I’ve always thought I had a pretty good sense of style. I know which colors suit me, which silhouettes I like, and which pieces I’m intuitively drawn to. But I’ve always found it hard to make the most of my entire wardrobe.
I had plenty of clothes, but that didn’t stop me from standing in front of my closet thinking, “I have nothing to wear.” I’d try on two or three items, change outfits a few times, and end up choosing my usual jeans and top again.
So I decided to experiment. For a month, I used an AI personal stylist app to put together outfits and mix and match items from my wardrobe in new ways.
Can AI really make choosing clothes easier, or is it just another way to get pretty outfit pictures? After four weeks, I finally had my answer.
Why I Decided to Give an AI Stylist a Try
An outfit might look great in a photo but not appeal to you in real life. There are also plenty of details that are hard to explain to an algorithm: how comfortable a particular item is, whether you like open-toed shoes, whether you prefer loose silhouettes, or whether you can’t stand a certain skirt length.
I wanted to get some ideas and be able to make decisions faster.
Week One: Maybe I Didn’t Need More Clothes After All
I had a lot of items that I loved, but I rarely wore them. Instead of asking, “Do I need another top?” I started asking myself, “What can I do with the tops I already have?”
It’s a small difference, but it was exactly that shift that quickly changed my attitude toward shopping.
What a Personal Stylist AI Really Excels At
Here’s its main advantage – it reduces the number of decisions you have to make.
Imagine a typical morning. You need to get to work, you have a meeting planned for the evening, the weather is unpredictable, and you have a full closet in front of you.
Instead of looking through my entire wardrobe at once, I could start with a few specific outfits. This worked especially well in the morning when I didn’t have time to experiment.
Surely, I didn’t follow all the recommendations. If there was an item in the suggested outfit that I didn’t like, I’d simply swap it out for something similar from my closet.
Week Two: I Started Noticing My Shopping Habits
I used to buy clothes for some imaginary version of my life.
A dress for a dinner that doesn’t exist. A blazer for a trip that isn’t planned yet. Shoes for events I hardly ever attend. The problem is that these hypothetical situations rarely happen.
Using an AI-powered personal stylist helped me see this much more clearly.
Week Three: Not All the Recommendations Worked
Some outfits looked perfectly logical, but they just didn’t suit me at all. In some cases, the proportions were off, or the combination was too predictable.
Fashion isn’t math. There isn’t just one right answer. An algorithm can analyze color combinations, styles, silhouettes, and other clothing characteristics. But personal style also comes down to taste, mood, and context.
One day I want to look put-together. Another day – as relaxed as possible. Sometimes I choose an item simply because I like how it makes me feel, even if it’s not the most practical option.
What Other Users Had to Say
Before starting the experiment, I was curious to see how the service worked for other users. So I looked up Dressly reviews on Reviews IO to compare my experience with what other people had to say.
The experience here is pretty subjective. One person might love the ready-made recommendations while someone else might prefer to put together each outfit on their own.
For me, the main question was something else: does it help me make decisions faster and make use of the clothes I already have in my closet?
Image source: Unsplash
Week Four: I Started Getting Ready Faster
By the end of the experiment, I noticed something simple: I started spending less time choosing what to wear.
I also started to memorize certain combinations. If I’d already seen that a particular jacket looked good with several different pairs of pants, I no longer had to search for a solution all over again every time.
How the Dressly App Fit Into My Routine
For me, the Dressly App works best when I see it as a source of ideas, rather than an authority that decides what I’m supposed to wear.
I don’t want the app to tell me what style is right just because it’s currently trending. I’d rather look at a few options and then decide what works best for me. This approach makes experimenting much more free-spirited.
What About Shopping?
I’ve come to appreciate versatile pieces more. The most useful purchase isn’t necessarily the most eye-catching item in the store. Sometimes it’s an item you can wear in five different ways.
An AI powered personal stylist can be helpful even before you make a purchase. It helps you view clothes as part of your wardrobe, rather than as separate attractive items.
What AI Still Can’t Replace
A person can ask follow-up questions, pick up on nuances, and adapt recommendations as the conversation continues. AI works differently for now. To me, it’s more like a quick brainstorming partner. It offers options, but I have the final say.
My Honest Verdict After a Month
Will I continue using the personal AI stylist? Yes, but not quite the way I imagined at the start of the experiment.
I’m not going to open the app every morning and copy the suggested outfit blindly.
Instead, I’ll turn to it when:
- I’m stuck;
- I’ve bought a new item and don’t know what to wear it with;
- I’m planning a trip;
- I have an event coming up;
- My wardrobe suddenly feels boring, even though I have plenty of clothes in it.
And especially when that familiar urge to go shopping pops up, simply because it feels like I have nothing left to wear.
The main takeaway from this experiment turned out to be quite simple. I needed a fresh perspective on my old wardrobe. The AI helped me see combinations I hadn’t thought of on my own, break out of my usual routine a little, and remember pieces that had been sitting unused for a long time.
