Do you remember what you did on the internet before social media? I surely do and it has a lot to do with fashion brands and dress-up games. Here is my first time with DKNY and Stardoll.
Before all of Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, youtube, etc there were still plenty to do online. Sounds unbelievable but I feel like I spent only a bit shorter time online before all of the social media wonder begun, in comparison with the hours I spend online now.
If you were a teenage girl in 2002+ you might get some flashbacks to a marvelous website that was, and luckily still is, called Stardoll.
Stardoll is an online dress up game or platform for girls (mostly) and boys. You could dress up a great number of celebrities, create your own self, decorate your apartment, create your own wardrobe, shop clothes and make some same-minded friends.
I remember me and my cousins would all sit together in front of my old ass computer and argue over which dress looks the best on Paris Hilton. It was simple pick and drag each piece of clothing over the screen mechanism to see which outfit looks the best on the figurine of your favorite pop star, actor, athlete, or any other celebrity. Yet it was so addictive.
As the Stardoll kept getting better the outfits improved as well.
I created my own self and named her something along Japanessess (with so many sss), as I was in the middle of my anime phase. I was fascinated by the Japanese culture and to be fair still am. Japan is still number one on my bucket list.
I choose the best clothes for my doll and I spend embarrassingly long hours improving my virtual self. I even paid actual money from the very poor pocket money I was receiving at that time from my parents, so I could have even better fake clothes.
Spending real money on online dress-up games sounds ridiculous but at least my English was getting better and I made some friends whom I don’t remember now at all. I still can’t believe I made my dad actually put his credit card detail on a game. That’s how convincing I am.
With each update, Stardoll was getting more and more fashionable. They even introduced actual designers’ pieces and collaborated with designers on this platform, including one and only DKNY.
DKNY is an abbreviation for Donna Karan New York.
I believe the title is pretty much self-explanatory. It’s created by designer Donna Karan and it was created in New York City.
DKNY is the purest personification of the word elegance. There is no doubt that the black and white combo is the soul of classic style. The combination of black and white with sharp edges, strict lines, minimalistic features is what DKNY is all about. It’s a stable combo and DKNY has been betting on it since 1984.
DKNY is what you imagine when you think about NEW YORK.
Even in an online dress up game, DKNY stood up above all of the other brands and not only in its price. DKNY clothes had way better graphics than the rest. Obviously, we all wanted to be dressed up in DKNY.
Here is how the DKNY shop like:
The little star next to the prices meant that you had to be a superstar to be able to buy those. AKA you had to have real money on your account. The superstar memberships could be bought for some time periods and the cheapest one was like 5 $ for a month but the fake money ran out way sooner.
If you were a superstar and you owned DKNY wardrobe you basically won at Stardoll.
Congrats your fake doll is prettier and richer than the rest.
It was so compelling and so unhealthy promoting unnecessary competitiveness among your girls. So much drama cuz if you managed to find some hot boy doll and after few messages, you might actually get your first fake boyfriend. Only to find out he’s been cheating on you with some other dolls. I guess heartbreak was unnecessary in this dress up game.
It all sounds so ridiculous now but it was golden times. The passion for fashion stayed with me since then and DKNY will always have a special nostalgic place in my heart.
Always remember where you came from. No matter how odd it sounds.
Now that I am older and I can spend my own money on real-life DKNY clothes I enjoy scrolling their website very much. The website’s aesthetic greatly reflects the DKNY style as well and I would recommend checking it out.
Enjoy 30% off your purchase with code: DKSUMMER
I remember my daughters playing this! And not knowing how to react when their outfits became skimpy. I wonder how the experience has shaped their fashion sense.
Oh my god, I finally found someone who remembers Stardoll! Haha, I left round about when they started making girls pay diamonds for hair extensions but, back then, it was glorious. Did you ever join the “Stardoll Academy” forums where they’d roll play as if they were in a real school?