If you want to glide out of bed and into a pre-determined and effortlessly elevated outfit for your morning commute – this is now a possibility and you don’t need Cher’s 500kg PC.
Living, as more and more of us do, in a smaller than ideal space – I quickly realised I was not wearing my wardrobe – I was just grabbing whatever clothes I first saw in my poorly lit shoebox bedroom.
Naturally, this led to the age-old hot flush of “I don’t have anything to wear”, or worse still, convincing myself that I “need” more clothes. Alas, this is hardly ever the case, and (unless the monthly budget is allowing for it, in which case all sage advice melts away) the answer is hardly ever buying more.
So in came the burst of energy that leaves you sitting in a pile of your own sad clothes in your bedroom – but this time would be different. My mind flitted to Clueless’ Cher and her seamless morning routine made slick by her “futuristic” (and now ancient) computerised wardrobe. Surely, amidst the millions of useless apps there is an answer to this that isn’t a computer the size of an oven? There is – and it is called Whering.
Whering: App allows users to digitise their wardrobe
Whering completely digitises your wardrobe and allows you to see everything you own at your fingertips at any time. If you’re lying in bed panicking about what to throw on before work – you can whack this out and see every outfit combination you could possibly settle for.
If you are really struggling – you can also hit the randomise button and this will create an outfit for you in one click. However, I’m yet to work out how to exclude gym leggings from this – I’m often suggested a corseted ‘going out’ top and cycling shorts for a day at the office.
The Process
This is no doubt the most cumbersome part. Taking a picture of every single item in your wardrobe is at best dull, but most likely concerning. If anything this is the best way to put you off buying any more – not least by having to log any new item you buy.
The entire project took me days. I ended up donating a bag to “F**k Fast Fashion” which is “London’s first clothing exchange” shop, as I have Vinted fatigue and simply cannot face the admin of posting a package for the reward of £2.
The beautiful thing about Whering is that it automatically and accurately categories the item of clothing and erases whatever background you have it on to a nice clean white background.
It will also clock the color, and occasionally the brand. You can log when you bought things, which I did roughly. If you are feeling very diligent, you can also log how often you wear each item and calculate price per wear.
My Findings
It is depressing but I have a lot of black clothes – at least a third it seems. This has been commented on at home, at work, by family and it is time for this to change.
I have 155 items and I am justifying this by saying it includes shoes, my (bloated) coat collection, all gym gear and all accessories. To my smug delight, I found that most of my clothes were bought pre-loved (58%). Some were presents (11%) one dress was made by myself (1%) and the rest were bought new (30%)
This app has absolutely made me get more use out of my wardrobe – which is what I downloaded it for. I can now see everything – I can search by what “vibe” or “occasion” I’m looking for and I can even share it with friends and get them to style me up and outfit.
Now browsing the tempting Pinterest winter outfit boards I have created I know that the answer to my wants is not a sweaty bidding war on ebay – it is probably in storage under my bed.
