How to unlock the Able Sisters tailor shop in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

To get all the hottest clothes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch, you’ll need to unlock the Able Sisters tailor’s shop.

To unlock Able Sisters, you’ll need to do a few other things first:

1. Help build the Museum. (Donate five creatures to Tom Nook, and then donate 15 creatures to Blathers.)
2. Help build Nook’s Cranny. (Donate 30 of each type of wood, plus 30 Iron Nuggets to Timmy and Tommy Nook.)

After Nook’s Cranny opens, Mabel the blue hedgehog will appear inside. From this day forward, she’ll appear on your island randomly to sell her wares in front of the Resident Services building.

While we’re not 100% sure what triggers Mabel’s desire to set up a permanent shop on the island. We only spent about 3,600 Bells on three items before she asked for help while on her fourth visit to our island. Other players report having her ask to move as early as their second visit, while others believe that that you need to spend more than 5,000 Bells. We’re trying to nail down this information and will provide exact details when we can.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

After she talks about opening shop, she’ll give you a plot to place. She won’t require any crafting materials, saying that Timmy and Tommy have donated her the leftovers from building Nook’s Cranny. Two days later, Able Sisters will open.

The Able Sisters opening allows you to buy way more clothes, and the selection changes frequently. You can even go into the changing room to try on all the clothes and buy multiple items at once. You can also share your designs on the clothing rack in the back of the store, and you may see your villagers wearing them.

Having the tailor’s shop open means you can share your custom designs using the terminal in the back of the shop, but you’ll need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to do so.

Switch Lite

• $200

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Nintendo Switch consoles are often sold out, but you can still pick up the handheld-only Switch Lite, which is perfect for portable gaming.

• $200 at Best Buy

Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.