Dolled up in full-face makeup, giant hoop earrings, and a slouchy sweatshirt, YouTuber-turned-pop star Madison Beer exudes effortless glam as she chats with viewers of her Twitch stream.
“You guys changed my life. You changed my entire world. And… I’m referring to Dress to Impress.”
Beer has emerged as a star for a new generation of fans. She got her start covering songs on YouTube in the 2010s, and now she’s become an icon of a younger generation. Beloved on TikTok, her followers flock to fan cams of her concerts, and her official profile has more than 20.3 million followers. She’s distinguished herself as a Grammy-nominated artist big enough to go on an illustrious world-tour. She does all this, but she also occasionally streams on Twitch, which is where her fans told her about a dress-up game on Roblox called Dress to Impress.
Dress to Impress is a trendy new game published on Roblox. In it, people compete against others online to create the best outfit for a specific theme. In the game, players scramble around sleek wardrobes as they try on clothes, makeup, and accessories. At the end of a set time, everyone shows their work in a fashion show where people vote on the best outfits. Thanks to streamers playing it like Case “CaseOh” Baker and Kai Cenat, the game has become a breakout hit and introduced quite a few new players to Roblox.
“[Chat] told me what it was and I was like, ‘Mkay, this is probably gonna be silly and I’m not gonna love it. Because when I play games, I’ve been into games that are, in my head, exciting. Boy was I fucking wrong,” Beer said. “Literally this game… has done something to me. I feel like it’s healing for me. I feel like it’s healing parts of me that miss playing with Barbies. I don’t know, it’s just something that is so fun.”
While some streamers might play it ironically, the game has given many online — including Beer — the opportunity to reclaim an interest in dress-up games in a genuine way. In a similar way that the Barbie movie allowed viewers to unabashedly love pink and its hyper-femme aesthetics, Dress to Impress is allowing people to unabashedly express love for a dress-up game that could be written off as being a kids game for girls.
In the comment section of a viral TikTok capturing the clip of Beer, a person affirmed her message.
“I understand what she’s trying to say about the game being healing. It’s why I really like it too. I’m a boy and never got to play with Barbies and other dolls so [Dress to Impress] kinda heals that for me,” user DDS34 said.
I, for one, am glad Beer is talking about her experiences. And it’s not just because people relate to her. Games like Barbie Fashion Designer were massive commercial successes, but don’t always get credit for their influence on video games more broadly. It’s only so often we get to celebrate dress-up games, so it’s lovely to see a popular figure doing so for Dress to Impress.
