diff --git a/apps/api/src/openapi.ts b/apps/api/src/openapi.ts
index 70b604d..cc6a1ba 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/openapi.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/openapi.ts
@@ -487,13 +487,8 @@ export const LegacyAvatarItemSaves = z.object({
 	customAvatarItemSavesByAvatarItemDesc: z.record(z.string(), CustomAvatarItemSave),
 })
 
-/**
- * `GET /outfits/me` — the outfit envelope. Either the outfit stored in slot 0, served
- * back exactly as it was saved, or (for a player who has never saved) the brand-new-
- * account form, where every field that would carry an outfit is null/empty and
- * `DataVersion` is 9.
- */
-export const OutfitsMeResponse = z.object({
+/** `GET /outfits/me` — the outfit stored in slot 0, served back exactly as it was saved. */
+export const StoredOutfit = z.object({
 	LegacyData: z.object({
 		SelectionsV1: z.string().nullable().describe('Semicolon-delimited legacy descriptors'),
 		SelectionsV2: z.string().nullable().describe('JSON-in-a-string: `{ selections: [...] }`'),
@@ -502,7 +497,7 @@ export const OutfitsMeResponse = z.object({
 		HairColor: z.string().nullable(),
 	}),
 	Selections: JsonArray,
-	DataVersion: z.int().describe('9 in the new-account envelope; whatever was saved otherwise'),
+	DataVersion: z.int().describe('The client’s outfit format version, as saved'),
 	CustomizationSettings: z
 		.string()
 		.nullable()
@@ -513,6 +508,22 @@ export const OutfitsMeResponse = z.object({
 	Slot: z.int().describe('0 — the outfit being worn'),
 })
 
+/**
+ * `GET /outfits/me` for a player who has never saved — the brand-new-account envelope.
+ * Flatter than a stored outfit rather than a nulled-out copy of it: four empty strings and
+ * nothing else, no `LegacyData`, no `Selections`, no `DataVersion`. `OutfitSelections` is
+ * the flat field name here, not `SelectionsV1`/`SelectionsV2`.
+ */
+export const EmptyOutfit = z.object({
+	FaceFeatures: z.string(),
+	HairColor: z.string(),
+	OutfitSelections: z.string(),
+	SkinColor: z.string(),
+})
+
+/** `GET /outfits/me` — the stored outfit, or the empty envelope for a new player. */
+export const OutfitsMeResponse = z.union([StoredOutfit, EmptyOutfit])
+
 /**
  * `PUT /outfits/me` JSON body — the outfit the client is saving, in the newer envelope.
  * The heavy fields are JSON-in-a-string, exactly as the client serialises them:
diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/avatar.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/avatar.ts
index cb8d78f..41a04f9 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/routes/avatar.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/avatar.ts
@@ -334,8 +334,9 @@ export const avatarRoutes = new Hono<App>({ strict: false })
 				'`outfit` table — the newer client treats slot 0 as the outfit currently worn — and ' +
 				'handed back exactly as it was saved, since the payload’s heavy fields are the ' +
 				'client’s own JSON-in-a-string documents.\n\n' +
-				'A player who has never saved gets the brand-new-account envelope: all-null ' +
-				'`LegacyData`, no `Selections`, `DataVersion` 9.',
+				'A player who has never saved gets the brand-new-account envelope, which is a ' +
+				'different, flatter shape than a stored outfit: the four empty-string fields ' +
+				'`FaceFeatures`, `HairColor`, `OutfitSelections` and `SkinColor`, and nothing else.',
 			security: AUTHED,
 			responses: {
 				200: json(OutfitsMeResponse, 'The stored outfit, or the empty envelope'),
@@ -350,20 +351,10 @@ export const avatarRoutes = new Hono<App>({ strict: false })
 			if (outfit !== null) return c.json(outfit)
 
 			return c.json({
-				LegacyData: {
-					SelectionsV1: null,
-					SelectionsV2: null,
-					FaceFeatures: null,
-					SkinColor: null,
-					HairColor: null,
-				},
-				Selections: [],
-				DataVersion: 9,
-				CustomizationSettings: null,
-				ThumbnailFileName: null,
-				Name: null,
-				Accessibility: 0,
-				Slot: 0,
+				FaceFeatures: '',
+				HairColor: '',
+				OutfitSelections: '',
+				SkinColor: '',
 			})
 		}
 	)
diff --git a/apps/api/src/test/integration/api.test.ts b/apps/api/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
index af2dc9a..a06e115 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/test/integration/api.test.ts
@@ -670,20 +670,10 @@ describe('public endpoints', () => {
 		const res = await exports.default.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/outfits/me`, { headers: await bearer('77') })
 		expect(res.status).toBe(200)
 		expect(await res.json()).toEqual({
-			LegacyData: {
-				SelectionsV1: null,
-				SelectionsV2: null,
-				FaceFeatures: null,
-				SkinColor: null,
-				HairColor: null,
-			},
-			Selections: [],
-			DataVersion: 9,
-			CustomizationSettings: null,
-			ThumbnailFileName: null,
-			Name: null,
-			Accessibility: 0,
-			Slot: 0,
+			FaceFeatures: '',
+			HairColor: '',
+			OutfitSelections: '',
+			SkinColor: '',
 		})
 	})