MWhen a friend walks into the village hall and sees footage from his son’s third birthday party, a mixture of panic and disbelief creeps across his face. “I didn’t realize we were dressed up,” he said when he saw my outfit. I feel myself blushing. I’m wearing a mint green tulle midi dress with sheer sleeves and a tiered skirt that makes me look like a Quality Street girl or a three-year-old having a birthday. It looks like either. party. Let’s be honest, this isn’t the most practical outfit for serving chocolate cake to 18 sticky-handed toddlers, but when you blurt it out to a friend in hopes of clearing up any confusion, the avant-garde… The appearance wasn’t really what it was. My choice was AI.
I love unusual clothes. Different cuts, unusual fabrics, bold colors and exciting textures. My wardrobe is my identity, my retreat, my hobby, and my happy place. Or at least, it was. Recently, since my second child was born, it has become difficult for me to get dressed. I’m paralyzed by choices and suffer from decision fatigue every time I approach my (admittedly groaning) closet. With a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old also having a hard time, I’m feeling short on time and overwhelmed. This morning I was throwing clothes on my body while my youngest was screaming for a nap. The steady spoiling of my personal style continued quickly, now stained with breast milk and crushed bananas.
Far from overwriting my personality, the AI-generated costumes had an essential sense of me.
I realized what I really wanted was a personal stylist, standing naked in front of the mirror with the clock ticking. Someone looked through my clothes and told me what to wear to daycare pick-up or (in a dream) a night out with friends. So I decided to download a styling app.
But first I had to choose one. There are several virtual wardrobes on the market, including Whering, Indyx, Combine, 30 Wears, and Good on You, all of which help users gain insight into their own wearing habits. Last May, Whering, which bills itself as a social wardrobe and styling app, revealed that it had been downloaded 4 million times in its first three years. Other apps like Style DNA, Acloset, AI Stylist, and Aiuta use artificial intelligence to generate outfits from your virtual wardrobe. Given that AI has permeated countless areas of daily life and is already being used on a widespread scale within the fashion industry to predict the next trends, it’s a good idea to outsource your morning getting ready to a bot. It doesn’t seem like that much of a leap.
Some of these apps create looks by combining what you already own and what’s on the market, then naughtily encourage you to buy more, while others put together ensembles from just your wardrobe. there is. There are several places that will help you evaluate which colors look best on you, and some even allow you to virtually try on clothes. Sadly, for now, no one is washing, folding, or putting away their chosen items. However, there seem to be benefits, especially in terms of saving time, money, and anxiety.
Personal stylist Michelle Barrett of Capsule Closet Stylist isn’t so sure. You use an app to “finish the colors,” but “the app gives you different results each time. The algorithm places the user in a predetermined box based on the questions they answer and the form they fill out.” “I think most people are caught in the middle,” she says. “What they need is to be treated as individuals.” In other words, humanity.
AI expert James Boa is similarly skeptical. “Current approaches rely on lots of source data, and AI creates outputs based on that data. AI is simply combining thousands of ideas in a statistically valid way. It’s important to note that the AI doesn’t understand what you look like or what your needs are. “Using AI stylist apps is a useful way to reduce individuality and innovation and encourage everyone to become generic.”
Generics aren’t for me, that’s for sure. Still, I really want to get out of the rut and relieve the horrible stress of choosing what to wear, so I’m trying to let an AI do my outfits for a week.
First, you need to digitize your wardrobe. Here’s how it works: You can find items online by taking a photo of your outfit and uploading it, or using the search feature in your chosen app. (I decided early on that anything I didn’t feel like uploading would be sent to a charity shop.) My app of choice, Acloset, is free to use for up to 100 items, but quickly It’s embarrassing to reach this limit. . We try to include a wide range of items such as trousers, skirts, tops, jumpers, coats, bags and shoes. I’ll upload some jazzy socks, but leave out the underwear. Seeing your wardrobe transformed digitally is so fascinating, it’s like having your own online shop. I enjoy scrolling through my clothing collection that I’ve collected over the years and seeing my old favorites virtually side by side with my shiny new ones.
The app has a variety of features, from outfit creation that requires my input to mix and match looks from my online wardrobe, to outfit generation where the AI randomly suggests outfits with taglines like “perfect for the weather.” There is a function. (The app has a built-in weather forecast) and “brown blouse outfit ideas” using one brown blouse that I own. You can also ask the app to “style” your outfit based on a series of factors, including the occasion (date, work, travel, school, wedding, etc.), location, day of the week, color preference, and more.
I quickly realize that these elements are not very specific to my lifestyle. Instead of “dates” and “work,” we need “toddler flu shots” and “another day cleaning Weetabix out of high chairs.” So, on the first day of the challenge, I arrive at baby class wearing a voluminous red midi skirt, burgundy puff-sleeve top, red socks, and silver Mary Jane pumps.
I would have been more comfortable in jeans and Converse, and it would have been much easier to crawl around in, but I decided to do as I was told and wear my first AI-generated outfit. And I don’t hate it. Sure, the look is bold, but I realized I didn’t actually feel self-conscious about it because I was outsourcing that decision to the bot. AI is inspiring me to push the limits of my wardrobe again. And I like it.
I also love that it takes less than a minute to change. Of course, this system isn’t perfect. The AI (which probably doesn’t feel the cold itself) seems to have decided that jumpers and coats are unnecessary in mid-November. That means you need to add an oversized wool sweater and a leopard print bomber jacket. The jacket is mine, but it’s pretty good.
Some of the options are more effective than others. Pairing a cream satin maxi skirt with a fuchsia satin shirt, oversized pique jumper, and pink platform Converse, I danced in front of the mirror. However, striped rugby tops are often worn with tulle skirts for a sporty balance, and are matched with plain jeans and practical trainers. It’s a perfectly fine style, but a little too “soccer mom” for my tastes.
I like this app so much that I plan to continue using it after the trial period ends.
But failures are just as valuable as hits, and both can help you reevaluate and rediscover what you enjoy wearing. And while it would be great to be more specific about your daily plans, you may find yourself liking the app’s broad strokes. For example, for my son’s birthday party, I am secretly happy when he chooses the best party dress of all my party dresses. Without the virtual nudge I don’t think I would have had the courage to wear it, but on the day I’m having so much fun frolicking in it.
In fact, I like this app so much that I plan to continue using it after the week is over. Then, on the Monday after the experiment, my 3-year-old got sick. As I sat with my baby on my hip, porridge tangled in his hair, and desperately looking for a bowl for him to puke in, I realized that there are quite a few things in life that I would like to outsource to an AI. That day, I chose a pair of pajamas that I dug out from the bottom of my drawer, and definitely not one that I picked out on an app.
Strangely, despite my intentions, I didn’t go back. However, I’ve also never panicked naked in front of the mirror while the pile of clothes on my bed wobbles. It’s as if a week of changing clothes in AI activated something in me. Perhaps my sense of personal style has been rekindled after months of hiatus.
Far from overriding my personality, each AI-generated outfit had a thread of essential me, straight from my wardrobe. Perhaps this is why people couldn’t really tell that my outfit for the week wasn’t chosen by me. One friend was surprised by the dress I chose for her child’s birthday party, but another friend was unimpressed and even said afterwards, “I thought it was very ‘you’.”
