Top 10 Dresses for Dressing Your Draik

Yep, for all of us Draik lovers out there, I have complied a list of the top 10 dresses that I think look the best for dressing your gorgeous Draik. Keep in mind that these are based on looks only – many may be expensive, whether in NP or NC terms (item estimates below are at time of writing)! But for your pretty Draik, it's worth it, isn't it?

10. Iscas Dress

This soft, flowing dress is an NC item that was released in July 2010 and was obtainable until July 2011 by activating the Isca Key Quest Token. It has now been retired (i.e. no longer buyable at the NC Mall). It can, however, still be obtained through NC trading. At the time of writing iscas dress is worth around 5-6 caps*, making it still a common and affordable item.

Iscas Dress sits well on a Draik – its delicate buttons hang, sparkling, off a Draik's shoulders and the flowing skirt covers the bend in the Draik's legs well. Its fluid shape does indeed give an impression of being underwater! Iscas Dress works especially well with the base colour of water, faerie, maractite, ice, jelly, pirate, royalboy and silver Draiks. Popular items used with iscas dress include isca wig (NC item, 20+ caps), isca handheld plushie (NC item, 1-2 caps) and pretty tropical lagoon background (NC item, buyable in NC Mall for 200NC).

9. Sweetheart Ball Gown

This adorable pretty and pink gown is an NC item that was for sale in the NC Mall for a limited time in February 2008 and 2009. It is currently trading at 3-4 caps, making it a very affordable and often overlooked option. If you are going for a valentine or girly-charm look, don't forget to try on this dress!

The sweetheart ball gown has cute sparkling buttons on the shoulders and a gorgeous sweetheart neckline. Its puffy skirt radiates out to give a very full, ball-gown look, with adorable pink frills to finish off the edges. It works well with the base colours of pink (!), royalgirl, eventide, grey, plushie and rainbow. Popular items paired with the gown include the gorgeous tower princess wig (NC item, buyable in NC Mall for 150NC), the delicate pink valentine parasol (NC item, 6-8 caps), and pink mountain and clouds background (NC item, 30 caps) or pink peony field background (NC item, 1-2 caps).

8. Garden Tea Dress

This soft, refined dress is an NC item that was sold in the NC Mall for a limited item as part of the Garden Tea Superpack in April, 2009. It is, however, re-released in (usually the spring) mystery capsules every year, keeping its value at a modest and affordable 5 caps. As its name suggests, this dress is a must-try if you are planning a garden and/or tea theme!

The dress has a high-neckline and a delicate yellow and pink flower pattern throughout. It has a cute bow at the waist and covers the Draik's legs entirely with a soft lace-layered skirt. It works well with the base colours of plushie, chocolate, desert, eventide, island, spotted and yellow. It is often paired with the curly white wig with bow (NC item, 4-6 caps), and other pieces of the garden tea superpack including garden tea parasol (NC item, 5 caps) and garden tea background (NC item, 4 caps).

7. Prissy Miss Snowflake Dress

This angelic crystal-blue dress is an NC item that was sold in the NC Mall during December 2007. Although that was 5 years ago this dress continues to be on the cutting-edge of winter fashion, currently trading at 6-8 caps.

This dress is a must-have for winter. All its edges are sewn with a delicate faux-fur, as pure white as the snow on Terror Mountain's peaks, and as soft and fluffy as a baby snowbunny. It has sparkling snowflakes set against a crystal blue fabric, and a velvet blue-grey lace bow at the waist to finish it all off. It covers a Draik completely from neckline to toe, including both arms – a must have feature for winter! – but manages to do so fashionably, without making the wearer seem like a giant ghostkerchief.

It works wonderfully with the base colours of faerie, ice, cloud, eventide, ghost, grey, pirate, snow, silver, water and white. It works best paired with a glamorous snowflake wig (NC item, 6 caps), holiday town background (NC item, 3-4 caps), and many wintery, snowy wearables.

6. Blue Polka Dot Dress

This cute little number is an NC item which was a gold prize in the JubJub Power Bounce game for early summer 2011, and is now retired, although it was re-released in the gem jubjub power bounce suitcases in spring 2012. It currently trades at 3-4 caps.

This dress radiates playful, carefree youth. It has an asymmetrical white broach at one shoulder, a sweet V-neckline, descending down into a puffy polka-dot blue skirt with lacy underlay. It is completed by a broad white belt which helps define the waist. It works well with the base colours of royalboy, cloud, electric, eventide, faerie, ghost, pirate, starry and water. It is often worn in conjunction with the equally girly flower circlet wig (NC item, 3-4 caps), cloud castle background (NC item, 2-3 caps), cloud staff (NC item, 3 caps) and constellation wings (NC item, buyable for 250NC through the starry NC fortune cookie at the NC Mall).

5. Altador Cup Support Gown

This elegant gown is an NC item which was recently introduced to Neopia, and was available as a prize from the Altador Cup VII VIP Lounge NC ticket on June 6, 2012. Its trade value at the time of writing is still uncertain due to it being a fairly new-released item, although this author would estimate it to be currently around 2-3 caps.

This dress exudes elegance – it has a high, classical neckline with gold-trimmed short sleeves. This descends into a full skirt which is layered with the colours of the AC teams, separated by beautiful gold silk trimming and white pearls, and finished off with a grey-blue pleated hem. It is just perfect for those formal occasions – a ballroom event to celebrate an Altador Cup victory, perhaps? It works perfectly with the base colours of desert, brown, gold, island, plushie, spotted and yellow. It works well with the famous Altadorian wig with gold ribbon (NC item, a whopping 60 caps due to its popularity), or for a less expensive alternative, MiniMME6-S2 Golden Flower Wreath Wig (NC item, 6 caps); elegant ballroom background (NC item, 12-15 caps), or for a less expensive alternative, the backstage ballroom background (NC item, 2-3 caps).

4. Fyoras Collectors Dress

This alluring and feminine dress was a recent release, and was the monthly collector's item – the 3rd collectible in the Questing Faerie's Finest Collection, released during May 2012. Its current trade value is around 3 caps, although this will almost certainly increase due to the dress's popularity.

The dress is light and fine, with a satin purple band at the neckline, then flowing into a delicate, wispy gown before being finished at the hem with another thin satin purple band. Like the faerie queen for whom it was named, it simply exudes elegance and powerful femininity. It is perfect for base colours such as royalgirl, purple, pink, chocolate, white and even Darigan. It is worn often with perfect hair wig (NC item, 3-4 caps), fyora collector's staff (NC item, 8 caps), the stunning New Year's in Faerieland background (NC item, an equally stunning 60 caps due to its popularity and downright gorgeousness), or for a less expensive alternative, wish on a star background (NC item, 8 caps).

3. Elegant Draik Dress

This opulent dress is an NP wearable specifically designed to be worn by a Draik. And a classy one at that! It was released in September 2011 as a r92 – its rarity means that it currently has an estimated price of 640,000nps!

While this may be a lot of money, this elegant dress is worth every cent. Being designed specifically for Draiks, it sits perfectly on a Draik, with a lovely V-shaped neckline descending into gorgeous, refined silk folds. The soft blush of its peach colour is complemented perfectly by a crisp, leafy-green shawl, embroidered beautifully on the outside with gold and white thread, which hang off a Draik's arms, and descends the full length of the skirt. This dress is suited for base colours such as woodland, eventide, white and shadow. It is nicely paired with the equally feminine healing springs collectors wig (NC item, 6 caps), a class shenkuu handheld fan (NC item, 2-3 caps), and spring path background (NP item, around 20,000nps).

2. Spyder Web Dress

Claiming the silver prize is the darkly elegant Spyder Web Dress. It was originally released as part of the spyder web superpack in October 2008, however it is re-released every year in the (usually Halloween) mystery capsules. Its continued popularity 4 years after its initial release means that it currently trades at around 15 caps.

Many customisers claim that the cheaper, buyable dark princess gown (200NC, buyable in the NC Mall) is a perfect alternative for the spyder web dress. However, on Draiks, the differences in the two dresses stand out, and the spyder web dress is the preferred option. It has a lovely, black satin neckline and a corset-like purple-black upper-body, which then descends into a wide, firm but full skirt. A lacy, spyder-web like overlay sits on top of the dark-purple and black skirt, which gives the dress its name and much-admired appearance. In contrast to the dark princess gown, it does not have sleeves, which gives it clean-cut lines, and its full skirt, which covers the entirety of a Draik's lower body, gives the dress a firm elegance that is difficult to find in other dresses.

The dress works perfectly with the base colours of Darigan, purple, Halloween, eventide, skunk, shadow and zombie. It is nicely paired with spooky spyder top hat (NC item, 5 caps), spyder web gloves (NC item, 5 caps), and haunted mansion background (NC item, 20 caps), or for a cheaper alternative, spooky portrait hall background (NC item, 6-7 caps).

1. Butterfly Dress

Claiming the gold prize as the most stunning, elegant and versatile dress for Draiks is the butterfly dress. This beautiful pink, purple and black dress was released in the NC Mall for a limited time in September 2009. It is fantasically well-designed and works well on almost all species of Neopet, not just the Draik. As such, its value is an equally fantastic 30 caps, and increasing all the time.

The time, effort and money that is needed to obtain this dress is well worth it, however, as if you don't already think your Draik is the most beautiful in Neopia, once she has been fitted with this dress, you will. The butterfly dress really lives up to its name – the upper body has delicate swirls and patterns, with a neckline cut just like the wings of a butterfly, and just as vividly coloured in deep pink and purple. The skirt is similary detailed, with folds overlapping each other just like the wings of butterflies, with a gorgeous black detail along the 'tip' of each 'wing'. The dress is finished with a delicate black lacing along its hem. It covers almost entirely a Draik's lower body, leaving just enough length for a refined pair of matching slippers to be on show.

This dress works well on any Draik who wants to be beautiful – suggested compatible base colours include chocolate, Darigan, royalgirl, eventide, pink, purple, white and shadow. It is often paired with the equally refined and rare altadorian wig with gold ribbon (NC item, 60 caps) – a cheaper option is silk wig with flowers (NC item, 4 caps). In terms of backgrounds, it is often paired with stunners such as New Year's in Faerieland background (NC item, 60 caps), New Year's in Shenkuu background (NC item, 40-45 caps), or for a cheaper option, something like whimsical garden background (NC item, 6-8 caps) will do just as nicely. Some nice handhelds to consider are paper lantern staff (NC item, 35 caps), or for a cheaper option, fyora collectors staff (NC item, around 8 caps).

So there you have it! The top 10 dresses for dressing your Draik. Of course, these are not the only dresses available – there are many, many other options available, whether NP or NC. These 10 dresses are just my opinion, and everyone has their own style. The important thing is to never stop discovering all the never-ending options that are available to us as Draik owners. So to all Draik owners out there – happy customising!

*A brief explanation of the NC trading's "cap" system: all retired NC items' values are measured through what is known as the "cap" system. Historically, a "cap" represented a 250NC mystery capsule that could be bought at the NC Mall. No one knows why items' worth were measured in terms of mystery capsules, but like all systems of exchange, there needed to be a commonly accepted unit of account, and the capsule was used. Nowadays, 1 "cap" is around 200NC, which is the cost of a gift box mystery capsule, a much sought after mystery capsule as it gives out the gift boxes needed to trade. If you don't want to get bogged down in the details of NC trading, just remember that 1 cap is approximately equal to 200NC. So if you wanted to trade for a 5 cap item, there are two ways that you can hope to obtain it. Firstly, you can have 1000NC and offer to buy things adding up to 1000NC in the mall and trade them for your desired item; or secondly, you may have other retired NC items adding up to 5 cap value themselves, which you can trade for your desired item. For more details on the precise details of NC trading, please visit the Neocash Neoboard and ask for help! We are all very friendly people.