Dressmaker: Will you be the next virtual Vera Wang?

I’ve always envied those who have the skills and knowledge to make or alter their own clothes, and I watch endless YouTube videos of people doing just that while I seethe that I’m incapable of doing so. So when I came across Dressmaker on Itch.io, I got very excited that I may be able to live out my haberdashery dreams, even if only virtually. 

Dressmaker, as it stands, is a prototype version of a game by the team at Free Lives, including Jonathan Hau-Yoon, otherwise known as Elyaradine over on Itch. The devs are hoping that eyes on this glorious little creation will help to find them a publisher. So, as a perpetual supporter of indie games and developers, let’s discuss why you should play this wonderful game. 

Design, create, deliver

In Dressmaker, clients visit the only dressmaker in town and put in their requests for the designs they’re hoping to have delivered to them. They each want different things, with category tags highlighted in their descriptions of dream dresses. Then, using the design book, you have to choose between various options to find the best combination that features those tags. 

You can change the style of the skirt, sleeves, torso, and collar, and each different design comes with different tags attached. Combining different parts that have the same tags boosts those tags in the overall design. It’s a pretty simple premise and not a new system by any stretch, but it’s pulled off particularly well in Dressmaker. 

Once you’ve nailed the design, you move over to selecting your fabrics, with everything from burlap to silk on offer. Each fabric also has associated tags. After cutting out the various template pieces, you move on to sewing the complete dress together. Easy, you’d think, but that’s where the real problems begin.

Dreams dashed

I have to admit, my dreams of being a megastar dress designer and haberdasher extraordinaire were very quickly thrown onto the floor and stomped on in a brutal way when it came to sewing. I found out very quickly that the quality of a dress is based solely on your ability to sew in a straight line, which doesn’t seem like it would be a problem for most people; for me, it proved to be a little problematic. 

I tried my best, but no matter what I did, the customers left with a snarky comment about their horse being able to do a better job (can I hire them?) or how embarrassing it would be to be seen in what I’d created. In hindsight, the issues may stem from my shaky sewing techniques, but I’m not entirely sure. 

Still, there is nothing more satisfying than revenge. After a while, I realized that things got a little more interesting when the same customer returned after being unhappy with the previous dress I’d painstakingly designed, and I used their return custom as a way to get some good old-fashioned revenge. 

I never claimed to be a saint, after all. 

Revenge is a dish best served ugly

Having realized that I’m probably not ever going to be the next Vera Wang, I decided to challenge myself in a different way: To design the ugliest dress I possibly could. Honestly, the dresses didn’t even end up being that bad, and I’m sure that if Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas had been my client, she would have adored my creations. 

The clients weren’t happy with the designs I actually tried to get right, but they still came back, so frankly, they only have themselves to blame for the monstrosities that they apparently wore to social events and nights at the opera. They didn’t have to wear them; after all, they could have gotten something off the rack. 

Dressmaker is available to download right now on Itch.io, and you can choose to pay as much or as little as you like for the pleasure of getting to play this adorable and enjoyable little gem. Stretch your creative skills and live out those haberdashery dreams, or go off the deep end and create something truly horrific.