I mentioned this incredible app in a previous Friday Finds post, but I decided that I
should dig a little deeper to show you guys how freaking useful this app is!
I don’t know about you, but I often struggle with getting dressed in the morning because I feel like I have “nothing to wear” even though my closet is practically bursting at the seams; life was so much easier when I had a uniform for work…LOL! Anyway, I randomly discovered the StyleBook app and completely fell in love with it because it helps me to “see” all of the pieces in my closet. (Plus, this app is probably the closest I will ever get to being Cher Horowitz from “Clueless”. ha!)
The Stylebook App features will help you to organize your closet, reimagine your existing wardrobe, add style inspiration images for curated looks, plan a packing list (including a calendar for outfit tracking and planning!), and add item details (such as the fabric/material, color, brand) for each article of clothing — that last part is optional, but a cool feature nonetheless. This app is seriously a dream! It’s revolutionized the way that I get ready each morning and pack for trips.
I feel like the app is pretty user-friendly and intuitive, but I’d love to share how I use its features so that you can get inspired to organize your wardrobe too! The app has so many facets and functions for you to explore, but the following deep dive will explain the main ways that I utilize it. Also: don’t be afraid to click around and see if maybe there are other app capabilities that might better fit you and your lifestyle!
STEP 1: Creating Clothing Folders & Subcategories
This section will be crucial to helping you to build the entire foundation of your closet. Let’s jump right in!
Click on the “Closet” icon either from the home page menu or from the dashboard at the bottom of the screen, then click the “Edit” button in the top righthand corner of the Closet screen. From here, you will click on “+ Folder” at the top left of the screen.
A window will pop up with a text box where you can type in the general category name of the style of clothing you wish to add and click “Save”. Once you’ve created a category folder, you will be immediately taken into the folder where you can start establishing subcategories within it. Tap on “Add a Subcategory” and another window will pop up with a text box where you can type in the specific subcategory name of the clothing items you wish to add and click “Save”.
(i.e. Folder: “Tops” >>> Subcategory: “Knits/Tees”, “Sweaters”, “Tanks / Camisoles”, etc.).
Once you’ve finished adding all of your subcategories, click “Done” in the top right corner of the Edit Folder screen. Repeat these steps until you’re satisfied with the Category Folders in your Closet and tap “Done” in the top right of the Edit Folders screen. (You can always edit this, so don’t feel like it has to be perfect at this stage). Now that there are Folders to hold them, you can start adding images of your clothes!
For reference, these are the categories & subcategories that I use:
STEP 2: Adding Clothing Images to Build Your Closet
I’m not going to lie to you, this part is arguably the most challenging / time consuming. Trying to find clear images of clothing items is often pretty difficult – a lot of brands only offer images of their products ON models (*honorable mention* a few of my favorite brands to shop that are also e-commerce Product Image Champs: Nordstrom, J.Crew / Madewell, and Abercrombie & Fitch). Most of the time I will have to scroll through pages and pages (…and pages!) of clothing images of different-but-similar-enough products in a Google search to find just the right picture. You can always take your own photos (the app offers the function for that!), but I personally prefer a more professional looking image.
To add an image of an article of clothing, tap on your Closet, click on the folder you’d like for the clothing to live in and then click on the applicable subcategory (if you have one).
Inside the subcategory folder, at the top right, you’ll find a “+” sign — click on it and a menu will pop up. From the menu, choose the most applicable option (*note: whenever I find the product image that I want to use, I save it to my iPhone’s Photos for easy retrieval for this stage). To find the image in my phone’s Photos, I select “Choose from Album”, scroll until I find the picture and then tap to upload it. Once the image has been imported from my Photos, it’s time to edit (read: erase any color/pattern/scene from the background). The “auto” background removal is usually pretty effective, unless your clothing item is white and on a white background… the app’s algorithm obviously has a little trouble discerning what’s what in that kind of scenario. When that happens, do your best with the slider below the image, but you’re most definitely going to need to click the “Manual Edit” button at the bottom right of your screen.
Here you will have additional tools for editing: an “auto” Tap option that you use by tapping the space that you want to delete, an adjustable Erase option, and an “Undo” button in case you erase the wrong thing! I will say that this takes a bit of practice, but if you have a pretty steady hand you’ll be just fine. Once you’re done editing, click “Done” at the top right of your screen, and then tap “Save” in the exact same place on the next screen. Finalize by clicking “Save Changes” from the popup menu and Boom! Your image has been added to your Closet and is ready to be applied to outfits! Repeat with as many product images as you like and then click on “Closet” in the top lefthand corner of the screen to get back to your menu of Category Folders.
I’ve been slowly adding images of my clothes over the course of the past couple of years so I have a fair amount of clothing options to choose from to create looks. It can definitely be tedious at first when you’re initially adding all of the pictures, but I assure you that the payoff is definitely worth it; adding items to the app as you purchase them is so much easier once everything has been set up.
Step 3: Adding Style Inspiration Images
You can easily use this app without the inspiration images, but I think the styled photos really help you to visualize an outfit and imagine it on yourself. I’ve been adding them to every Look that I create! The process of adding Inspiration Photos is super similar to adding clothing images (but there’s no editing option, so make sure to do all of your image cropping ahead of time!).
To add inspiration to your “Inspo Library”, click on the “Inspiration” icon either from the home page menu or from the dashboard at the bottom of the screen, then click the “Edit” button in the top righthand corner of the Closet screen. From here, you will click on “+ Category” at the top left of the screen.
A window will pop up with a text box where you can label your Inspiration folder whatever you like — I personally like to organize folders by the names of the bloggers that I like (and use inspiration images from), but you can totally use whatever works best for you! Once you’ve typed in your desired label name, go ahead and click “Save” (you can always edit these names, so don’t feel like it has to be just right at this stage). Once you’ve created an inspiration folder, tap on it and you will be taken into the folder where you can start adding images!
Inside the inspiration folder, at the top right, you’ll find a “+” sign — click on it and a menu will pop up. From the menu, choose the most applicable option (*note: whenever I find an online inspiration photo that I want to use, I take a screenshot and organize it within my iPhone’s Photos for easy retrieval for use at this stage). To find the image in my phone’s Photos, I select “Choose from Album”, scroll until I find the picture and then tap to upload it. There are obviously many other options to choose from in this menu, but using a saved image is my go-to method. Once you’ve finished adding your image, tap on “< Inspiration Folder Name” to return to the folder and add more images or tap back again to return to the Inspiration “Library”.
Step 4: Creating Looks & Packing Lists
I can’t believe that it took me this long, but I only recently started taking advantage of being able to add inspiration images to my outfit combinations. It’s as though the best parts of Pinterest and the Clueless “Closet Stylist” computer were combined! I now include photos of my favorite style bloggers or Pinterest inspo to add a visual “styling” to a Look.
To create folders to organize your Looks (a “Look Library”, if you will…), click on the “Looks” icon either from the home page menu or from the dashboard at the bottom of the screen, then click the “Edit” button in the top righthand corner of the Closet screen. From here, you will click on “+ Category” at the top left of the screen.
A window will pop up with a text box where you can label your Look folder whatever you like — I personally like to organize by the seasons or situations that I might use them in (work, date night, etc.), but you should use whatever titles work best for you! Once you’ve typed in your desired label name, click “Save”. Once you’ve created all of the inspiration folders that you like, click “Done” in the top righthand corner. When you’re ready to add your Looks, tap on the folder that you would like for it to “live in” and you will be taken into the folder where you can start adding Looks!
Inside the Look folder, at the top right, you’ll find a “+” sign — click on it and a New Look page will appear on the screen. From the dashboard at the bottom of the screen, click either “+ Clothing” or “+ Inspiration” menu (*note: you must have already added clothing items to your Closet and Inspiration images to the app before creating Looks). If I am using an inspiration image in a Look, I will add that first so that I have a point of reference to build my outfit. Once you’ve selected your inspiration, resize the image to your preference and determine where you would like for it to be displayed on your Look’s page. From the lower menu, choose articles of clothing by tapping “+ Clothing” to peruse your StyleBook Closet and add the desired items. Once everything has been sized and arranged to your satisfaction, tap “Save” in the top right hand corner of the screen.
Repeat as necessary by returning to the “+” sign at the upper right hand portion of the screen. All finalized Looks will be saved, so once you’re done adding Looks, you can just tap on “< Looks” to return to your Look Library.
I also use this function for creating Packing Lists for travel (you can see a few of my previously used folders in the below screenshot).
You can also begin creating a Look from either the product image OR from the inspiration photo. Just open the image that you’re wanting to build off of and click “Add to Look” at the top righthand portion of the screen.
When you have the inspiration image pulled up tap the “Add to Look”option in the top right of the screen. Choose the option that most applies from the menu that appears at the bottom of your screen — in this case, “Add to New Look”, then choose the Look Category that will best apply to your outfit.
On the next screen, resize the image to your preference and determine where you would like for it to be displayed in your Look. From the lower menu, choose articles of clothing by tapping “+ Clothing” to go through your StyleBook closet and add the desired items. Once everything has been sized and arranged to your satisfaction, tap “Save” in the top right hand corner of the screen.
To access all of the looks that an inspiration photo is attached to, click the “Edit” icon in the bottom left of the screen when you have the image pulled up. It will take you to the Image Details screen and you can see how many times the image has been used. To see all of those Looks, tap on that option to see your Closet of mini tiles displaying all of the Looks in which that specific Inspiration image has been linked to. Tap on a Look tile to enlarge it and you can swipe left to right to explore all of the Looks.
Step 5: Curating Your Closet
As part of organizing and simplifying my wardrobe, I am actively trying to be more conscious about the clothes that I buy and looking to generally clean up my VERY tiny closet. I would not say that I am creating a “capsule wardrobe”, but I’m loosely using that formula so that I no longer feel overwhelmed when choosing an outfit every day from my [currently] exploding closet. I -LOVE- clothes… but I need to be more deliberate in my choices so that every piece gets regular love and wear!
One of my favorite bloggers to follow (Erin @cottonstem) just recently created a super easy-to-follow guide on how to create a Seasonal Capsule Wardrobe! While I won’t be following the capsule model too strictly, I do really like the idea of having go-to pieces that I love and can easily mix-and-match within my closet.
Erin has lots of capsule outfit ideas on her blog because she’s been working off of her version of a capsule model for years! Just last month she put together a really cool step-by-step method to help her followers to streamline their wardrobes and saved it in her Instagram Highlights. It will teach you all about “capsule-ing” your own closet in a very approachable way and I highly recommend it!
I also love to follow @karlareed because we have a similar style aesthetic, she has just recently shifted her mindset / intentions to create a conscious and sustainable wardrobe (sharing all of her finds along the way!), and I LOVE all of her styling tips to help to give “the same old outfits” a fresh look! I highly recommend giving her a follow. (If you’re interested in or curious about creating a sustainable wardrobe, she has an entire Instagram Highlight dedicated to just that!)
I use the StyleBook app for everything fashion-related — from packing planning for travel to daily style inspiration! It’s so helpful! Organize and simplify your closet by downloading this app… you’ll thank me!
Let me know if you need any clarification or have any questions!
xx, Natalie