From Fit-Check To Bit-Check™- Roblox’s No. 1 Fashion Game
A new era for getting fits off.
To understand the power of Roblox’s “Dress To Impress,” we first need to reflect on the phenomenon of the “fit check.” Starting as a grassroots streetwear movement in the early 2000s, small communities of enthusiasts used early social media platforms and forums like MySpace and Flickr to “get a fit off” among their peers. These communities grew into businesses, with in-the-know hashtags like #hypebeast and #snobshots bootstrapping the rise of global fashion platforms like Hypebeast and Highsnobiety.
What was perhaps most interesting about the fit check was its democratic nature. Previously, showing off an outfit on a big stage was reserved for glossy magazine spreads and closed-door fashion runways. To play on the pop cultural stage of dress-up, you had to be one of the glitterati. When the fit-check emerged in the early 2000s, participants were rewarded for taste and curation over status or expense. As Instagram and TikTok have risen to prominence, the phenomenon has only amplified, birthing new communities from the likes of Throwing Fits to Footballer Fits. At its ultimate form, The People Gallery from Maurice Kamara is on a mission to “unite the world one fit at a time,” profiling celebrities like Willem Dafoe and everyday folk who catch Kamara’s eye on the streets of New York.
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From Fit-Check To Bit-Check™
So what’s next for the fit-check? Roblox’s “Dress To Impress” may well be the answer. If the fit-check was born to democratize fashion and become one global game of dress-up, we are now entering the era of the bit-check. The bit-check takes the foundations of fit-checking (community and shareability) and literally gamifies it. While we’ve seen grassroots examples of the bit-check taking place in MMO’s like World of Warcraft, Everquest and Runescape over the years - Roblox is the bit-check’s watershed moment, existing at the inflection point between games and social media. The game “Dress To Impress” is Roblox’s most pertinent example of this. Consider these numbers (Source: Roblox, MetaKey):
• Total Visits: 767M
• Active Players: 60K
• Daily Average Visits: 2M
•Average Session Length: 16 minutes
![Dress To Impress 💖 [UPDATE] - Roblox](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb8825bb-ad8f-43d4-8c40-802badae68ae_768x432.webp "Dress To Impress 💖 [UPDATE] - Roblox")
With most items existing on the platform for free, DTI offers the lowest barrier for entry to “getting a fit off.” The fit-check not only requires a minimum investment in a device and a rotating wardrobe, but once you’ve covered these expenses, you are also at the mercy of the algorithm when uploading. The bit-check only requires a device, and while DTI has a ranking system (from “new model” to “top model”), you still have the power to be recognized on the same stage as everyone else.
How To Play Dress To Impress
In its most rudimentary form, DTI is a fashion show. Upon entering the game, you load as a faceless avatar. An outfit theme pops up above you (e.g. Prince or Princess) and you have 300 seconds to choose a look. During this time, you whizz through nail salons, beauty bars, clothing shelves, and racks to create your outfit. Within each of these are seemingly endless options to personalize looks, allowing for colour, pattern, and other detail changes that give players a truly unique look. After your time is up, you walk the runway, either on your own or as a “duo” — teaming up with another player to match your outfits. Whichever you choose, at the end of the runway, you stand in front of the panel (other players) and give a final pose. Your look is then rated out of five stars and the player with the most stars wins. Over time, as you gain points, you rise up the ranks and unlock more features.
The Cultural Impact Of DTI
The power of DTI’s cultural impact cannot be understated. On a social media front, DTI is not only a great barometer for TikTok fashion trends; it’s a legitimate and sustainable solution for keeping up with them. It stands in opposition to the toxic whirlwinds of fast fashion hauls and exclusive influencer gifting programs. Instead, if creators on DTI want to tap into cat-lady core, chef-core, or yuppie-core, it’s up to their imagination and the way they interpret in-game themes (not their bank accounts or social influence). This has given rise to an entirely new subset of creators, like Leah Ashe and Lana Rae, who have grown to five million-plus followers on YouTube for their savvy looks on DTI.
Meanwhile, DTI acts as a conduit to real-life events. In response to Fashion Week and the Met Gala, creators re-create the looks of different maisons and celebrities that caught their attention. The Met Gala in particular had the community buzzing, pairing different celebrities in “duo” mode like Lana Del Rey and Dua Lipa, expanding the narrative of the IRL event into moments of free-running fan fiction.
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Beyond the outfits, the poses on DTI have become perfect meme fodder for younger Roblox creators. The awkward and NPC-like nature of these poses has risen to cult status. Pose 28, in particular, is the game’s most iconic pose — where avatars put their hands behind their waists and thrust their hips forward. Graduates, prom kings and prom queens across the US have used their on-stage moments to execute the perfect Pose 28.
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While the fit-check itself will always play a role on social media, as games like DTI gather steam, the rise of the bit-check ushers in a new chapter. Bit-checking is not only a more democratic version of the fit-check, it’s a more sustainable and inexpensive way of doing so. As the Roblox generation graduates and starts to earn for themselves, it’s only logical to see a future where the bit-check comes ahead of the fit-check — testing new looks and styles virtually before committing physically. If this encourages buyers to be more discerning when buying in the physical world, without losing out on participating in the styles of now in the digital world, maybe there’s a more efficient way to deal with the TikTok trend vortex after all.