Dress to Impress (video game)

In Dress to Impress, players compete in an online lobby where they are presented with a theme and given 360 seconds to assemble an outfit that fits the prompt. Players can select up to 18 articles of clothing from a large in-game showroom and customize their model's appearance, including makeup, skin tone, and nail color. The colors of accessories and clothing can also be modified. When the timer expires, players showcase their outfits by walking down a catwalk, where other participants rate each look on a scale of one to five stars. Players also have the option to compete as a duo, presenting their outfits alongside a partner. Players are subsequently ranked based on the total number of stars received, with the top three participants featured on a podium at the conclusion of the round. Players also have personal ranks based on their performance in rounds. Achieving higher ranks unlocks additional items. Additionally, a freeplay mode is available, allowing players to style outfits without time constraints or competition. Certain updates introduce limited-time events, where completing specific quests rewards players with exclusive items. Beginning with the Halloween 2024 update, these events have taken the form of story-driven quests centered around Lana, the game's nail technician, and feature fantastical themes, including elements inspired by Greek mythology. Clothing from the game takes inspiration from several real-life fashion styles such as boho-chic, preppy, Lolita, Harajuku, and streetwear. The game's themes also include fashion styles, Internet aesthetics, and topics like "back to school", "maximalist/minimalist", "costume party", "mall goth", "Y2K", "formal", and "album cover". Users can unlock additional items in the game by buying them with in-game dollars or Robux or by entering limited time codes. ==Development==

Dress to Impress was developed by a Roblox user known mononymously as Gigi, who has stated that she began developing the game at 14 years old and was 17 years old in 2024. It was officially released on Roblox on November 11, 2023. It soon became one of the fastest games, or "experiences", to reach one billion visits on the platform. In early August 2024, users could collect "Shines", collectible items that were part of Roblox's "The Games" event, within Dress to Impress. Later that month, it was announced on the Dress to Impress Twitter account that a collaboration with Charli XCX, which would add in-game items, emotes, and patterns based on her 2024 album Brat, would begin that month. The collaboration led to the game having over 651 thousand concurrent players soon after its release, its highest amount . On December 14, 2024, Dress to Impress released their Christmas update, alongside a limited code item available only for three hours after the game's update; this resulted in the game crashing during the first minutes of the update due to the mass amount of players attempting to enter so they could redeem the code. The game also released an advent calendar with an exclusive reward for users that played daily. In February 2025, the game released a Valentine's Day update, including an updated and more organized map. In March 2025, Dress to Impress released the beta of their new gamemode, Style Showdown. In August 2025, a collaboration with American singer Lady Gaga was announced and was scheduled to take place on August 16–23, 2025. The event is based on her 2025 album Mayhem. The event feature a new theme where players would be able to receive items related to Lady Gaga. The event included a style showtime mode based on one of Lady Gaga's songs, titled Zombieboy. Lady Gaga also acted as a judge in some of the competitions. However, the live event was controversial for being less of a meet and greet. In November 2025, a collaboration with the 2025 film Wicked: For Good was announced and took place between November 8-29 of 2025. This update included new themes, items and a pose pack. ==Reception==

Kelsey Raynor of VG247 wrote that Dress to Impress was "pretty damned good" and "surprisingly competitive". Ana Diaz, for Polygon, wrote that "the coolest part" of Dress to Impress was that it "gives young people a place to play with new kinds of looks", calling it "a wild place where a diversity of tastes play out in real time every single day with thousands of players". For The New York Times, Jessica Roy wrote that it was so successful due to its ability to be played on any computer or phone and its "highly customizable model" differentiating it from other Roblox games and "appeal[ing] to the fashion-obsessed". She also credited it with diversifying the age range of players on Roblox. Pose 28 also became part of another TikTok trend in September 2024 in which users hit the pose while showing off their real-life outfits. Dress to Impress also became a popular choice among video game livestreamers, including singer Madison Beer, Pokimane, Kai Cenat, and CaseOh, by August. YouTuber James Charles also played the game in several videos of his. At the 2024 Roblox Innovation Awards, Dress to Impress won the awards for Builderman Choice of Excellence, Best Creative Direction, and Best New Experience. ==References==