Poupéegirl, was a Japanese avatar and fashioncommunity where users could dress-up their avatar, upload photos of clothing, earn website currency called "ribbons" to buy in-game clothing, and keep track of the latest fashion with the Fashion Dictionary. The name is a combination of the French word "poupée", meaning "doll", and the English word "girl." Poupéegirl was created in 2007 and managed by CyberAgent until it moved to Ameba Blogs in 2009. In addition to their social networking services, Poupéegirl released a line of licensed video games for the Nintendo DS, all published by Alvion and a short-lived Facebook game. On July 5, 2013, Poupéegirl announced a partial shutdown of their web services, including closing new registrations, terminating the pay-to-play jewels system, and putting an end to their dress-up releases. These changes took place beginning August 31, 2013. On February 27, 2015, Poupéegirl announced that the website would officially close on March 31, 2015.
History
On February 28, 2007, the website was launched and was initially managed by CyberAgent. However, on March 3, 2008, Poupéegirl, Inc. was officially established and extended services to mobile phones. In 2009, the website moved to Ameba Blogs. Poupéegirl briefly launched a Facebook application titled "Poupée Boutique" on July 21, 2010, which was then closed on November 18, 2010 due to administrative reasons. On July 5, 2013, Poupéegirl announced that the website will terminate some of its gameplay features starting on August 31, 2013. This included closing registration to new users, putting an end to releases on new items, and shutting down the pay-to-play jewels and friend invitation systems. On February 27, 2015, Poupéegirl announced that they would officially be closing the website on March 31, 2015.
Gameplay
The currency of the game is "ribbons", which can be earned by completing various tasks, including posting fashion items, logging in, dressing up avatars, and commenting on other users' photos. These ribbons can be used to buy clothing for avatars. Users can also obtain shells randomly to exchange for dress-up items. In 2009, the website implemented a new currency, "jewels", a pay-to-play system where some users are able to access clothing items for their avatar that non-paying users cannot. Jewel clothing items can be purchased exclusively with jewels during events or by bidding competitively for them at the Jewel Auction.
Closet
Users can post photos of actual clothing and accessories which other users of the website can view and comment on as well as create their own virtual closet. Fashion items can be categorized according to brand name and type. Every item has a yellow "Suteki" button. If a user gets many suteki rankings or comments, he or she is eligible to win ribbons.
Avatar
Each user has a customizable avatar, which they can dress up with clothing and accessories. The avatar, designed by Maminoir, was detailed to make it appeal to female users. Dressing up daily leads to earning more ribbons, with each daily dress-up recorded in a calendar on the user's profile. During events, the background of the avatar will change from a normal room. Occasionally, the website has a contest with a selected theme for the best dressed avatar, which leads to a ribbon prize and a new item. Poupéegirl has a marketplace where users can buy or sell their avatar's clothing. The website's mascot, Katharine, owns a shop that regularly sells clothing pertaining to seasonal styles or monthly events. Poupéegirl has also endorsed collaborations or campaigns with brand names and celebrities, allowing users to buy items for their avatar specially designed by them or based on real-life products. These include Coach, Kosé's Happy Bath Day Precious Rose line, Shiseido, Sanrio, Reebok, Louis Vuitton, Maybelline, Revlon, Kaela Kimura, Aya Hirayama, and Nozomi Tsuji.
Reception
As of 2009, there were about 500,000 registered users, 98% women and 35% living outside Japan. Many Japanese fashion brands appreciated its capability of promoting fashion goods through the website.
Merchandise
On December 17, 2009, a video game was released for Poupéegirl on the Nintendo DS and was published by Alvion, titled Poupéegirl DS. A second video game was released on December 16, 2010 in two versions: Poupéegirl DS 2: Sweet Pink Style and Poupéegirl DS 2: Elegant Mint Style. Completing certain objectives in all games allowed users to obtain secret codes that would unlock exclusive dress-up items for the avatars on the main website.
