Pose 28, toxic themes and Lana lore: Exploring Gen Z’s obsession with Roblox’s Dress To Impress

By Malavika Pradeep

Published Aug 5, 2024 at 04:44 PM

Reading time: 4 minutes

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Images courtesy of TikTok

If there’s one game that hosts younger millennials, Gen Zers and Gen Alpha alike, it’s the multiplayer online platform Roblox. Earlier this year, TikTok was flooded with voice chat influencers like Aohi and Linkboii roasting and trolling other users in Mic Up servers with their unique mannerisms. Our unhinged FYPs were then gripped by a specific dress-up game that has since inspired real-life pose recreations, makeup inspirations, controversial themes and a recent influx of male streamers including CaseOh and Kai Cenat on the scene.

Enter Dress To Impress, the viral fashion experience best played with your baddies. Gathering billions of visits since its creation in November 2023, the game has given Gen Alpha some well-overdue outfit inspirations and Gen Zers anger management issues. From ‘Pose 28’ emote spamming to problematic themes like ‘Apology Video’, here’s everything you need to know about the hottest Roblox game of 2024.

Released on 11 November 2023, Dress To Impress (DTI) is a fashion gameplay where players style their avatars according to a certain theme and impress others to earn stars and climb through the ranks. The game begins with users picking a random theme at the start of each round. They are then given approximately five minutes to sort through clothing, accessories, makeup, hairstyles and nail art—which are arranged in dedicated sections throughout a lobby—to assemble an outfit that best reflects the theme.

When the time is up, the avatars walk down a runway to showcase their creations and strike different poses. Other players can then vote for their favourite styles on a scale of one to five stars. The top three outfits with the most votes ultimately win the round and earn ranks like ‘New Model’, ‘Fashion Maven’ and ‘Runway Diva’, alongside in-game currency.

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A post shared by 💠 Dress To Impress ~ ROBLOX 💠 (@dresstoimpress.robloxx)

At its core, Dress To Impress is designed as a classic dress-up game which stimulates creativity. Not only can players layer different pieces of clothing to create new silhouettes but they can experiment with unconventional prints and textiles. In fact, the game has backed the rise of a dedicated genre of virtual influencers or ‘DTInfluencers’ who share moodboards, styling tips and codes to unlock new clothing and accessories across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

Roblox’s aesthetic mashup of nostalgic games like Habbo Hotel and Second Life also backs its popularity among younger millennials and Gen Zers alike.

Perhaps the first real-life influence of Dress To Impress on Gen Zers was the iconic list of poses available for players to choose from on the runway. I’m specifically talking about ‘Pose 28’ which features avatars placing their legs shoulder-width apart and pushing their pelvis forward as they lean back by interlacing their fingers.

Starting in May 2024, the avant-garde pose became Gen Zers’ go-to for marking personal milestones like prom and graduation ceremonies. Set to the OG theme song of Roblox’s Fashion Famous, the trend even saw fashion influencers spamming the emote to showcase their outfits.

In July 2024, several fashion influencers also started recreating iconic Dress To Impress outfits and, most puzzlingly, its native makeup looks with exaggerated lashes and ombré lips. Gathering millions of views, some fans also went on to voice their preference for flawless ‘Roblox makeup’ which makes them “look like a cutie and a baddie at the same time.” However, the trend has also amassed its share of criticism and roasts for peddling insecurities among Gen Alpha and making them look “easy to draw.”

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A post shared by Joni Sann (@notjonisann)

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A post shared by Sabrina Star (@sabrinastar5)

Given the involvement of Gen Zers and their love for creating extensive lores like Gnomes vs Knights from scratch, Dress To Impress is infamous for its ‘Lana lore’—the horrific backstory of the designated in-game nail technician, Lana. In her diary, the seemingly ordinary Non-Playable Character (NPC) pens how her anger and mistreatment has led her to seek revenge. A hit list of nine DTI players is also placed next to the diary. It’s alleged that players would receive realistic toes and fingernails in the game upon clicking on the diary or target’s list.

With new Easter eggs added with every update, it’s worth noting that the game has truly mastered the art of engaging multiple generations by unpacking their unique zeitgeists.

However, being a fashionista and impressing a crowd of clueless Gen Alpha and fellow brain-rotten Gen Zers is easier said than done. With VIP game passes in the mix, the experience has truly turned sour for many players.

Themes are central to the Dress To Impress gameplay. These range from mainstream aesthetics like royalcore, coquette and Y2K to colours, activities and moods like heartbreak and sadness. Alternatively, players can purchase custom themes with in-game currency called Robux. In the past, this feature has led to some impressive themes like Genshin Impact.

But on the other end, there have been some questionable and bizarre entries like the now-removed ‘Period Clot’ and ‘Apology Video’. The latter has seen players problematically recreating the outfits worn by YouTuber Colleen Ballinger, known online as Miranda Sings, in her controversial ukulele apology song as a response to grooming, harassment and doxxing allegations.

American YouTuber and filmmaker Shane Dawson has also been a recurring obsession for DTI players—particularly his dishevelled look in resurfaced clips from his Shane and Friends podcast. In the video, Dawson essentially justified paedophilia after joking about his Instagram conversation with a “sexy” six-year-old cheerleader. The YouTuber has gone on to make more apology videos in light of racist skits and the sexualisation of Willow Smith when she was only 11 years old.

Additionally, themes like ‘Childhood Stories’ have also witnessed Gen Zers trauma dumping on fellow players. While this attributes to Gen Z’s distressing coping mechanisms, it’s worth noting that the game is also played by Gen Alphas who can be as young as 14.

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In multiple Reddit threads, Roblox users have further criticised the game’s glorification of toxic body ideals among the younger generation. “It has two very hyper-feminine or masculine body options with no variations for other heights, weights, muscle masses,” noted one Redditor.

“The guy is super buff and the girl is petite—they’re both just that ‘perfectly gorgeous’ with unrealistic body types,” the user went on to write. “Also none of the male clothes work on female bodies and none of the female clothes work on male bodies. Not to mention the lack of androgynous clothing options or body types.”

The game has also been subjected to controversies surrounding its recent influx of male streamers like Kai Cenat and xQc following the viral footsteps of American YouTuber CaseOh. Although CaseOh’s gameplay and styling skills are genuinely impressive, there has been a discourse that the game has become the new ‘meta’—a trend that’s guaranteed to get views—among male streamers. At the same time, some internet users criticise CaseOh for discrediting the female players who first streamed the game.

Despite the growing list of controversies underlining the game, Dress To Impress has undoubtedly evolved into an intergenerational cultural icon. As the dress up game continues to nourish users with style inspiration, it’s worth remembering that its target audience also includes impressionable Gen Alpha minds—or rather what’s left of them after succumbing to trends like Skibidi Toilet.