the suits from the Honeymoon Holyland and Star Secret events, which recur periodically with new outfits (while the older suits remain available to players who missed earlier versions of the event).
  • Even recharge suits are known to recur — "Song of Night Sky" and "Steel Lily" both became available in the main shop some months after they were sold as recharge suits, while "Jingle Kitty" and "Tender Puppy" were briefly returned to the user's shop as recharge suits. "Red Shoes" and "Brocade Jade" and "Time Pilot" regularly return in time-limited special packs (at least once a month, if not more often).
  • In the rare case of outfits that don't return (as in the case of "Banshee Momiji" and "Miss Goldfish"), players have been known to raise hell on the developer's official channels (Facebook, iTunes, and the App Store) in protest.
• Tipis and Totem Poles: Unironically used in Chapter 13 (the first to take place in the Republic of Wasteland), with the background depicting a variety of tipis (referred to as "tents" by Nikki & Co.) and at least one large totem pole. The background art for Chapter 14 abounds with even more totem poles.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Momo's favorite food is grilled fish. He mentions it every other line, and when Nikki does particularly well in a battle.
• Translation Train Wreck: While most of the game has grammatically incorrect, but still comprehendible English, a few events and items have such bad translations that it's impossible to understand what the developerss were even trying to say. This can be problematic in events where the player has to answer questions or follow some kind of storyline, as it can be difficult to impossible to understand what's happening in-game. There have also been some instances where interjections were translated as total gibberish; for example, the onomatopoeia of a chandelier falling was translated as "CARK!"
• Trapped in Another World: After Nikki and Momo are transported to Miraland by Queen Nanari, they find themselves unable to return to the mundane world. There have been some hints that Nikki will be unable to return until she can fulfill a destiny of some sort in Miraland, but no clear indication as to the exact nature of what she has to do.
• Trash Talk: When Nikki's opponents use the skill Critical Eye (which lowers the player's score), they pair it with an insult to her looks or her style.
  Toto: Now I know why you have no boyfriend!
  Lunar: So disappointed, but nowhere to confess.
  Timi: My senior may not like that kind of clothing...
  Vivi: You don't need to come to work tomorrow.
  Yvette: I... I don't think that's suitable.
  Bobo: Hmph! You're not cute in this way!
  Neva: I shouldn't have overestimated your styling ability...
  Mela: You are so successful at being an example of a failure.
• Video Game Stealing: The "Gift" and "Clock" skills allow the user to temporarily unequip their opponent's socks and shoes (respectively). They can be countered with the "Gift Immune" and "Clock Immune" skills.
• Virtual Paper Doll: It's a dress-up game with RPG elements and a plot to string it together. There are several arenas in which players can utilize their wardrobes, including:
  • Story Mode, Commission Requests, and the Stylist's Arena, in which scores are calculated based on the attributes of clothing.
  • Competition, in which players submit outfits in accordance with themes like "Roses and Love Poems" or "Dark Witch" and can vote for the submissions of other players.
  • Starry Corridor, in which players are free to post up to 6 outfits a day and make use of editing features to resize the dolls & props.
• Was It Really Worth It?: At the end of Chapter 15, as the armies of both Cloud Empire and the North Kingdom have witnessed Nidhogg kill Lunar in a duel for the fate of Cloud City, all are left in a state of shock and despair. Even the soldiers of the victorious North Kingdom, the most "warlike" of all the nations, cannot bring themselves to celebrate the fall of Cloud City, because they know that Nidhogg's actions (in direct defiance of the Blood Oath that every citizen of Miraland must take, to forswear violence) have opened the door to an era of brutal, deadly warfare the likes of which haven't been seen in Miraland for 600 years.
  Mayor of Cloud City: Today is the Cloud's most humiliating day! Not for the fall of Cloud City, but the failure to stop North invaders, the failure to stop them from dragging the world into war again!
  (The soldiers of Cloud City stand in mourning, swallowing the bitterness of shame; the League Till soldiers also lower their heads, showing no joy in their victory.)
• Weird Currency: The game has a half dozen types of currency in normal gameplay. Some of the weirder ones include crystal roses, jade bi discs, hourglasses, crystal shoes & crystal shoe shards (fifty shards equal a shoe), and "honor."
• Wham Episode: Stage 15-8, where winning the style battle is followed by a cutscene in which Nidhogg physically duels and then kills Lunar.
• Wretched Hive: Losol City in Apple Federal is this according to the Around the World feature. It has three locations, all of which are quite grim: District 8, a notorious black market; Rich Amusement Park, an amusement park/casino that’s fallen into obvious disrepair due to economic hardships; and the Sixth Clinic, where Gray Raven steals people’s souls. Fittingly, the background for the latter is a neon-lit, rainy alleyway.

Tropes Related to Specific Outfits & Items

• Animal-Eared Headband: Multiple outfits include hats, headbands, and hairclips in the shape of animal ears:
  • Cat: "Tabby Cat" (Jingle Kitty might be as well, but it's unclear whether the ears are a headband or real.)
  • Rabbit: "Rabbit and Camellias", "Fluffy Lop". There's also the hooded sweatshirt "Bunny Pocket", which has ears.
  • Bear: The "Wheat Ripple" suit includes a fluffy bear ear headband, "Garden Diary" features bow-accented bear's ears hair clips, "Stormy Journey" has a fluffy white bonnet bedecked with polar bear ears, and the item "Cute Little Bear" is a headband with bear ears and bows.
• Asian Fox Spirit:
  • The "Moon Vixen of Heart◊" outfit from the Star Secret event. She has nine tails, and the item descriptions describe her as a shapeshifter.
  • "Poppy Fox◊" is also a fox spirit, but mentioned to be very young - though she can transform into a human, she only has one tail.
  • The "Fox Bride◊" suit depicts a kitsune in a traditional wedding kimono, and the story told in the item descriptions relates how she fell in love with a traveler she rescued in the mountains, later shape-shifting into a human in order to marry him.
  • The "Brocade Jade◊" suit features a prop called "Fantasy Fox," which takes the form of a huge white fox with several tails.
  • The "Fox Love◊" suit depicts a fox taking human form, with bright red hair and various fox-shaped accessories like the fox-face belt, fox-tail chatelaine, sleeping fox hair accessory, and fox-silhouette embroidery on the skirt.
  • The "Ominous Fox Trace" suit combines fox-girl accessories (like ears and tail) with Chinese Vampire styling (with items like a spell-tag head accessory and fox puppets displaying the traditional stiff-armed pose).
• Borrowin' Samedi: The "Demon's Game" suit is likely a reference to Baron Samedi. The clothes are almost monochrome, contrasting against bone-white skin and a face like a desiccated corpse, with a prominent top hat, and the figure carries both a creepy doll and an oversized scythe (bringing in European iconography of death the reaper). Ghosts swirl around it, and the item descriptions all refer to lost souls, lamentations, the brevity of life and the inevitability of death.
• Bland-Name Product: Nikki's high-top flats sneakers with the star emblem on the ankle patch bear something of a resemblance to Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star hi-top sneakers.
• Cat Girl: Apple Federal's Jingle Kitty outfit, and Lilith Kingdom's Tabby Cat (which is the Animal-Eared Headband variety). Fluffy Gentleman has a tail but no ears (though the hairstyle vaguely suggests an ear shape).
• Cat Ninja: The Cloud Empire "Dark Crane" suit is traditional ninja garb, with a two-tailed ninja-cat helper/ accessory called "Military Diet Pill."
  "Why a cat has a name like this? I'd rather not know." (Item description, "Military Diet Pill")
• Chinese Vampire:
  • The "Nether Fire" suit is a very traditional take on the jiangshi complete with spell tags, long fingernails, ornate robes, and a special pose wherein the arms are outstretched stiffly in front of the doll. The description of the items in the set tell the tale of a girl who is revived by the "Underworld Lord" character from the earlier "Ghost Gathering" event, intent on making the girl into one of her otherworldly workers. However, before she fully turns, she is rescued by the demon hunter depicted in the suit "Evil Oppressor".
  • ** The "Ominous Fox Trace" suit combines Asian Fox Spirit accessories (like ears and tail) with jiangshi-inspired styling. The doll wears a Qing dynasty style hat with attached spell tag, and her stuffed fox companions display the typical stiff-arm pose — one even wears spring-heeled shoes (a nod to the jiangshi's preferred method of locomotion).
• Classy Cravat: Mainly found on Pigeon Kingdom suits, including "Canopy of Wisdom", "Crimson Cavalier" (and recolor), "Kindred Earl", "Radiance of Freedom", "Rosy Manifesto" (and recolor), "Royal Doctor" (and recolor), "Sapphires the Phantom Thief", and "Traveler in Mist."
• Cool Crown: Dozens of crowns, circlets, tiaras, diadems, and coronets are available in the "Hair Ornament" and "Veil" categories.
• Commissar Cap: The military-chic "Fiery Front" set includes a black peaked cap with gold braid. The punk-inspired "Tornado Rhapsody" incorporates a beige-and-black one decorated with chains. The "Path of Glory" suit/ pose includes a subdued blue cap being tipped respectfully. The military-inspired "Dark Verdict" set includes an oversized peaked cap adorned with chains, gold braids, and dragon's wings.
• Creepy Crosses: Many suits with the "Gothic" tag have crosses incorporated into the design to play up the occult nature of the vampire/ demon/ witch/ ghost/ monster slayer the suits portray. Examples include "Attachment of Spectre" (undead bride), "Black Rose" (bride of death), "Blood Beckon" (vampire queen), "Demon Huntress" (vampire/ vampire hunter), "Demon Lament" (goth rocker), "Eternal Instant" (vampire), "Moon Justice" (vampire hunter), "Red Nightmare" (demon hunter/ demon summoner), and more.
• Death and the Maiden: The "Dance of Black Rose" event included a storyline in which Nikki and Momo attend a ball held by Death (personified as a floating skeleton draped in a black shroud) in honor of his mortal paramour, a beautiful young woman.
• Dressed to Heal: Half a dozen and counting:
  • "Sacred Doctor", which plays this straight with the white lab coat and stethoscope.
  • "Angel in White", the typical Naughty Nurse Outfit with minidress, thigh high stockings, opera gloves, and nurse's cap (all detailed with hearts and The Red Cross).
  • "White Demon", the Deadly Doctor variant, which accessorizes with rubber gloves, surgical mask, clipboard & surgical scissors, a heart rate monitor (and a grinning skeleton draped over the shoulder...).
  • "Sly Angel", a trendier Naughty Nurse Outfit with a clear plastic nurse's cap, "First Aid" brassard, garters decorated with hearts and crosses, an IV bag & stand, and a comically oversized hypodermic needle.
  • "Dazzling Heartbeats", a futuristic cyber-fairy-nurse costume featuring booty shorts, form-fitting lab coat, stethoscope, fairy wings, and another oversized hypodermic needle.
  • "Royal Doctor" and recolor, a plague doctor take on the trope.
  • "Peace Prayer" and recolor, resembling a late 1800's/ early 1900's nurse's gown and apron.
  • "Cute Bear Healer", a lolita-style dress accessorized with doctor's bag and IV line filled with stuffing for her plush bear patients.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Mostly from Lilith Kingdom. Neva also dresses this way, and some stages (9-2, Association Commission 1-5) require Nikki to compete based on this style. To name a few suits:
  • Gothic: "Demon Huntress", "Demon's Doll", "Flower of Magic Kiss", "Gothic Lolita" (not quite), "Night Lolita"
  • Classic: "Chocolate Story", "Dreamland Teatime", "Longdream in Snowy Night", "Maiden's Romance" (and it's 3 recolors), "Puppy Guardian", "Rabbit and Camellias", "Sweet Berry", "Voice of Heart"
  • Sweet: "Cake Manor", "Candy Doll", "Candy Heart", "City Dream", "Dreamy Afternoon Tea", "Locco's Tea Party", "Song of Night Sky", "Spring Fantasia"
  • Wa: "Alice Time Gate", "Cat Trick"
  • Ouji: "Fluffy Gentleman", "Journey Through Wind"
• Fairytale Wedding Dress: The game has an entire section of the Gallery devoted to wedding dresses. These include:
  • "Realized Dream," the only dress with a "Wedding" tag that is craft-able during normal gameplay (as opposed to the other dresses, which can only be gained during the periodically recurring wedding-themed events).
  • "Gem Coronet" from the "Oath of Flower Rain" suit, a column dress with a massive bustle and a Parasol of Prettiness.
  • "For the Vows of Love," a red robe intricately embroidered with gold and beads, with a matching red shawl/ veil (possibly based on traditional Chinese wedding costumes).
• Fashionable Asymmetry:
  • Present in many of the pop/rock culture inspired outfits, like "Demon Lament," "Tornado Rhapsody," "Hip-Hop Queen," and "Street Extreme."
  • Used in some fancy ballgowns too — the "Crystal Rose" gown is designed with an asymmetrical overskirt cut high/ near the waist at one hip and cascading to floor-length on the other. "Story of Shanghai" and "Ink Orchid" are also asymmetric, and a wedding dress called "Realized Dream" has a handkerchief-hem overskirt complementing a large, rose-shaped twist of fabric positioned on the right hip.
  • Also seen in the mismatched socks/ stockings of outfits like "Demon Lament," "Tornado Rhapsody," "Power Reinforcer," "Hip-Hop Queen," "Street Extreme," "Pursuit of Glory," "Sweet Superstar," "Sugar Cheerleader," "Tune at Dawn," "Heaven Messenger," "Heart of Miracles," "Alice in Wonderland," "Clover's Ceremony," "Assassin's Faith," "Solitary Exorcist," "Cinnabar Cloud," "Nebula Echo," "War on Ruins," "Circus Night," and many, many more.
  • Plenty of wigs are shown with side-ponytails, asymmetrical cuts, or dyed stripes only on one side.
• Flower Motifs: Many outfits in the game have flowers incorporated into patterns and adornments. Some examples include:
  • Roses are perhaps the most popular flower. Some suits that feature roses prominently include "Rose Maiden," "Rose Elegy," "Rose Oath," "Black Rose," "Magnificent Flower," "Crystal Rose," "Ice Blue Rose," "Thorny Rose," "Glossing Rose," "Flower of Magic Kiss," "Frost Rose," "Starlight Psalm," and "Sweet Spell."
  • Cherry blossoms feature prominently in the "Sakuramochi Rabbit," "Sweet Sakura," and "White Blossom" suits.
  • Lilies can be seen in the "Lily Fairy," "Casablanca," and "Prime" suits.
  • Peonies feature in the "Peony Pavilion" suit.
  • Lotus flowers are another popular choice. "Lotus Chant," "Lotus Picking," "Pure Lotus," "Snow Lotus," "Elegant Tune," "Flower Mirror," and "Water Lily's Promise" all feature lotus flowers in their designs and descriptions.
  • Peach blossoms decorate "Flourish Peach" and its recolor, as well as the "Peach Melody", "Peach Heart", "Fortune Spring Peach", and "Peach Prose" suits.
  • Orchid flowers feature in the "Orchid," "Ink Orchid," and "Orchid Chant" suits.
  • Camellia flowers can be seen in the "Gentle Toona," "Spring Camellia," and "Rabbits and Camellias" suits.
  • Poppy flowers adorn the "Poppy Fox" suit.
  • Higanbana flowers decorate the "Higanbana Princess" and "Hellish Bloom" suits.
  • The five icons representing a player's Stylist Arena level each incorporate the profile image of a beautiful girl and a flower: Intern (adeline or cherry blossom), Assistant (Chinese bellflower), Senior (sunflower and red rose), Expert (white lilies), and Queen (purple roses). The suits "Ballad for Adeline," "Sunny's Windowsill," "Prime," and "Starlight Psalm" are based off those icons and incorporate their respective flowers.
• French Maid Outfit: The "Chocolate Housemaid" outfit plays the trope straight with a frilly dress, cuffs, thigh high stockings, heels, and a ruffled headband. Assembling at least part of the outfit (even the unevolved pieces) is necessary to defeat Neva in story 5-5 and commission request 2-5, in which she is forced to model a similar maid outfit (the work of none other than Royce).
• Goldfish Scooping Game:
  • Referenced in the "Fireworks Fair" event of March 2018 — the "Goldfish Girl" and "Miss Goldfish" suits are based on the game, with item names like "Joy in Fishtank" and "Catch Goldfish."
  • Also referenced in the "Reclusion Socks*Epic" component of the "Solitary Exorcist" outfit, with a description reading "You want me to play fish hunt. How could I possibly play such childish game?" (The rest of the items in the set describe the heiress of a family of famous exorcists enjoying a summer festival.)
• Happy Holidays Dress: Starting in December of 2017, holiday-themed items have been released through the in-game store/ made available for crafting/ put up for purchase in special limited edition packs/ made available through Holiday events every year. Examples include:
  • The "Christmas Fantasy" recharge suit, released in December of 2019. The "Dreamy Christmas" dress is red and white, decorated with starts and snowflakes, and the recharge includes a posed version of the suit that makes it look like the doll is climbing down a chimney.
  • The "Warm Christmas Eve" suit, which included the red-and-white dress "Holy Night Carnival" and a sleigh loaded with presents as an accessory.
  • The "Colorful Christmas" suit. This suit included a ballgown in a bright blood-orange colored skirt, decorated with a motif of Santa's sleigh and reindeer in a forest.
  • The "Reindeer's Blessing" suit, with the "Splendid Christmas" dress — a poofy white mini-dress wrapped with gold ribbon and decked with strands of golden ornaments.
  • "Christmas Tree" and "Christmas Adventure" (part of the "Christmas Adventure" suit), consisting of a short green dress and a white coat decorated with golden embroidery, red ribbons, star-shaped spangles, bells, and sprigs of holly.
  • "Christmas Skirt", a red jumper skirt decorated with snow flakes and a small cut-out of a Christmas tree on the chest.
  • "Deer and Shooting Star", a red dress with a winter-y landscape printed on the skirt, featuring one of Santa's reindeer.
  • "Happy Surprise", a short dress decorated with bows and printed with images of decorated gingerbread cookies.
• Head Pet: Several outfits include Hair Ornaments or Hats that resemble animals:
  • "Panda Brawler" contains the Head Ornament "Cute Baba," shaped like a panda draped over the doll's head.
  • "Miss Lobster" contains the Head Ornament "Unique Me," shaped like a full-sized lobster.
  • "Spring Fantasia" contains the Veil "Fragrant Karma," taking the shape of a wide straw hat with a basket of Easter Eggs and bunnies balanced on the head.
  • "Aria of Night" includes the Hair Ornament "False Feather," taking the shape of a tricorn cap with a festively dressed kitten sitting on top.
  • "Fluffy Gentleman" includes the Hair Ornament "Kitten Hat," a top hat with three rambunctious kittens tussling on the brim.
• High-Class Gloves: Gloves are treated as their own category of accessory by the game, and many fancy dress outfits include gloves as part of the suit:
  • Starsea", the "most precious dancing dress in all Miraland," cannot be crafted without the matching purple gloves — the lace at the top of the opera-length gloves is identical to the lace on the bodice of the dress, elevating the glamour of the strapless gown.
  • "Tender Puppy" is an outfit that represents what a sophisticated lady taking her poodle for a stroll might wear, and it includes a pair of long black gloves.
  • "Dancing Queen" is an outfit with evening gown and a pair of fingerless, opera-length gloves with delicate filigree worked into the design.
  • "Anna's Party," a V-Privilege suit containing a pink ballgown replete with ribbons & bows and matching gloves.
• Idol Singer:
  • The "Heart of Miracles" suit, obtained through evolving Reconstruction items, is the costume worn by twin sisters that are popular idols in Lilith Kingdom. It comes in pink and blue versions.
  • The "Sweet Superstar" suit from Apple Federation also features a bubbly pop star with a pink and black color scheme and some impressive twintails. (It can only be obtained by purchasing it in the time-limited boutique, with real money.)
  • The "Dazzling Idol" suit from Ruin Island is another bubbly pop star, with an aqua and black color scheme with yellow accents and a recolor version in yellow and white with light blue accents. Both feature rabbit ear headphone and a "mechanical music rabbit" companion.
  • The "Raspberry Pink Rock" suit is an idol suit with two-tone pink and purple Mega Twintails and a microphone.
  • The Vocaloid collaboration suits "Magical Mirai 2018", "Magical Mirai 2017", "Magical Mirai 2016", and "Magical Mirai 2015" are all suits based on Vocaloid characters.
• Little Black Dress: Nikki's wardrobe has several dresses that qualify, such as Enchanting Muse and Thrill. The Flavor Text for Enchanting Muse claims it "makes you become the Enchanting Muse on the dancing floor."
• Magical Floating Shawl: Dozens of suits in the Cloud Empire gallery or else inspired by historical Eastern fashion are graced with these floating shawls, which generally indicate something otherworldly or magical about the wearer. This list includes (but is not limited to) "Blue Phoenix Messenger", "Brocade Jade", "Cloudy Player", "Crane Zitherist", "Deer of Net Moon", "Ephemeral Fantasy", "Floral Cove", "God of Wind", "Harmonic Lotus", "Moonlight Muse", "Nuptial Needlework", "Returned Swallows", "Sacred Kylin", "Trail at Faraway Night", "Watery Lord", and "Winged Dancer".
• Meido: Nikki's chocolate housemaid suit and its sweet household and household variants, maintaining a balance between cute and sexy, based on the player's styling skills.
• Miko: The "Intern Miko" suit depicts a trainee Shrine Maiden complete with hakama and paper shikigami.
• Naughty Nurse Outfit:
  • The "Angel in White" outfit consists of a mini-dress with thigh high stockings, pumps, nurse's cap, opera gloves, and a matching wig.
  • The "Sly Angel" suit, which is a slightly more... deadly take on this trope.
  • "Dazzling Heartbeats", a futuristic cyber-fairy-nurse costume featuring booty shorts and a form-fitting lab coat.
• Of Corsets Sexy: Pigeon Kingdom's designs love corsets.
• Palette Swap: Countless individual items and whole suits come with "Recolor" options, aka a palette swapped version that can be obtained by applying "Dyes" to copies of the original item. The "Rose Glow" Hell event (which first ran on the server in 2022) took it a step farther, including the two major suits "Sunset Glow with Song" and "Luna Ballad" with re-used assets. The "unposed" versions of the two suits are nearly identical (save for a few differences in accessories and makeups); the posed versions re-use the same skirt layer; and the background items include identical (if not for the recoloring) bejeweled moons and oversized butterfly ornaments.
• Parasol of Prettiness: Plenty of outfits include special poses that alter the doll's base to show her holding a parasol. They've become something of a hallmark of "Recharge Suits" (suits which must be purchased with real money, as opposed to in-game currency):
  • "Umbrella Memory", a Cloud Empire suit with a parasol reminiscent of the blue and white pottery style of China. Only available to players at V12 privilege.
  • "Banshee Momiji", a Cloud Empire suit with a ribbon-bedecked parasol. Only awarded to top 1500 players during the 2017 "Haunted Night" event.
  • "Demon Huntress", a gothic Pigeon Kingdom outfit with a frilly purple and black parasol. A recharge suit.
  • "Sweet Spell", an Apple Federation suit featuring a lacy magenta parasol decorated with roses and dripping ribbons of chocolate. A recharge suit.
  • "Oath of Flower Rain", a Fairytale Wedding Dress suit available during the recurring, wedding-themed "Happiness" event. The parasol is awarded for acquiring all elements of the suit, and is festooned with a gauzy, trailing veil.
  • "Pure White Love Song", the second wedding suit to have a parasol, also available during the recurring "Happiness" event. The parasol is a lacy number adorned with white roses, and can be equipped as both a handheld item and part of a posed suit.
  • "Miss Bone", a spooky, skeletal dress with a matching parasol constructed from bones and glittering spider webs. Available during the "Ghost Gathering" event, this suit includes both a posed and un-posed version of the dress & accessories (allowing players to equip the parasol as a handheld item, which makes it compatible with all skintones).
  • "Bath in Starry Sky", a festive yukata patterned with stars and moons, accompanied by a similarly decorated parasol. Available during the "Fireworks Festival" event, the suit includes both a posed and un-posed version.
  • "Gifty's Adventure", a playful suit based on the little yellow birds (called "gifty") that deliver attribute scores during matches, it includes the item "Gifty Parasol" as an unposed, handheld item. Originally released as a login gift during June of 2018.
  • "Shiba and Croak" makes the umbrella part of a pose attached to the dress. The outfit is frog-themed, and the umbrella is decorated with a little picture of a waving frog. The outfit was available during the "Caelum et Ocean" event of July 2018.
  • "Sakura in Dream" is a recharge suit with a posed dress, depicting the doll holding a traditional Maigasa parasol. Additional parasols appear are Foreground and Ground items.
    "The sakura festival has come again. In the flower rain, she holds an umbrella, waiting for the one to come."
    —Item Description, " Sakura Dream"
  • "God of Wind" is a $100.00 recharge that was available during 2020, including a large red parasol as a "Head Ornament" accessory.
  • "Magic Gleam ♥ Minnie" is a limited edition suit only available during the 2020 Disney collaboration event. It includes both a posed suit with a large, brightly colored parasol as a separate Handheld accessory and an unposed suit with a parasol as a Background item.
    "It snowed this morning. I walked outside with an umbrella adorned with beautiful sakura patterns."
    —Item Description, " Blooming Sakura ♥ Minnie"
  • "Flower Lyric" is a recharge suit that can only be purchased in Hell Event recharge packs. It includes a posed coat holding a flower-bedecked parasol with glittering hydrangea, carnations, and roses.
  • "Budding Spring" is an event suit that includes a full-body pose with a large yellow parasol decorated with trailing, cream colored flowers.
  • "Pragaya Princess" was initially available during the 2018 "Yokai World" event, but later came back for crafting. It includes a large Foreground ornament in the shape of an umbrella monster.
  • "Monsoon Mood" is a recharge suit that includes a posed coat with a decorative parasol (reminiscent of a teru teru bozu) resting on the doll's shoulder.
  • "Nimbus" is a recharge suit that was available in 2020, including both a posed dress holding a crystal-bedecked umbrella and an Handheld umbrella item.
    "The slender girl passes by. Her pace is light, and the rain splashed on her transparent umbrella is crystal."
    —Item Description, "Melody of Light"
  • "Summer Song" was released as part of the "Blossom Messenger" pavilion event in 2024. The suit includes a posed coat holding a delicate parasol decorated with lace, ribbons, and gossamer butterflies.
  • "Blue Longing" is the sole posed dress available in the Crystal Garden store. It includes a blue parasol hovering over the doll's outstretched hand, reminiscent of a global hemisphere.
  • "Bright Galaxy" is a downplayed example — the suit includes a parasol as a handheld item, but it's closed and positioned at the doll's side. The suit is given freely to all new players.
  • "Peach Melody" is another downplayed example — the outfit includes a pink parasol as a handheld item, but the parasol is closed and held at the doll's side. The suit was originally given away as the prize for reaching a server-wide goal in mid-2017, but became available for crafting in early 2018.
  • The ultimate evolution of Bobo's Dreamweaver Spirit from her "Sunflower in Long Night" quest is a pink parasol called "Sunflower Blossom." It pairs with the unofficial suit that players collect while completing the "Sunflower in Long Night" story line, which has a pink-and-brown lolita theme.
• Phantom Thief: Sapphires the Phantom Thief from the Pigeon Kingdom, whose outfit can be obtained with Association Coins. He is described as an "elegant and handsome" Sharp-Dressed Man who "is in fact, a thief!" The outfit comes complete with Calling Card.
• Pit Girls: The "Track Blazer" and "Blue Fantasy" suits from the "Ultimate Race" event both take their cues from this fashion, though the costumes are meant to represent a racecar driver and a technician. "Track Blazer" includes a strapless leotard over thigh-high stockings and heels paired with a helmet and racecar background item, while "Blue Fantasy" incorporates a cropped tube top and miniskirt paired with a headset and placard.
• Playboy Bunny: The "Bunny Girl" suit (which is required to pass Story 4-12). There's even a "Bunny" tag designation, but only three items in the game carry that tag (two of them being the bunny ears and bunny leotard from the aforementioned "Bunny Girl" suit).
• Pom-Pom Girl:
  • Apple Federal's "Sugar Cheerleader" suit. The item descriptions relate how each piece of the outfit contributes to the cheerleader's energy and good looks. "The ball in yellow and white is just like a little sun. Devote your passion to cheers!"
  • Lilith has it's own "Symphony Star" cheerleader outfit, accompanied by little teddy bears waving their own matching pompoms. The item descriptions tell the story of a girl named Kylier, who was "...born cheerleader. She was the cheerleader of the biggest unlimited race event when she 15."
• Requisite Royal Regalia: The "White Queen" suit from the "Dream of Black and White" event (inspired by the chess piece) has almost a complete set, including an ermine cape, crown, scepter and Pimped-Out Dress.
• Sailor Fuku:
  • Recurring opponent Timi first appears wearing a white and blue fuku with black socks. School uniforms are a recurring theme with her: she later shows up in a Western uniform and an outfit that resembles Chinese school outfits.
  • The Store has a fuku blouse that the player can purchase for Nikki. In fact, it will be needed at some point: the Chapter 5 sidequest featuring Royce and Neva has a stage requiring "Navy" tagged items. The player must assemble a whole fuku outfit (including said blouse) and have Nikki model it against Neva's Royce-designed sailor clothes.
• Small Girl, Big Gun: "War in Winter" wears a uniform that makes her look short (with the oversized jacket and miniskirt) while wielding what looks like an anti-materiel rifle longer than she is tall.
• Star-Spangled Spandex: A milder example, present in both the "Cosmos Cloak" veil and "Moonlit Cloak" scarf. Likely the intended effect of the lining of the "Star Sea" dress, and the skirt of the "Ablaze Night" dress.
• Steampunk: Pigeon Kingdom has several outfits inspired by the costumes of this genre: "Age of Steam", "Bold Adventurer", "Bell Tower Phantom", "Nikki Mechanical", "Wings of Steam," and the ever-so-creatively named "Steam Punk." There's also the North Kingdom suit "Memory Gear."
• Tengu: One of the outfits available in the Youkai themed Haunted Night event. It has the wings, mask, and other traditional accessories (like geta, spell tags, and a magatama necklace).
• Tron Lines: Common among the futuristic-looking Ruin Island outfits and accessories:
  • Special mention goes to the "NR-001" suit, which looks right out of TRON: Legacy.
  • The tattoo accessories "Quick Lightning" and "Thousand Rivers into the Sea" paint glow-y lines all over the doll.
• Tutu Fancy: The "Red Shoes" ballet set includes slippers with ribbons longer than Nikki is tall. That's impractical even for walking, nevermind dancing.
• Whole Costume Reference: Some outfits in this game are pretty clearly based on characters from other works or real life couture:
  • The Western Treasure dress is almost identical to the gown worn by the queen in Edmund Leighton's 1901 painting The Accolade.
  • The Grace dress is identical to the gown worn by Marie Antoinette in the painting Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress◊.
  • The Pigeon Manor dress and Her Majesty coat are lifted directly from an 1890's tea gown designed by Charles Frederick Worth/ the House of Worth.
  • The Chic Plaid dress is an exact copy of a Yves Saint Laurent dress from the Mondrian Collection of 1965, which celebrated the works of painter Piet Mondrian.
  • The "Leno Red Satin" dress and its recolors (Caved Magnolia, Yellow Bud, and Teabowl Satin) are nearly identical copies of the dresses worn by a grouping of female musicians◊ appearing in the 12th Century CE re-creation of Gu Hongzhong's "Night Revels of Han Xizai" scroll painting (the original, now lost, was dated to the 10th Century CE).
  • The Peacock Pavane suit and pose are direct references to Chinese dancer Yang Liping, whose signature 'Spirit of the Peacock' routine and white costume have earned her the nickname "The Peacock Princess of China."
  • The Singing Phoenix suit and pose are a reference to the sumptuous costumes worn by the dan actor playing a female role in the 1993 film Farewell My Concubine.
  • The Ruin Island suit "War On Ruins" is heavily inspired by Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, and the Future Girl·Green hairstyle is ̶i̶d̶e̶n̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ suspiciously similar to her hair.
  • "Fluffy Gentleman" from the Lilith Kingdom looks suspiciously like Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Some suits, like the Stripe Gentleman and Maple Fox suits, seem to be this. Stripe Gentleman is a male suit for a female model (as indicated by the name), where Maple Fox seems to be a male suit (based on the description for the hair, the name of the hat, the build of the top, and the masculine makeup that goes with it) but features feminine-looking boots.
• Wind-Up Key: Several suits with a puppet theme include oversized wind-up key accessories:
  • The "Heart of Puppet◊" suit includes a large wind-up key as the "Wings" accessory, "Perpetual Motion."
  • Though it's partially obscured by a massive bow, the "Eerie Nightmare◊" suit includes a large golden wind-up key as part of the suit's "Tail" accessory, "Depraved Life."
  • "Starwish Concerto" offers the "Sparkling Song" wind up key accessory as a "Tail" item. (There's also a wind-up key on the "Inspired Variation" Hair Ornament, wind-up keys adorning the stuffed animal musicians ("Jovial Concerto" and "visionary Duet") that accompany the doll, and a crank on the "Stage Infinity" Ground item that makes it look like a music box.)
  • The "Celestial Symphony" suit includes the unposed "Intricate Heart" and posed "Creative Vision" wind up key accessories.

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