Written by Levi Kaye; edited by Charlotte Lewis
“Whering, a Digital wardrobe app for slow-fashion advocates” is bridging the gap between Fashion and Technology. The self-proclaimed “cure for the ‘I-have-nothing-to-wear’ syndrome”, that allows you to catalogue your wardrobe, generate outfits, and track your wearing and shopping habits! With marketplace integration and a strong AI presence, its modern take on wardrobe management should be your one-stop-shop to cure those outfit blues! But how does it work? Let's explore how this modern-day Barbie dress-up alternative can save those last-minute fit panics, and plan out weeks of festive party looks over Christmas!
Founded by Bianca Rangecroft in June of 2020, Whering was created out of a need for Change. Rangecroft, who was working in banking at the time, fell out of love with her wardrobe. (Something I'm sure a lot of us can relate too!) After being knocked back by the infamous ‘Dragons’ on an episode of Dragons Den in 2022, being told the app had a “High Risk of Failure'', Rangecroft was still determined. She continued to grow the Whering brand, raising a higher valuation for her business months later, the apprehensiveness of the dragons was overshadowed by the support of Whering users online.
Anyone with an eye for Rom-coms will recognise the concept of a digital wardrobe. The 1995 Classic ‘Clueless’ features the main character, Cher Horowitz, creating her Fall outfit using a digital wardrobe! Now, we’ve moved on a little from the bulky computer monitors, and Whering has brought this function directly to your phone. But how does it work? Let’s imagine you’ve just been thrift shopping and picked up some vintage treasures. If you are anything like me, trying to kick the “Buy-now, Style-later” mentality isn't easy. Uploading pictures straight from your camera roll into the Whering app will remove the background, tag the garment based on what its AI can detect, (To identify garment category, colour or brand) and filter the garment into your digital wardrobe! From there, you can slot the garment into existing outfits, or with the help of its “Wear with” feature, will create outfits based on what you are into! (Unlike Clueless, there are no “Mismatch” warnings here, get as creative as you’d like!). With features such as creating look-books, seeing your most and least worn items and even creating a packing list to get prepared for a trip, Whering is not shy of user-friendly innovations to help with your day-to-day life, but what else can Whering offer? Let's talk about the marketplace!
With Whering’s digital wardrobe having sustainability aspects built into its concept, with the idea of cutting down over-consumption and re-wearing things already in your wardrobe, it already helps with changing your habits without you even noticing! But we approach Christmas, Hogmanay, office parties, birthday parties, etc, there is unfortunately an unspoken pressure, or perhaps desire to, purchase a new outfit and dress up! There's absolutely no shame in that. And Whering recognises that too! There is a conscious choice to be made when shopping, and Whering hopes to drive that choice towards slow-fashion, and circular fashion. The marketplace curates an amazing selection of vintage, pre-loved and rental fashion pieces that will get you ready for the festive season and help towards those sustainability goals!
With pre-loved and ethical fashion right at your fingertips, Whering aims to create a more fashion-conscious planet, and being of the over 20 thousand businesses signed up to the Ecologi: Climate Action Workforce, they are making great progress. But can their app really help you this Christmas? Well, let’s ask Whering directly! We reached out to Whering for some tips and tricks on how their app can help you this Christmas and here's what they had to say! “Every year, 23 million unwanted gifts end up in landfill. There’s a simple solution to reducing wasted Christmas gifts: buying people presents they actually want. Creating a wishlist and sharing it with your friends and family is the perfect way to make sure gifts don’t end up in landfill but are loved and used for years to come.”
“We’ve all heard the expression ‘the most sustainable garment is the one you already own’. Wardrobe apps like Whering can help provide a newness fix from clothes you already own, so you can feel confident in your festive outfit without spending a penny. Our Clueless-inspired wardrobe shuffle, Dress Me, lets users discover multiple outfit combinations in seconds- without the hassle of trying on clothes.”
Bianca Rangecroft, Founder and CEO, Whering
I think we can all benefit from an app like Whering. Personally, as a student with a busy schedule, I found it really exciting to go through my wardrobe and start cataloguing my pieces! It felt almost therapeutic and incredibly eye-opening to what I have in my wardrobe versus what I wear. With Whering, you can switch up your style without spending an extra penny on clothes! Even when you’re pressed for time, like those last-minute Christmas party plans that seem to always come around before you know it, Whering has the tools available to plan looks, create lookbooks and save inspiration all with the garments you already own. Whering is available on iOS and Android.
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what a neat app! great article! 😊