What wardrobe/WIW apps do you recommend?

A couple of people have mentioned the various wardrobe/clothing apps that they use, and I'd love to hear more recommendations/opinions, as I have yet to find something that totally works for me. Part of my problem is that I have an Android phone but an iOS option for my tablet (iPad), and I haven't found much that lets you share data across the platforms. The other problem, I think, is that I'm looking for the magical but nonexistent app that combines three features: the ability to photograph what you're actually wearing, the ability to pull images from the Web for actual items in your wardrobe (a la Polyvore or Pinterest), and the ability to add photos of clothing items where you don't have online photograph -- and lets you do this across platforms.

I think Hil mentioned Collect in a recent post, and Elizabeth mentioned Stylebook. I used to use Fashion Diary for WIW photographs but couldn't port the data over to my new phone when I upgraded. I've downloaded Stylicious and My Fashion Dressing on my Android as well as Day Journal, and Cloth for my iPad, but have yet to use them.

Any apps that people would like to recommend (or recommend against)? Or even better, anyone with any app knowledge who would like to develop this magical trifecta of a fashion app?

11 years ago

Jewell

Veteran

Well, the best I can do is tell you how to make an existing app work. Stylebook has the capability to pull images from the web and add photos that you take yourself. There is a calendar feature for logging looks you create, but it's not intended for logging pics of you wearing them. Here's a way around that. Create a category in your "Closet" and title it WIW. Add items to it using your camera. Then go into your "Calendar" and add the WIW photo. The only downside to this is the app can't accurately track cost per wear if you do this but that might not matter to you.

AnnieMouse

OH, fantastic question. I've had a hard time coming up with something that is effective for WIW. I don't like photographing wardrobe items on the hanger without context.

I've used Pinterest as a WIW repo, myself - I made a board called "Styling my closet" for that express purpose. It's not ideal, really, but it has helped some.

Emily

Check out Stylitics. It's an online closet that lets you add photos from whatever source you want, create outfits and either add them to your calendar or not, and add an outfit picture. Android and IOS apps available. There's a bit of a social aspect, too, but that is optional - you can make your closet private.

Here's mine, if you want to take a peek:
https://www.stylitics.com/emilykate

carter

I love the concept of Stylebook, but photographing and editing all my clothes was taking forever so I gave up. I upload my WIWs to my dropbox so they're available on phone, tablet, computer. I keep inspiration outfits in Pinterest. Finally, I am trying to track everything I wear on a spreadsheet this year in the hope that all those little check marks (or empty boxes) will tell me something worthwhile at the end of the year.

Elizabeth P

With stylebook, I sort of do what Jewell said, however I have a folder of WIW's in my "inspiration" folder, and add the WIW photo to my "look" that way. That way I do continue to track the CPW of my clothes, and I can see how I styled the outfit (I don't track jewellery and not always shoes in my "looks", as that's how I change things up, and it would get too cluttered). If I'm not crazy about how it looked, this also serves as a reminder.

trix

Active Member

Thanks so much for all the advice! Jewell and Elizabeth, that sounds like a great fix for uploading outfit pics, putting them in a WIW category. And Emily, thanks so much for sharing your Stylitics board!

So I've just set up Stylitics (because Stylebook is available only on iOS, and I think I use the Android platform more) and am testing it. I guess it was more important to me than I realized to be able to use it on both Android and iOS -- or perhaps it's the fact that ultimately it's web-based, meaning I can do the complicated stuff on my computer.

Here are some of my thoughts so far, mostly in comparison to Polyvore since I've mostly just tried the wardrobe-uploading feature:

I like the idea of being able to figure out CPW, or rather, having it figured out for me so that I don't have to set up the Excel spreadsheet and do the calculations.
I also like being able to enter the actual price I paid, as opposed to the price Polyvore wants to assign to it.
As mentioned above, I like the cross-platform flexibility.
I'm looking forward to being able to import photographs.
I think it does a better job of sorting and displaying items than does Polyvore, which simply shows everything I've clipped to it in unorganized page after page. Admittedly, sometimes it makes random choices (I guess everything labeled "jacket" goes under "outerwear"?).
The clipping feature leaves something to be desired, although admittedly, this may be because it's newer than Polyvore. It keeps making me log in on every new page from which I want to clip an item. Also, it doesn't seem to clip from some supposedly supported sites. On the positive side, it *does* take images from Polyvore, so I'm planning to import most of my images from Polyvore, where I've stored pictures of the majority of items I've purchased in the last four years.
The labeling has its pros and cons. On the negative side, Stylitics requires you to input a lot of information before you can clip an item, and some of the categories are somewhat arbitrary (you mean I have to tell you exactly what kind of summer dress this is -- sundress v. sleeveless dress v. strapless?). You can't invent categories or use your own "tags." As far as I can tell, Stylitics also doesn't include a way to label items with the brand's "name" for it (e.g., J. Crew schoolboy blazer in English tweed), which is a feature I do want.
I need to figure out how to handle the privacy settings, particularly if I ever do manage to upload WIW photos.
I'm not sure what to think about the fact that Stylitics makes its money by selling information about usage etc. (though aggregated and deidentified). I suppose this is the price of me using this app for free, I'm letting them compile my data for marketing purposes. I may be throwing a wrench into the works with my four-year-old items though.

That said, I think Carter may be onto something with uploading pictures to the cloud. The way apps seem to come and go (or become obsolete), I'm thinking that the only "safe" way to store the images I'd want to keep or use for reference would be to download and file them on my own. I may continue to use Stylitics or Polyvore for storing the closet, and find some journaling app for WIWs.

Hey trix - I'm with you on the cons (lots of data to input, arbitrary categories). If it helps you can edit the title of an item once you add it to your closet by clicking the title on the item detail page. You can also add custom tags to the item (click the item detail page then choose the "details" button) which are searchable.

Emily -- thanks! I didn't know you could edit that way; still have a lot to learn about the site clearly. I was struggling to re-label one of my jackets that got assigned to "outerwear"; I'll see if I can follow your tips and fix it. Thanks!

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