In the last few weeks of the vacation, my Instagram reels were suddenly flooded with a phenomenon I was previously entirely unaware of: Dress to Impress. Intensely popular with young teenagers, Dress to Impress is a game (on Roblox of all platforms…) that allows you to create outfits that conform to various themes, from ‘plant monster’ to ‘Greek goddess’. For someone that grew up on Friv and Girlsgogames (if you know you know), the idea of returning to my days of online dress-up was appealing. The concept of the game reminded me of a similar one I played on MovieStarPlanet, simply named ‘Dress Up’.

Trying to overcome the sheer embarrassment of signing up for a Roblox account at the big age of nineteen, I decided to give the game a go. Of course, all in the name of fashion! When you open the game, you are greeted with a bright display of colour and walking mannequins building their outfits.

The game my character opened into was themed ‘club’. With five minutes to prepare suitable attire I decided that, in the wake of Brat summer, bright neons were the way to go. I struggled to figure out how to put on items or change the colour at first, and I ran out of time for shoes in my first game. But hey, maybe that adds to the true rave vibe. If you don’t lose your trainers you haven’t partied hard enough — right?

“Yet, round after round passed, and despite the fact I felt my efforts were significantly improving, I struggled to reach the unattainable podium”

After the adrenaline of your choices wears off, the figures are transported to a catwalk, where each character can be shown off using a variety of emotes. I discovered ‘club jump’ just in time for my turn. Players rate each outfit on a scale of one to five stars, but voting is relatively stingy, with even winning outfits not getting much more than twenty stars overall.

I finished a modest fifth out of eight in my first attempt, but was hopeful for more. Yet, round after round passed, and despite the fact I felt my efforts were significantly improving, I struggled to reach the unattainable podium. Instead, the top spots were repeatedly stolen by identical versions of the same thing. For a ‘Valentine’s day’ theme, the same skirt was featured in all three outfits on the podium. Quickly, I realised that originality was not necessarily rewarded. Even when I created the Little Mermaid for a ‘mythical creatures’ round, my explanations in the chat were met with mild online bullying. Safe to say those players were not a fan of Ariel.

“Whether it be tactical, cliquey voting, or the relatively limited options for actual creativity, to me it feels like there is just something missing”

Becoming increasingly frustrated on my quest for Dress to Impress success, I tried a new technique — tactical voting. No matter how much I enjoyed an outfit, I would continually rate it with one star. Suddenly, I started to repeatedly place in the top four, with far less outfit effort than I had previously been attempting. After all, the singular room in which you can choose clothes becomes progressively more boring.

However, the heights of my victory had not yet been reached. Inspired by the ‘Horror Movie’ theme, I recreated the blood-stained Carrie. Somehow, my hard work and innovativeness were finally rewarded. I placed second with a whopping 17 stars.

What is it though, that makes this game so popular? With 3.4 billion total visits, the acclaim of Dress to Impress is undeniable. It was only released on Roblox in November 2023 and is one of the fastest Roblox experiences to reach one billion visits.

Compared to other games on Roblox, the avatars in Dress to Impress are much more human-like. Also, the clothes that are featured feel up-to-date with current fashion trends, incorporating various styles like ‘y2k’ or ‘skater’. There are also codes which allow you to unlock extra items that don’t already exist in the game’s dressing room, adding an element of novelty.

Despite all this, for me the game still seems to fall a little flat. Whether it be tactical, cliquey voting, or the relatively limited options for actual creativity, to me it feels like there is just something missing. Perhaps 19 year old Cambridge students are not quite the target market, but nonetheless Dress to Impress feels as though it would become tedious pretty fast. Filled with initial glamour and style, it quickly becomes repetitive. Not quite a fashion disaster, but far from a fashion success, Dress to Impress fails to match the expectations created by its immense online hype.