When you’re a style editor living in New York, attending fashion week is kind of sensory overload. I consistently finish up the seven days feeling inspired, bewildered, exhilarated and harried all at once. Oh, and really in need of a makeover.
And whenever I get the urge to shake things up and give my wardrobe a massive overhaul, I turn to Finery.
Finery is a wardrobe-organizing app akin to Cher Horowitz’s amazing digital closet in Clueless. It keeps an ongoing record of everything you’ve purchased over the past ten years, making it incredibly easy to see all the clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories you own…at a glance. It also helps you find and shop for items you might be missing and map out outfits to wear later.
And while it certainly has its practical uses (helping to fill in wardrobe gaps or prepare a packing list for vacations, for example), the most fun part is really just playing digital dress-up.
Once fashion week ended and I finally had some time to relax, I found myself slowly adding items to my Finery Wishlist (consistently becoming less and less attainable, but that’s beside the point). Some of these were prompted by Finery’s Inspo page, others from my heavy Instagram stalking of various street-style stars and runway shows. Then the real magic began.
Using the app’s Looks tool, I pulled items from my wishlist as well as my actual closet to digitally plan a myriad of amazing, fashion-forward and sometimes totally unnecessarily extravagant outfits.
For instance, the vintage Levi’s jeans I scored for $20 last summer paired perfectly with a fresh-off-the-runway black-and-white faux-fur and leather coat from Rodarte that cost more than my rent—a combination I would very obviously wear to brunch with Rihanna. As for drinks with Kate and Meghan? That called for a classic LBD from a top British designer like Victoria Beckham and perhaps a kooky Anya Hindmarch handbag and some Paul Andrew shoes (you know, in keeping with the British theme).
And while it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever have the money or occasion to wear the beautiful, summery Johanna Ortiz matching set I just placed on my wishlist, I can use those pieces and the app’s record of things I actually do own to inspire outfits that are a little more realistic.
So you see, a little digital daydreaming might turn out to be productive after all.
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