Over the last few years, my social media feed has been flooded with talented people showcasing their handmade clothing and cosplays. It’s a skill I wish I had, mostly because I love the idea of having a closet full of my own fantasy ballgowns. But sadly, I lack patience, coordination, and the ability to thread a needle, which I’m fairly sure are all necessary attributes for sewing. So, when I heard about Dressmaker, an indie game currently playable as a prototype from Elyaradine, Raithza and Oomsarel about, well, making dresses, it sounded like a good alternative.
Art and Atmosphere
Artwork is always the first thing that attracts me to a game. If the world I’m about to spend the next few hours in isn’t pleasant to look at or doesn’t fit the theme and narrative right, I’ll never enjoy the game as a whole.
Dressmaker does not have that issue. In my brand-new dress shop, I was greeted by soft candlelight, a soothing cup of tea, and a fuzzy little cat — not too different from my real-life setup! The character designs are unique and full of personality, so it was unexpectedly easy to get a sense of what they’d like to wear.
In my in-game sketchbook, I could take as much time as I needed to design each garment. For Rose, a polite and reserved librarian, evidently with a preference for green, I kept the dress simple and modest. Although I was a little limited by the available styles, there were tons of accessories and varied fabrics I could use to give the garment some flair. I ended up with a green argyle frock with a white bow at the collar and daisy-shaped buttons down the bodice. Not exactly Chanel, but Rose seemed to like it.
Stylish Sabotage
In the developer’s description of Dressmaker, they explain that your dresses can be made to “satisfy (or sabotage!) customers.” I’ve never been the kind of person to make the cruel choice in games; somehow, the sight of a distressed NPC causes me genuine sadness, and I end up running back to a previous save. However, the idea of allowing myself a little more room for mischief in Dressmaker got stuck in my head. Anyone who’s ever worked in customer service will know there’s always someone you wouldn’t mind sabotaging, and in Dressmaker, that someone is Prudence.
Truthfully, I’ve met people a lot worse, but anyone who uses a dead bird as a fashion accessory is immediately in my bad books.
I knew I wanted to mess with Prudence, but I didn’t want my reputation to suffer as a result. My compromise was to choose the right fabrics and get a high enough quality for a good rating, but ultimately create an absolute monstrosity.
There you go, Prudence. Now, you can attend the ball as Dollar Tree Morticia Addams.
Delightful Designs
Once I’d worked through the prototype’s available customer orders, I had a go at making a few dresses without any requirements. I spent some time experimenting, but I wasn’t really happy with any of my designs. In an effort to find some inspiration, I had a scroll through the game’s comment section, where I immediately realised how much I’d underutilised its features.
Players have created masterpieces from the bare bones of what the game is planned to become, using the accessories and appliqué to push the boundaries of its current capability. One player covered entire sections of their dress in dusty-pink flowers, so neatly that it looks like a pre-made fabric.
My attempts weren’t nearly as impressive, but I did end up with a dress or two that I’d be happy to wear, if they actually existed.
Therapeutically Repetitive
For each dress, the most time-consuming part of the process was cutting out the necessary sections of fabric. There was a pleasant simplicity to it that reminded me of something we did in my elementary school. Just before Christmas, the teachers would hold a few “lessons” where we all got to design our own holiday cards. Once they were finished, if we managed to convince our parents, they got sent off to a company and printed professionally, so we could give them out as proper cards. They were always horrifically ugly, but it was more about the activity than the result. I rediscovered some of mine in the attic last Christmas and gave one to my friend, who proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes laughing at nine-year-old me’s clumsy attempt at a cotton-wool snowman.
Playing Dressmaker reminded me of that time, when entire afternoons would go by making paper snowflakes or sculpting animals out of Play-Doh. There’s something about making things, whether it’s physically or virtually, that brings out an easy sort of enjoyment we rarely have time for as adults. If you do anything creative at all, there’s always an underlying pressure for it to be impressive, because you can’t fall back on the excuse of being young, or enjoy the fake gasps and smiles of admiration you used to be able to take as genuine.
Crafts, design, and decoration-themed video games are actually a really effective combatant for this — a way to be creative without worrying about wasted money and materials, or whether or not someone else will think it was worth the time. Obviously, most games will have some kind of rating system or level requirements, but you don’t always have to take notice of them. The Happy Home Academy in Animal Crossing: New Horizons has never given me a good ranking, but that doesn’t make me change all my furniture around — I like my Cinnamoroll sofa just where it is, thank you. In games, you can just create; no presentations, no outside opinions, no pressure.
Final Thoughts
Cozy LivesI’ve had a really good time with Dressmaker, and it’s definitely earned a permanent place on my “games for when I’m stressed or bored” roster. The full game can be wishlisted on Steam, though the release date is still to be announced. In the meantime, the prototype is free to download on itch.io.
So, if you’re in need of a little artsy relaxation, grab a cup of tea, pet the kitty, and get dressmaking!
Dressmaker is developed by Elyaradine, Raithza, and Oomsarel, and published by Cozy Lives. Release date: TBA.
Darcy loves anything fantasy, sci-fi, or adventure. Her dream is to finish her degree and write her own fantasy book, hopefully squeezing in a few games as she goes. She’s a big fan of games where she gets to fight with cool swords, befriend cute animals, and get lost in the story.
You can read more of her writing on her website: https://darcymaunder.com/
