When I sat down to play Fashion Forward I was at a bit of a loss. I don’t understand much about feminine fashion, and I couldn’t tell if the looks I put together were actually cute or just well-drawn. So I asked my good friend Katie Mayo to play the game with me. She’s a “casual gamer” (she plays Scrubby Dubby and Bejeweled Blitz regularly), a fashion buyer, and plans to pursue a degree in fashion.
Fashion Forward
Train Jam 2016
Emily Price, Sela Davis, Kim McAuliffe,
Caitlin Scannell, Sai Timmermann,
and Izzy Gramp.
Free
Al: What’s your favorite part of fashion? Why are you interested in fashion?
Katie: It’s almost universally something that people participate in. Some people care about it, and some people don’t. Some people reject it, but it’s everywhere. Whether it’s runway or cultural or street, it’s everywhere.
Al: How often do you play video games?
Katie: (skeptically) Like serious video games? [Laughs] I guess that’s your answer right there.
Al: The premise of the game is that you, as the player, are a stylist, and you’re going to help out these two people who are afraid of shopping.
Katie: (after a few minutes of playing) I’m trying to play this game, and it’s full screen, and there’s sound. “Hi, Finn!” There’s a character and their name is Finn … I like that Mimi [the curvier character] gets a lot of crop tops. I just don’t get the point of the game. It seems like [the two characters] have the same dialogue. I guess you’re supposed to look into their eyes and see if they like it.
Al: What do you think of the art? And the fashion?
Katie: The art is cool. The fashion is cool. I like that they give the bigger girl crop tops. [The fashion industry] tells bigger women not to wear crop tops, but that’s bullshit.
Al: I’m curious what you think about the actual clothing. Would you buy these looks for your store?
“I like that someone is credited for snacks.”
Al: Do you think fashion can make people feel better about their bodies?
Katie: Yeah, for sure! But I think it can also make people feel worse about their bodies, especially if you’re not someone that the fashion industry caters to. It can also be deceitful; there’s a lot of vanity size going on. You’ll feel great at one store and crappy at the next, because at the first store you were a size two and at the second store you were a size six. There should really be an industry standard.
Al: So, there are two characters: Mimi and Finn. What did you think of the character design?
Katie: Awesome! I think it was great that they had a curvier character, and a non-binary character, and that one was a POC.
Al: Overall the game is very simple. You just choose outfits. What do you think of the whole experience?
Katie: I think that game was silly. It felt unclear as to what the objective was, I thought there would be more after you picked the outfits.
Playing games with newbies is always a fun experience, as I’m sure Katie watching me try to cultivate a sense of personal fashion is amusing. This was a great indie-made experience and got me thinking about an industry that typically baffles me. We had fun playing together and talking about the outfit options. Thank, Katie for the interview, and thanks Fashion Forward for a cute experience!
