Digital dress-up: How an app changed my wardrobe – and life

I  stood in front of my closet last month, grumbling about the lack of options, when I recalled an old magazine article that said having nothing to wear with a closet full of clothes could be a sign of deeper emotional distress.

I laughed at the irony as I stared at old bridesmaid dresses hanging in the corner. I panned rows of color-categorized tops, shelves overflowing with denim and a floor covered in shoes.

Then I had an Einstein moment. The theoretical physicist must have had visions of the average woman's shopping habits when he said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

This nothing-to-wear problem has plagued me since I started buying my own clothes at 16, but especially in my 30s as I balance a career with raising children.

I spent my 20s building an inventory of trendy, cheap (in construction and cost) fashion. In recent years, I wised up and invested in some higher quality basics, but that still didn't help answer the age-old question: What to wear?

I had been wearing my clothes the same way for so long that they no longer seemed new and exciting, and I lacked the time and motivation to create outfits I felt good in.

How does a thirty-something woman dress — and feel — her age? I'm not young, exactly, but not old, either.

Like me, most women spend an average of 16 minutes every day deciding what to wear and wear only 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time.

"Women wear the same things over and over out of comfort, convenience and lack of time," said Kathy Banta, a stylist for Minneapolis-based À La Mode Wardrobe Consulting.

At least I'm not alone. My friends kept telling me that they, too, were facing this dilemma. They wanted their wardrobes to reflect their identities but weren't sure how to achieve that. Some of them hired wardrobe consultants to help sort through the clutter. Others spent thousands of dollars building brand-new wardrobes from scratch.

From personal shopping services and closet organizing systems to Pinterest inspiration boards and shopping sprees (and freezes), I had tried nearly everything I could afford, but continued to wear the same boring looks over and over while the rest of my clothes collected dust and cluttered my closet.

I was contemplating adopting the minimalist uniform movement (I have 17 black tops, after all) when a friend told me there were apps that could digitize my closet and build outfits for me. Could a handy little computer system really simplify my life and make me love my clothes again?

I was skeptical, so I put it to the test.

A long, rewarding process

After trying a few apps (Cluise, Stylebook), I settled on one called Pureple and went to work. I sent the kids to day care and devoted an entire day to photographing and cataloging each item in my closet.

I started with my favorites, including quality basics that had been purchased in the past few years. The payback was immediate as I began to see my clothes in a new, exciting way.

The app was quick to suggest outfits with a Tinder-style approach. Swipe right if you like it; swipe left if you don't.

The more clothes I added, however, including all of those pieces bought in my 20s, the more confused the app became, seemingly ignoring fit, fabric, weather and sometimes color. Many suggestions were absurd, such as coral-colored chinos paired with black motorcycle boots and a silk red top.

The Cluise app allows you to categorize items by fit, style and fabric, but the cataloging process takes longer. And while the app takes weather into account and seems to create fewer awful outfits, you get only five options, whereas Pureple suggests endless combinations. For that reason, Pureple rose to the top.

I cataloged 223 items in about five hours and saved dozens of outfits to my phone within minutes.

It has helped me organize my chaos and realize I have way too much — nobody needs 17 cardigans — and it identified gaps — I need a few more sweaters — to help me get even more out of my clothing.

I spent the next month ridding my closet of the clothes that no longer excited me. With photos of everything already stored in my phone, I sold name-brand items on Poshmark, an app to buy and sell used clothes. I donated the rest.

Banta said this is a good way to minimize a wardrobe. "I encourage clients to purge what doesn't make them feel energized and happy," she said.

My nightly routine now includes opening the app and choosing an outfit that fits my mood or occasion, or building an outfit from an item I want to wear. I can even plan outfits for the week when I'm away from home.

I am wearing more of my wardrobe, including items I haven't worn in months — OK, years. Even though the outfit generator created plenty of looks I didn't like, the suggestions often gave me inspiration to try something new and unexpected.

Until now, finding my outfit of the day was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The perfect outfit was hiding in there all along — I just couldn't see it.

Professional help

Even though I now have more options, I still don't trust myself to dress my age.

"We go from relaxed jeans and easy wear during high school and college years, to all of a sudden needing polished work clothing, and we haven't practiced or learned how to do that," Banta said. "At the same time, our bodies are changing and aging, and what flatters us at 25 often is not as flattering at 35."

That was the cold, hard truth I needed to hear, so I enlisted professional help. It turns out there's an app for that, too.

Snap + Style is a free smartphone app that hooks you up with a real-life professional stylist. Users can submit a photo of an item from their wardrobe, and a stylist will respond with items chosen from the user's closet or from the app's brand partners (including Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Kate Spade).

First, I chose my style goals: clean and minimal, and relaxed chic. Then I picked my favorite colors to wear, and selected my body shape, age, occupation and price range for purchasing new items.

I had been on the fence about donating a pair of blue suede pumps that twenty-something me bought but thirty-something me never wears. I uploaded a photo of the pumps and noted that I wanted to create an office outfit using the shoes. I paid 99 cents to get an immediate response (otherwise, stylists responded within eight hours for free).

Within five minutes, a stylist named Jill Jacobs sent me an outfit pairing my shoes with a white denim pencil skirt from Anthropologie, a soft gray turtleneck sweater from Nordstrom and silver accessories from Urban Outfitters.

A "shop this" button took me to Nordstrom.com, where I bought the sweater.

Snap + Style is my new best friend, and Jill is my new therapist.

Aimee Blanchette • 612-673-1715