Create a Simple Wardrobe Catalog on Your IPhone
I have so many clothes that I often find a top or skirt in my closet and wonder out loud, “What the hell is that?” At some point, I bought it. I probably even tried it on or spent some time thinking while it was in my online shopping cart, and yet I don’t remember anything about it. It’s like a stylish gift I gave the past to my future self, which is nice but useless for actual outfit planning, not to mention the storage nightmare I created for myself.
A few months ago, I saw a TikTok from a woman who had a small catalog of her outfits on her note-taking app, and I started doing that too. It’s now a “trend” that’s being covered all over the place , but it’s really just an easy way to remember what you’ve got and how it looks on your body to make it easier to prepare for an event.
How to Create a Simple Wardrobe Catalog
It lacks the sophistication of Cher Horowitz’s iconic clothing selection software, but is a simplified version of the same. If you have an iPhone, this is already built in. Find a full-length photo of yourself in a full-length outfit you like and lightly press the screen directly over your body. The iPhone will select the body it detects by outlining it, and when you release your finger, you have two options: Copy or Share. Click Copy.
Open your notes app and create a new one. Add some subcategories. Mine are ‘formal’, ‘weekend’, ‘casual’, ‘workout’, etc. Paste the copied full-length shot into a note in the appropriate category. Keep in mind that the first time you do this, the image will be full size, but if you keep your finger on it, you’ll get options including “Small Images”. Click this button and the image will become tiny, so multiple photo outlines can fit on one line under the subcategory. Whenever you want to see it in full size, just click on the image again to enlarge it.
You can look through your camera roll and choose other outfits, but also make it a habit to take a mirror selfie every time you get a new piece of clothing. Try to keep these selfies the same because you can crop the images to only show the top and bottom half. For example, if you have a certain top and want to know how it will look with a certain pair of jeans, crop the original photo down to the torso before copying the image into your notes. Now you can stack the possible combinations on top of each other at the bottom of the note to see what they might look like together.
You can use this note as a basic list of your favorite outfits, which I do. This is handy when, say, you’re shopping and you see a pair of earrings that might go great with a certain dress, but you’re just not sure about the color. Open the note, check the picture, and buy the earrings (or don’t!).
It is also great for travel or special occasions. Create a separate note for a vacation, bachelorette party, or multi-day conference. Add the outfits you’d like to wear to make planning on the go easier.
Add shoes, accessories, or whatever else you want. Now you have inspiration – and a reminder of what you really own – at your fingertips.