Differences between Style Boutique 1 & Style Boutique 2

There has been a huge amount of changes made to the gameplay in Style Boutique 2 (also Style Savvy 3) and a number of features have been removed or altered from the previous installment. This guide will cover the major changes between the games and if the removed featured has been replaced by something else.

Fashion Quarter – this feature would’ve been the most amazing online component ever allowing us to create our own online boutique for other players to visit. But for some bizarre reason, it was removed even though you’d think a top notch online feature like this would be left in. The whole concept of the Web Shop was also removed and we are unable to purchase outfits designed by other players. These great features have been replaced by the option to enter MiiVerse contests, take photos with a friend who also owns the game over wireless play or download a Caprice Chalet room via a room code. More information on multiplayer here.

Glam image & the brand Miss Ribbon – glam (flirty in Style Savvy) apparently just isn’t in style anymore and the Miss Ribbon brand and glam image was removed from this game. Some of the Miss Ribbon items or similar looking ones can be found in brands such as April Bonbon or AZ-USA.

Money limit – big thank you to the game developers for allowing us to earn as much money as possible in the new game!! In the previous game, once you hit $99,999 the game wouldn’t let you earn anymore money and you would have so much money, you wouldn’t know what to do with it. In the latest installment, there is no limit! Not that I’ve hit and I’m over $460,000 so far.

Special limited items from the Exhibition Hall – in Style Boutique, on certain days you could buy limited edition items from different brands that were only available that day. Customers would run to your boutique demanding these items and you were in bad luck if you didn’t have them in stock. I enjoyed this feature as it added a level of difficulty stock wise and gave you a reason to visit the Exhibition Hall often.

Store assistant – the previous game gave you the option to hire a store assistant (male or female) whose only job is making jokes or talking about how busy business has been. I quite enjoyed dressing them up and experimenting with styles.

Nuances Magazine – this magazine featured information on the latest looks in fashion, hairstyles and who is the best boutique manager (you of course). You were able to buy outfits through the magazine and get an idea of what customers are looking for in regards to the latest fashion trends. A great feature of this was that you could purchase items before they were available from the Exhibition Hall. The magazine is no longer featured in the current installment.

Characters – some major NPC’s are not featured in this installment. MC Mode, the loud announcer from the fashion shows is no longer featured as is the fabulous Rococo.

Beautician and Hair Salon – Only one hairdresser and one make-up artist work at these shops now unlike previous games where a few NPC’s work there. The beautician also features a male character who works in the make-up lab.

Hairstyles – You can now choose a fringe option for your hairstyle and there is a wide range of styles to choose from. In the previous game, you were limited to the options available such as Long Wavvy cut that had the fringe included. The special hairstyles that could be requested in a certain style from the hair salon are no longer available. A detailed hair style guide is available here.

Make-up Brands – There was a few makeup brands available in the previous game and each had their own unique look. These have been done away with in the current installment and you now just chose from your colour palette. You can unlock make-up sets and use these to design your own sets. A detailed guide on unlocking make-up sets is available here.


Customer Requests – the customer requests are extremely repetitive in this installment. Before customers would come in and request an item that features a certain pattern, matches their shoes or they want to try a new style extremely different from their current outfit. In Style Boutique 2, once you complete a fashion show customers will only request outfits matching the fashion show theme so it gets a bit boring making outfits of the same theme for ages until you do another fashion show (which doesn’t take long). The design of your boutique will also influence what kind of image customers are after, but I found it doesn’t influence their opinion as much as it did in previous games.

Fashion Shows – In the previous game, you picked a model, created an outfit for them and did their hair and makeup. Then you completed against a bunch of other designers to see who had the best outfit and achieve a rank such as international. Fashion shows are nothing like that in this installment. You get to be the model yourself! You choose a theme and stage setting, pick an outfit, style your hair and makeup and then walk the runway. You can choose different actions and effects whilst walking the catwalk. Once finished, the game gives you a score out of five according to how well you matched the theme.

Men’s Fashion – Before male customers would visit your boutique to request an outfit and male fashion brands were available at the Exhibition Hall. This has all changed and Men’s Fashion is only available as a unlockable bonus feature and you can longer serve male customers at your boutique. More information on Men’s Fashion here.

Game Cycle – In the previous game, the game had its own time cycle and you went to sleep to wake up to a new day. Certain shops were open at certain hours and the game booted you out of your boutique at the end of the day. Style Boutique 2, like many other Nintendo games, runs off the 3DS clock. This makes is super useful when unlocking colours or locating make-up items.

Exhibition Hall Opening Hours – Before only certain brands were open on certain days and on Sundays, each brand was open and had sales. Now each brand is available to visit all the time and the Exhibition Hall is always open. Sales are no longer a thing sadly.

Brand Names – Some brand names have changed between games and may defer between Style Savvy (NA), Style Boutique (EU/AUS) and Girls Mode 3 (JPN). For example in Style Boutique, Streetflow was previously called Zip Line. A guide on all brands included in Style Boutique 2 is available here.

Stylist Cards – These are now known as your profile which is found by visiting the Caprice Chalet. You can alter certain parts of your profile and you will look at other players profiles when you have downloaded their Caprice Chalet room. You can no longer receive stylist cards via streetpass but players whom rooms you have downloaded will sometimes visit your boutique (they are a green coloured character).

Moonlight – There was a feature in the previous game where you had to collect moonlight from completing various tasks during the day to unlock things. You had to have a full moon to unlock anything and you got different amounts of moonlight from different tasks, i.e. winning a fashion show or serving a customer. This feature has been completely removed and things unlock now in the game just buy talking to NPC’s or completing simple tasks.

Customer stamp cards – A great feature that showed how many times a customer has visited your boutique and brought items. Each time a customer brought some items, a card would pop up with stamps showing how many times they have purchased items and what level they were, i.e. silver. This has been removed and you can check how many times customers have visited your boutique in the profiles list.

Sold Out Stickers – Why was this useful feature removed?? When customer purchased items from you, a screen would pop up showing what they purchased and a sold out sticker would be displayed on items that were the last one. I wish they had kept this feature in or changed it slightly because it would be useful to know when I run out of my staple items or items of a certain image.

Window Display – There is a great lack of customisation options for your boutique window. Before you could change aspects such as the floor, background and other elements such as window stickers. Now you just select a pre-designed one that doesn’t often match the theme you’re going for and you can place down two miniature items.

Decorating your apartment – It was always super fun to change the appearance of your apartment and buy new furniture items. Say goodbye to that idea because there is absolutely no option to alter anything in your apartment now. When visiting your apartment, you have four options relating to changing your appearance and it just shows your character looking in the mirror or strangely eating a crepe.

Furniture Store – This shop has been removed and you can no longer purchase items to customise your apartment. This shop has essentially been replaced by the miniatures shop that allows you to purchase miniature items to use in decorating Caprice Chalet rooms, your boutique and window display.

Wireless Fashion Show – a fun feature that allowed players to complete against each other in a Fashion Show. It utilised the wireless local play and was a great multiplayer feature. Still questioning why the multiplayer is so terrible in this game when features like this were included in previous installments.

Whoa! That’s a lot of changes. Thanks for reading all that everyone! Now here’s a picture of my character as thanks for reading all this text.

Brands

Style Boutique 2 features a wide variety of clothing brands that cater to all tastes in fashion. There's a style for everyone available from cute girly dresses to punk rocker flame boots. Maybe your style is a bit more baby-doll like with frilly dresses or maybe you're after some active wear covered in cool paint splatters. Whatever your taste is, there's a brand for everyone and most players have their own personal favourite. I adore Marzipan Sky as I love girly casual style clothing and cute prints. Customers will have a favourite clothing style as well and you can either tell by looking at their outfit (if you have memorised clothing styles in the game) or they will straight up tell you what they are looking for. Some customers may wish to try a new style and ask for something along the lines of bold, lively or chic.

There are 17 brands in Style Boutique 2 and each has a style focus, for example Marzipan Sky is primarily girly style and Brooke Bridge is preppy. Each brand will have a main style, but will contain pieces that fit within other styles, i.e. some Marble Lily items fit under both Baby-Doll and girly styles.

Visit the Exhibition Hall to purchase clothing items from the brands. The Exhibition Hall is divided into 4 levels and as you progress through the story line of the game, you will unlock new brands. Make sure to stock up on the brands customers to your boutique are after. For example, if you just completed a fashion show with the theme lively, customers will rush to your boutique to purchase a lively outfit. It's a good idea to purchase pieces to fit the theme and will make up a full outfit.

In the previous Style Boutique game, there was a brand called Miss Ribbon which focused on glam style. Unfortunately this brand has been removed in this installment. Pieces from the collection can be found in brands such as April Bonbon and AZ-USA.

Here is a useful list of all the brands available in Style Boutique 2 and the main style that the brand focuses on. The brand name translation is also listed for Girls Mode 3 as some brands are known under a different title in the Japanese version. Pictures are included to show examples of the brands clothing pieces.

April Bonbon
Stand out from the crowd with this fun brand packed with vibrant colours and youthful styles. The April Bonbon guide can be found here.
Main style: Lively
(Known as Cherry Berry in Girls Mode 3) 

ARIANNA
This luxury brand carries only the most upscale handbags, clutches and suitcases for your delectation. Great idea to not stock up on too many items from this brand unless you plan on focusing on a high class expensive boutique.
Main style: Chic
(Known as YLVA in Girls Mode 3) 

AZ-USA
The epitome of flashy fashion, complete with daring animal prints and striking designs. Get bold, girl! The AZ-USA guide can be found here.
Main style: Bold

Basic U
The definitive brand for everyday wear. Basic U is reasonably priced and offers clothes in a wide variety of colours.  I find I hardly ever encounter customers wishing to purchase basic style clothing, but it's always handy to just keep a few pieces in each clothing section in case. The Basic U Guide can be found here.
Main style: Basic
(Known as DOUBLE U in Girls Mode 3) 

Brooke Bridge
Coordinate tailored items with scholarly motifs and get preppy with Brooke Bridge's traditional revival! Customers who are students love this brand and a large amount of items in this brand fall under different styles. The Brooke Bridge guide can be found here.
Main style:  Preppy
(Known as Baker Bridge in Girls Mode 3) 

Chorale
A brand known for its elegant, feminine designs. Its sister brand Chorale Perlude sells purses and bags. The Chorale Guide can be found here.
Main style:  Feminine
(Known as flute f in Girls Mode 3) 

Chorale Prelude
Chorale's sister brand carries fine handbags, clutches and suitcases to embody a dainty, feminine style. The Chorale Perlude guide can be found here.
Main style:  Feminine
(Known as mezzo flute in Girls Mode 3) 

Enid Chen
The height of luxury clothing. Usually reserved for celebs and jet-setters, Enid Chen redefines glam. If you're looking to make some quick cash, wear a Chic outfit for a fashion show and customers will want to get their hands on some expensive items. Choose the most expensive items from the Exhibition Hall (i.e. shoes, pants, top) and combine them into an outfit with a ARIANNA bag to make a quick $5000+ in one shot. The Enid Chen guide be found here.
Main style:  Chic
(Known as HELGA in Girls Mode 3) 

Kanokoi
An exotic brand inspired by traditional Chinese and Japanese styles. Includes special seasonal items! This brand is home to the yukata clothing pieces and keep an eye out for new designs each season. The Kanokoi guide can be found here.
Main style:  Eastern

Marble Lily
A doll-like brand that makes you feel like a fairy-tale princess with fluffy pink petticoats and cute ruffled tops. If Loilta style clothing is your favourite, this is the brand for you. Make sure you buy a complete outfit because you don't want to be caught out with socks that don't match. The Marble Lily guide can be found here.
Main style:  Baby-Doll

Marzipan Sky
Marzipan Sky offers enchanting styles as sweet and delicate as the confection it's named after. I find this the brand most customers are after, I've played over 140 hours of Style Boutique and customers can't get enough of girly style outfits. The Marzipan Sky guide can be found here.
Main style:  Girly
(Known as La Chou Chou in Girls Mode 3) 

PURPLE MOON
A fanciful and imaginative brand. Mix and match pieces to create elaborate costumes, or just add a bit of whimsy to an outfit. Cosplay would be a good word to describe this brand but it doesn't come cheap, each piece costs $9,999 and customers aren't too interested in buying it often. Amiibo items obtained in the game will fall under this brand.
Main style:  Lively
(Known as FANTANIA in Girls Mode 3) 

Raven Candle
Dress up in elaborate gothic outfits inspired by Victorian fashion, covered with frills, ribbons and lace. This brand can be used in conjuction with Marble Lily as they both feature Victorian/Loilta style pieces and I find sometimes one brand has the socks I need to match the dress from the other. The Raven Candle guide can be found here.
Main style:  Gothic

Retrobeat
Get back into the 60s and 70s groove with kaleidoscopic colours and patterns. Go on - indulge in the fab! I like to call this the 'random' brand because the colours and patterns are so crazy but look kinda good when you put them together. This brand is also known for its jumpers that have pictures of bread on them. The Retrobeat Guide can be found here.
Main style:  Psychedelic
(Known as トルテポルテ in Girls Mode 3)

Soy
Free your spirit with the flowing fabrics and earthy colours made popular by this all-natural brand. The Soy Guide can be found here.
Main style:  Boho
(Known as Soy Milk in Girls Mode 3) 

Stage Dive
The embodiment of the edgy rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Perfect for bringing out your inner punk rocker! Stripes, stripes and more stripes. If striped clothing pieces are your thing, definitely check out this brand. The Stage Dive Guide can be found here. For a list of all the dresses available from the brand, please refer to the Stage Dive Dress Guide.
Main style:  Rock
(Known as Stray Cat in Girls Mode 3) 

Streetflow
Feeling active? Outdoors or in, this brand's sportswear line-up will put a spring in your step and in your style! Fun active wear that features random logos and words splattered all over it. The Streetflow Guide can be found here.
Main style:  Sporty
(Known as Upbeat in Girls Mode 3)

AR Photos

Style Boutique 2 has a fun feature that allows you to bring your character and others in the game into the real world through the use of AR cards.

Open your phone menu and select the AR Photos option. This feature works with the question mark AR Card that comes along with 3DS consoles. Once you are in the AR Photo menu, you can select how many characters you would like to use: Solo, Pair or Trio. You can able to use all the characters you have meet in the game and your own character. Select the option you wish to use and it will enter into the AR Photo screen. The AR cards work best in well lit areas with space around them as you will need to keep the AR card in focus. Place the AR Card down on a flat surface, point your 3DS at the card and the characters should appear. 

There are three options available in the AR Photo screen: select a character, select a pose and move your character. You can take photos of your character and these are saved to the 3DS and not to the game photo album.

Strike a pose!

Bugs & Glitches

Style Boutique 2 has a few known bugs and glitches. Luckily, they are pretty easy to figure out and resolve. Here's a list of the known bugs and glitches.

Tiramisu Tee Design
April Bonbon will request for you to design a t-shirt for their ‘sweetwear’ range inspired by tiramisu. The actual t-shirt you need to design is different from what she requests. Connie will ask for a t-shirt with yellow on top (for the cream) and brown on the bottom (for the sponge). However, if you make this design she will tell you the bottom base is the wrong colour.

Copy this colour combination for the recipe to success!

So it seems you need to make this design with a brown top base and yellow bottom base. I used Cocoa for the top colour and Yellow Balloon for the base colour.

Rainbow has disappeared
Rainbow has a habit of disappearing from the park sometimes. I haven’t encountered the glitch myself, but some players recommend to keep re-entering the park until she appears or reloading the game. Maybe check your boutique as well in case she’s hiding there or she may be waiting for you to visit her at a train station location like the Meadows. I know a lot of Japanese players seemed to encounter this glitch in the Japanese version.

Where are you disappearing to Rainbow?

Design motif unavailableA few players have noticed they are unable to find the character who provides them with the motif inspiration at the desired location mentioned by the brand representative. Exit the location and re-enter. Hopefully this will bring up a character with the exclamation mark that you need to talk to to obtain the motif.

Members of the Stylettos disappearing
A number of players (including myself) experience a bug where one of the members disappears and they are unable to find them. I had two of the Stylettos visit my Boutique, but the member Sapphire disappeared. I couldn't find her anywhere on the map. It seems sometimes NPC's will go missing for periods of time. It took 2 weeks for her to reappear. So if this happens to you, you may need to wait until the NPC reappears again at your Boutique. This seems to be a common problem for many players and the only solution is to wait for them to reappear.

Unable to trigger Tiramisu event
This one seems to happen to quite a few people. In order to unlock the colour Tiramisu for your colour palette, you must trigger the Tiramisu eating event at Cafetiere Close. Some players are incredibly lucky and the event occurs for them easily, but for other it rarely occurs. It took myself a while to trigger the event. To unlock the colour, you must talk to a NPC in Cafetiere Close who is the second character from the left of the screen. The character will ask if you wish to join them to eat Tiramisu. If you are having trouble trigger this specific event, I found the best trick is to save and reload your game and revisit the Cafetiere Close to see if the character is there. I saved and reloaded my game about 6 times before the event triggered.

Now you can take a photo of the Tiramisu cake to show Rainbow to unlock the colour!

Unable to trigger Redcurrant Cake event
This is pretty much the same as the Tiramisu event, it does not trigger for some people. To unlock the Redcurrant Cake colour, you must talk to the second NPC from the left at Cafetiere Close. Try the same trick as the tiramisu event if the character does not appear. Make sure to take a photo of the Redcurrant Cake for Rainbow.

Multiplayer

If you're lucky to find some awesome friends who also like playing Style Boutique, you'll be able to use the multiplayer feature. There's two options available in multiplayer, visiting a location for a photo shoot or visiting a showroom at Caprice Chalet. To access multiplayer, open your phone menu and select connect (make sure your wireless communication is turned on). Next, select 'Go Out' and the system will ask to invite friend or to visit friends.

Note each player must own a physical or digital copy of the game in order to use this feature. Multiplayer does not work with Download Play.

Visiting a location for a photo shoot
The first option allows you and your friend to visit various locations and take photos together. You can visit locations from the Train Station or Caprice Chalet rooms. Each person selects a pose and the game takes a photo. Here's some photos of our characters visiting the Meadows and Maple Crescent.

Visiting a showroom at the Caprice Chalet
The other option is visiting a showroom at Caprice Chalet. There you can recommend an item to your friend or they can pick an item of their liking. Next, you decide on a price. We had some fun seeing the highest amount you can charge for an item which is $19,999. You can recommend/buy up to 3 items from each showroom. This is a great way to collect more miniatures.

And that's pretty much it for multiplayer in Style Boutique. It’s a shame there isn’t more features to the multiplayer. We have a Nintendo Group in the capital city where I live and we have monthly streetpass meet-ups. Style Boutique has gotten some interest in the group and a few other members purchased it. Which is great because I’ve managed to get a few streetpasses!I thought the developers could've maybe put more features in the multiplayer like having a walk-off at the fashion show or bringing back the 'Check My Look' option from the previous game.

Men's Fashion

Men's fashion was featured in the previous Style Boutique game and unfortunately the option to have male characters visit your boutique has been removed from Style Boutique 2. It has been replaced with a bonus feature called Men's Fashion which is unlocked once you have completed the main story line of the game. 

To access the Men's Fashion section of the game, select Other on the game title screen and select Men's Fashion once it has been unlocked. Here, you can choose new outfits for the male characters who appear in the game. Select a character and you will be brought to the clothing option screen. When you change a male character's outfit, they will now wear that outfit in the game.

The following men's fashion brands are available:
Kanokoi - Eastern inspired styles.
Basic U - Basic clothing style.
Helion - Casual wear.
Dept. 9 - Bold style.
Markus & Corman - Chic style.

Characters

Style Boutique features a wide range of characters to meet during the course of the game. You will encounter the main characters during the initial story part of the game and these characters will continue to visit you and invite you to social events throughout the game. Each main character plays a certain role within the game, i.e. runs the hair salon or works at the Exhibition Hall. The female characters will visit the boutique and request an outfit that meets their style requirements.

The main characters in Style Boutique include:
Callie - Professional Model and local celebrity. (Style = Bold)
Sophie - A bright and curious girl who invites you to the city & has a special connection with you as your grandmothers helped bring fashion to the city many years ago. (Style = Girly)
Laurie - Manages the Exhibition Hall and helps out with fashion shows. (Style = Feminine)
Magda - A mysterious fortune teller. Can be found by visiting locations via the train station. (Style = Goth)
Rainbow - A colourful character who will unlock colours in the colour palette if you show her photos of different locations. (Style = Lively)
Xiaoling - A talented artist who is Callie's number one fan. (Style = Girly or Eastern)
Evie -  A famous stylist and mentor. (Style = Feminine)
Ricky - CEO and runs the Fashion Shows.
Adelaide - Ricky's older sister who has a powerful personality. (Style = Chic)
Sasha - Works at the Photo Studio and performs occasionally at the Live Music Club. (Style = Boho-Chic)
Zoey - Photographer at the Photo Studio and quite enthusiastic. (Style = Preppy)
Kristy - Manages the Miniatures Shop and loves all things cute. (Style = Lively)
Noor - Manages the Hair Salon and loves her dog Gustav. (Style = Sporty)
Arabella - Manages the Beautician with her brother and can be bossy at times. (Style = Bold)
Tarquin - A clever scientist who works at the Beautician with his sister Arabella who he is scared of. Unlock makeup sets by showing him items collected around the city.

Characters will sometimes visit you at the beautician or salon and request a new look. So if you aren't happy with their current hairstyle or make-up, you can either give them a look that suits them more or just give them the worst one you possibly can for fun. Whenever you attend a social event with a character, they will always request to take a photo. Here's some pics of my character hanging out with some of the girls.

Other characters to encounter in the game include:
Jewel - Runs the Terrace Cafe at Tropica Beach.
The Stylettos - Local girl group who each have their own unique colour and will request makeovers.
Gwen - Resident at Maple Crescent.
Jocelyn - Can be found at Meadow Walk.
Blake - Butler at the Mansion in the Meadows.
Leonora - Lives at the Mansion in the Meadows and never ages.
Ellie, Catherine, Trixie - Sisters that live at the Mansion in the Meadows.
Keisha - Manages the Live Music Club.
Callum - A handsome waiter who works at the Cafe.
Evan - Local musician known as the Main Evant.