We wear a garment on average 7-10 times, and then discard it somehow. We buy new clothing in larger quantities and faster than in the past (clothing purchases have doubled in the past two decades). If we want to help create a more sustainable fashion sector, we can only curb our purchases and use more of what we have.

Thanks to Giulia, we told about apps to optimize the wardrobe such as:

• Your Closet
• Smart Closet
• Plan what to wear
• Pureple

We like to return to the subject, because tools available to help us manage what we have more consciously brings more than one advantage:

• economic saving
• reduction of the environmental and social impact of our clothes
• creating our own style

For this reason, we present some apps that can help you:

• better organize the garments that are already in our closet
• reduce or eliminate the purchase of extra items or duplicate clothing (do you ever buy something and then find out that you already have it?)
• discover outfits you didn’t think you had
• know how many times you wear a garment, extend its life cycle and amortize its cost
• identify what you never wear
• simplify the choice of what to pack for a holiday or simply what to wear every day

and not only. You will find out many other things where apps can help.

Note: We have come across many other apps for wardrobe management, but we have excluded those more related in some way to shopping that potentially lead to buying new clothes.

So here are other apps that may be useful to you:

Saveyourwardrobe

To guide you on how to make the most of your clothes and to reconnect with the contents of your wardrobe. It encourages to buy less and buy better. You can repair, dry clean and donate your items or buy recycled fashion with just one click. It also includes a section dedicated to:

– the long-term maintenance of garments, thanks to a network of experts in repairs and cleaning

– the donation of your items

– upcycling, to buy with one click from selected partners.

Stylebook

Designed to help you take care of your wardrobe so that you can dress every day effortlessly, making the most of what you already have and choosing new pieces that will fit well into your wardrobe as a whole. After taking pictures of the entire wardrobe and uploading them to the app, you can easily see what works and what doesn’t.

Includes over 90 functions for:

– mix and match what you own, compare new purchases with what you have in the closet

– plan the outfits you will wear

– learn how to put 30 outfits in one hand luggage

– save all your favorite style inspirations to develop your personal style

– know the total value of your wardrobe “and then laugh or cry” !, as they write on the website.

and much more.

In addition, you can find interesting things about your wardrobe with statistics such as the cost per wear (CPW), which is the cost of a garment in relation to how many times it has been worn. For example, if you buy a pair of jeans for 120 euros and wear them 40 times a year for 8 years, the CPW will be equal to 120 / (40 X 8),  37.6 euro cents. To this figure we should also add any repair costs, always dividing them by the total number of times we have worn them. According to the #100wears campaign that appeared on social media this year, if we buy a garment with the intention to using it 100 times, we lower the cost per ware, amortizing the purchase price, but above all it helps us to evaluate the quality and the possibility of wearing it over time before buying it.

Whearing – digital wardrobe

To shop in your wardrobe, create your own style with tips and more consciously buy recommended items (pre-loved, ethical brands and rentals) that work with the items you already have.

It also helps extend the life cycle of clothing by ethically caring, repairing, reselling or donating to help reduce the environmental impact of fashion.

Loop – Digital wardrobe

To organize your wardrobe, share with friends, find inspiration, create and save styles. It also includes a shopping section, but we mention it because it also contains more sustainable options to resell, exchange, donate or recycle garments with one click “to be part of a circular fashion system”.

30 wears

Simple to use, you will find a community that encourages you to wear garments at least thirty times before replacing them. Just upload your clothes and tag an item every time you wear them, to become more aware of wearing the clothes we already own before buying new ones.

Armadio virtuale per vestiti

Add your items to the wardrobe, organize them according to the occasion or weather conditions and create the combinations. Also you can keep track of your clothes and items and see which one you wear more or less or what combination you haven’t worn in a long time.

App for having fun with clothes

Fashion Design Flat Sketches ; to design your clothes. You can create the technical drawing of any garment, a model that you can create with your own hands or have it sewn in the tailor’s shop. Contains more than 1,000 graphics to inspire you. Design blouses, skirts, dresses, trousers, jackets and jumpsuits. After saving the project, you can print it or send it by email.

Design di moda: Sketchbook; to create high fashion looks and clothes and turn creative ideas into reality.

App for caring for clothes

Laundry Lens;  to read the symbols on clothing labels and know the correct instructions on how to take care of your garments. It includes a full list of symbols, from washing to ironing, including the professional ones. So you know exactly what kind of care your laundry requires. Using is easy: just frame the label with the camera and wait for the symbols to be detected. The washing and drying instructions will appear on the display.

Also Segui l’etichetta, Lavaggio – etichette di vestiti, Laundry Pro  help you understand the symbols on the garment care label.

Another useful app? Complete Laundry Care, which in addition warns you at the end of the washing cycle.

Do you know any other app? Write use (contact_us@dressecode.it), and if you tell your experience we will publish it.

Puoi ascoltare qui l’articolo con le nostre voci: Un’app – Giulia racconta

Sono a cena con Giulia (Gaudenzi) e Lodovica (Cattani), anche per parlare del prossimo Eco Swap Party che organizziamo insieme, e Giulia ci mostra un’app che ha scaricato sul suo cellulare: “Si chiama Your Closet, ti aiuta a creare il tuo armadio capsula”, mi spiega (avevamo raccontato qui del capsule wardrobe in versione sostenibile: 33 x 3 Project 333). Fantastico! Desidero saperne di più e chiedo a Giulia di aiutarmi a farvi conoscere questo strumento.

Giulia, ci racconti come sei arrivata a utilizzare un’applicazione per costruire un guardaroba capsula?

“Da quando mi sono iniziata ad avvicinare al minimalismo, sapevo che uno dei primi aspetti da modificare nella mia vita sarebbe stato il mio guardaroba. Avevo un armadio e dei cassetti stracolmi di indumenti che semplicemente non usavo da almeno un anno, ma a cui continuavo a dare seconde possibilità sperando che un domani riprendessi ad usarli. Una delle conseguenze di avere tanti vestiti, come anche tanti oggetti, a riposare sui nostri scaffali, armadi, mensole, è l’enorme spreco di energie mentali che ciò comporta da parte nostra.
Tutti questi oggetti/vestiti accumulati, che non hanno più una vera funzione, occupano uno spazio fisico, all’interno della nostra casa, ma anche mentale, perché quando possiedi molte cose, hai una percezione dell’ordine minore. Inoltre, molti oggetti o vestiti che teniamo senza usare, spesso hanno un peso emotivo, ricordandoci situazioni passate, piacevoli o spiacevoli che siano.
Così negli anni scorsi ho iniziato a fare decluttering, ossia a dare via periodicamente (soprattutto donando alle comunità) tutte le cose che ormai non usavo più. Nell’arco del 2019, dopo una grossa cernita fatta al mio guardaroba, ancora mi trovavo con numerosi capi. La verità è che, nonostante avessi ottimizzato il mio guardaroba rispetto agli anni scorsi, ancora non riuscivo a liberarmi di una grande quantità di vestiti, perché in ottime condizioni e non riuscivo a scegliere a cosa rinunciare, spesso anche scordandomi che quei vestiti erano lì effettivamente in attesa di essere indossati“.

Per chi non lo conosce, Giulia, proviamo a spiegare in poche parole cos’è un guardaroba capsula?

“Capsule wardrobe è un termine inventato negli anni ’70 da Susie Faux, proprietaria di una boutique di abbigliamento a Londra, per indicare un insieme ottimizzato di capi: pochi abiti scelti con criterio, che ci facciano sentire sempre bene, di qualità, interscambiabili ed evergreen. Fondamentale è la scelta funzionale di capi che, in base anche alle nostre caratteristiche fisiche, valorizzano la nostra figura e si adattano ai nostri colori, così da indossarli volentieri più spesso. Consente di avere outfit coordinati per ogni occasione, già pronti, senza dover passare troppo tempo a capire cosa metterci”. 

E l’app che utilizzi? Come funziona? 

“Lo strumento che mi ha aiutata di più a ridurre il mio armadio e renderlo più funzionale attraverso la tecnica dell’armadio capsula, e che tuttora uso, è un’app per il cellulare, nel mio caso si chiama Your Closet – Smart Fashion. Per me funziona molto bene, ma ne esistono moltissime altre, dello stesso genere. Si tratta di app che possono aiutare le persone ad essere più consapevoli di cosa possiedono, e soprattutto di cosa non utilizzano più. Si crea un guardaroba ‘virtuale’ caricando le foto di ogni capo di abbigliamento che possediamo e, accostando le foto dei vari capi, si creano manualmente gli outfit, che si possono catalogare anche in base alle occasioni (lavoro, feste, ecc.). È dotato anche di un calendario in cui è possibile segnare quando gli outfit sono stati indossati, in modo da capire quali sono quelli non utilizzati spesso, e in cui è possibile pianificare gli outfit delle prossime settimane”.

Che bella idea! In che cosa la stai trovando utile?

“Per me, utilizzare questa app è fondamentale per capire cosa nel mio armadio è di troppo, e cosa invece posso sfruttare meglio. Uscire dalla mentalità consumistica, anche attraverso queste piccole ma fondamentali azioni rappresenta un percorso lento, costantemente in evoluzione, ma anche divertente e pieno di benefici”.

Conosci altre app simili?

“Sì, Plan what to wear, Pureple per Iphone, Smart Closet per IOS e Samsung”.

Grazie Giulia per questo consiglio! Potrà essere utile ai lettori che desiderano rivedere il proprio guardaroba secondo la filosofia dell’armadio capsula o anche a chi è semplicemente curioso di tenere traccia di cosa indossa più (o meno) spesso.

Utilizzate anche voi qualche app? Fateci sapere come vi trovate.

(Foto: da Your Closet)

English – An app that helps you optimize your wardrobe: Giulia tells us about her experience

I’m having dinner with Giulia (Gaudenzi) and Lodovica (Cattani), also to talk about the next Eco Swap Party  that we organise together, and Giulia shows us an app that she has downloaded on her mobile: “It’s called Your Closet, it helps you create your capsule wardrobe”, she explains (we have spoken here about the capsule wardrobe in a sustainable version: 33 x 3 Project 333). Fantastic! I would like to know more and ask Giulia to help me introduce you to this tool.

Giulia, can you tell us how you came to use an application to build a capsule wardrobe?

“Ever since I started to approach minimalism, I knew that one of the first aspects to change in my life would be my wardrobe. I had a wardrobe and drawers full of clothes that I simply hadn’t used for at least a year, but which I kept giving second chances hoping that tomorrow I would start using them again. One of the consequences of having so many clothes, as well as many objects, resting on our shelves and wardrobes, is the enormous waste of mental energy that this requires by us.
All these accumulated objects/clothes, which no longer have a real function, occupy a space both physically, inside our home, and mentally, because when you own many things, you have a perception of lesser order. Furthermore, many objects or clothes that we keep without using, often have an emotional weight, reminding us of past, pleasant or unpleasant situations. So in the past few years I started decluttering, that means periodically giving away (especially by donating to communities) all the things I no longer used. In 2019, after a large selection made in my wardrobe, I still found myself with numerous items. The truth is that although I had optimised my wardrobe compared to previous years, I still could not get rid of a large amount of clothes, because in excellent condition and I could not choose what to give up, often even forgetting that those clothes were there in waiting to be worn“.

For those who doesn’t know it, Giulia, can we try to explain in a few words what a capsule wardrobe is?

“Capsule wardrobe is a term invented in the 70s by Susie Faux, owner of a clothing boutique in London, to indicate an optimised collection of garments: few clothes chosen with criteria, which make us always feel good, of quality, interchangeable and evergreen. Fundamental is the functional choice of garments that, based also on our physical characteristics, enhance our figure and adapt to our colors, so as to wear them more often. It allows you to have coordinated outfits for every occasion, ready-made, without having to spend too much time figuring out what to wear”.

What about the app you use? How does it work?

“The tool that has helped me the most in reducing my wardrobe and making it more functional through the capsule wardrobe technique, and which I still use today, is an app for mobile phones, in my case it is called Your Closet – Smart Fashion. It works very well for me, but there are many others of the same kind. These are apps that can help people to be more aware of what they have, and above all what they no longer use. A ‘virtual’ wardrobe is created by uploading photos of each item of clothing we own and, by matching the photos of the various garments, the outfits are created manually, which can also be cataloged according to the occasions (work, parties, etc.). It also has a calendar where you can mark when the outfits have been worn, in order to understand which ones are not used often, and where you can plan outfits for the next few weeks”.

What a nice idea! What are you finding it useful to?

“For me, using this app is essential to understand what is too much in my closet, and what I can use better instead. Getting out of the consumer mentality, even through these small but fundamental actions, represents a slow path, constantly evolving, but also fun and full of benefits”.

Do you know other similar apps?

“Yes, Plan what to wear, Pureple for Iphone, Smart Closet for IOS and Samsung”.

Thanks Giulia for this advice! It can be useful for readers who want to review their wardrobe according to the capsule wardrobe philosophy or even for those who are simply curious to keep track of what they wear more (or less) often.

Do you also use some apps? Let us know how it’s going.

(Photo: from Your Closet)