5 princess ball dress up ideas for your kawaii doll

Princess Ball is the theme where your doll trades her school skirt for a gown and walks out under red curtains and spotlights. It is the fanciest theme in the game, and it is easy to overdo. Pile on every shiny piece at once and the look turns into a costume box. Pick a few pieces that agree with each other and she looks like royalty.

Here are five princess ball dress up ideas that suit a chibi doll, why each one works, and a step-by-step routine for building it in Mochi Style. The same ideas help with any doll game, a drawing, or a real dress-up box at home.

What makes an outfit feel royal

Three simple rules turn a pretty dress into a ball look.

1. Choose one big soft colour. Lavender, pink or white should cover the largest piece, usually the gown or the skirt.
2. Add a touch of gold. Gold says "crown" straight away. A tiara, gold hair or gold shoes is enough. One gold piece is classy; three can feel loud.
3. Add one sparkly or magical detail. Wings, glass shoes or sparkling eyes. Princesses live in fairy tales, so one bit of magic finishes the outfit.

In Mochi Style the theme card at the top of the dress up room spells this out. For Princess Ball it shows three style words, Princess, Royal and Sparkle, plus a small heart that means "fits".

What the judges look for at the ball

When you tap Judge, three cute judges give stars, and each one cares about something different. Our guide to how the three judges score your look goes deeper, but here is the Princess Ball version.

• Miso the cat checks colours. The dress (or top and skirt), shoes, hair and headwear colours are compared with the theme palette: lavender, gold, white, pink and lilac.
• Pudding the bunny checks the theme. Items with a heart on their card fit the ball. That includes the Princess top, Tutu, Ball gown, Ruffle dress, Starlight gown, Mary Janes, Glass heels, Glitter boots, Tiara, Flower crown, Star clips, Cat-eye glasses, Angel wings, the Stage scene and even Sparkle eyes. About four heart items fill Pudding's stars.
• Bean the panda checks details. A hat, glasses, wings and a pet each count. The Stage scene adds more, and any pose other than plain standing adds a little too.

None of the pets carry a royal tag, but a pet still counts as a detail for Bean, so a bunny or kitty companion never hurts.

Five princess ball looks to try

1. Classic lavender ball gown

The Ball gown in its own lavender, with the Tiara in gold and the Glass heels recoloured white. Give her golden blonde hair and add the Angel wings. Pick the Stage scene and the twirl pose so the gown swings.

Colour pair: lavender and gold. Finishing touch: the Tiara, which is a theme item, a detail and a palette colour all at once.

2. Pink sugar princess

The Ruffle dress in pink, the Flower crown on top and the Mary Janes recoloured pink to match. Switch the hair to lilac so the head does not blend into the dress. Sparkle eyes keep the look sweet.

Colour pair: pink and lilac. Finishing touch: the Flower crown, a softer choice for a garden-party princess.

3. Ballerina princess (separates)

Not every royal look needs a gown. Put the Princess top on with its puffy sleeves, add the Tutu recoloured white, and finish with the Glitter boots and Star clips. It reads like a princess on her way to dance class.

Colour pair: lilac and white. Finishing touch: the Glitter boots, which carry the Sparkle word from the theme card.

4. Midnight royal

The Starlight gown starts as a deep night blue, which sits far from the ball palette. Recolour it purple and it becomes a royal evening gown. Add the Cat-eye glasses, the gold Tiara and the Glass heels for a grand, slightly mysterious queen.

Colour pair: purple and gold. Finishing touch: the Cat-eye glasses, a royal item that also counts as a detail.

5. Starter princess

Short on coins? Build a princess from pieces you may already own. Take a tee recoloured pale lilac, the Tutu in pink, and the Mary Janes recoloured pink or gold. Keep the Sparkle eyes, pick a pose, and you already have a few heart items. Add the Tiara and the Stage scene when you unlock them.

Colour pair: lilac and pink. Finishing touch: a pose. Twirl suits a ball, and it costs nothing.

How to build a princess ball look in Mochi Style

This routine works for every look above.

1. Check the theme card. Make sure it says Princess Ball. If not, open the theme sheet and pick it.
2. Look for hearts. Open Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, Shoes, Extras and the Face tab, and look for the small heart on item cards.
3. Pick the main piece and recolour it. Tap a swatch in the colour row to move it into lavender, pink, white or gold.
4. Recolour the hair. On a chibi doll the hair is the biggest shape after the dress. Gold, pink, lilac or a pale white all fit.
5. Add two or three details. A tiara or crown, glasses, wings and a pet. Heart items count twice: once for Pudding and once for Bean.
6. Choose the Stage scene and a pose. Wave, cheer, shy, hands on hips and twirl all count as a pose.
7. Watch her face. She makes wow eyes at sparkly pieces like the gown and the tiara, and pouts at an outfit she does not like.
8. Tap Judge. Collect your stars and coins, then try another look.

Common princess outfit mistakes

• Too much gold. A gold tiara, gold hair, gold shoes and a gold dress fight each other. Keep gold to one or two pieces.
• Forgetting the scene. The Stage scene is a theme item and a detail, so leaving the bedroom behind helps twice.
• Dark gowns left dark. The Starlight gown is lovely, but a deep night blue is far from the palette. A quick recolour fixes it.
• No magic at all. A plain pink dress is cute, but wings, glass heels or sparkle eyes make it feel like a ball.

Keep exploring

Royal looks use soft colours, so our kawaii pastel colour palette guide is a handy next read if you want to mix your own shades. For a cooler fairy tale, try the Mermaid Lagoon outfit ideas, which use the same three rules with sea colours.

When the look is done, photo mode lets you add stickers and a frame and save the picture, so you can keep a little royal lookbook.