An App That Helps You Build Your Dream Wardrobe? | Cladwell Review
Remember that scene in the beginning of Clueless where Cher gets up in the morning and selects her clothes from her computer, without even having to look through her closet? Well, a wardrobe manager is supposed to do just that. The only difference is that instead of working from a computer, you can select your outfits from your phone. It sounds pretty neat, right?
I had never tried a wardrobe manager before, and to be honest, I had never felt the need for one. I get most of my fashion inspiration and my digital wardrobe needs fulfilled by Pinterest. I keep a board of all the clothes currently in my wardrobe that I pull from to build my seasonal capsules, and I like that the platform automatically shows me outfits that are similar to what is on my board that I can easily save. If I ever feel like I need a new idea for how to wear an item in my closet, I search something like “white pants summer outfit,” and usually something will come up that I can recreate.
Whenever I upload an outfit combinations video, the topic of wardrobe managers comes up in the in the comments. It seems that the idea of being able to store all our clothes digitally, along with all the outfits that can be put together with our wardrobes in an organized and portable way, has a huge appeal for many of us. The good news is that there are multiple apps out there that are designed to do just that, so I figured it was about time I tried some and show you how they work so it can help you decide if getting one would be helpful.
Cladwell is currently only available on iOS.
I decided to begin with Cladwell because out of all the ones I researched, their philosophy and marketing drew me most. They are all about capsule wardrobes (which, surprise surprise! I am as well), have information against fast fashion, and for paying garment workers fair wages, and I loved everything they were presenting on their website. Based on their presentation alone, I was very excited to try it out.
And then I got to the pricing. Cladwell is $9.99 for a monthly membership, or you can choose to pay annually or quarterly to bring the price down to a minimum of $4.17/mo. Without having tried the app, this price tag seemed a bit hefty to me. But I will say, Cladwell has no brand integration, so it doesn’t try to sell you anything, nor (from what I could gather) does it sell your information to third parties. Whenever we use any application that connects to the internet, it has to be monetized somehow. In this case, the app is monetized by having the users pay. That factor alone may be worth the price to some people.
I have a lot of thoughts on this particular app (which I spoke about in detail in the video), but like anything, I discovered that Cladwell has a lot of Pros and Cons.
PROS
They have a feature called a ‘challenge capsule’ that helps you create a capsule wardrobe and suggests outfits only using the items in that capsule. If you’re new to capsule wardrobes, this may be helpful (though I have a video about that that may help you as well).
The app doesn’t sell you anything, which I personally love. A lot of us don’t need more clothes!
Cladwell has a social media component where you can see other people’s outfits and the items that they have in their wardrobes: how many pieces they own, what percentage of it they wear, etc. I found this fascinating, and it’s connected to a feature that allows you to try pieces in someone else’s wardrobe with your closet, showing you how many outfits you could build if you were to purchase a similar piece. I thought that was pretty neat.
CONS
Cladwell is only available on iOS. This is a huge con! Though they have announced an Android version coming soon, it’s been over a year and it is nowhere to be found.
It’s not guaranteed that the app will be able to suggest outfits with all of your pieces. I have a denim vest in my summer capsule wardrobe that the app was not able to find any ways to wear, which I thought was odd.
It doesn’t take accessories into account at all. To me, that is the salt of an outfit - without accessories, and outfit is just bland.
The app is really slow, and it crashes often.
It’s expensive. Yes, this is my personal opinion, but it is more expensive than some subscriptions I use for work on a monthly basis.
So, it is worth it? The truth is that it depends on where you are on your personal style journey.
If you feel that you are stuck and are not sure what to wear on a regular basis, or that perhaps you could use some help remembering how to combine certain pieces, Cladwell may be helpful for you. But, if you feel like you are getting the hang of building a wardrobe that you love and really enjoying wearing what you have, then skip it. In my opinion, though it could be helpful, it is not necessary. I love the philosophy and the idea behind the app, but in execution, it fails.
If you do decide to try it, know that they have a 7 day free trial that anyone can use without having to put down a credit card. I recommend that you take some time to set up your virtual closet properly on the first day, since that is what will be the most helpful when it comes to deciding whether to keep using the app or not.
Have you tried a wardrobe manager? If so, which one, and what did you think? Let me know in the comments below, and if there is a wardrobe manager that you would like me to try next, let me know!
Thanks for watching!