
Ask HN: How much time do you spend deciding what to wear everyday? - aguzzi94
Me and my co-founder are building an app that helps people decide what to wear and buy, since we&#x27;ve always had that problem ourselves.
Our mission is to take the guesswork out of dressing well and to save people all the time wasted in the process.
We would be immensely grateful for any insight you might have on the way you go through deciding how to dress and on your shopping habits.
Thank you
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camhenlin
I spend absolutely no time making decisions on what to wear. I decided a long
time ago that I don't care about fashion, I just want to look acceptable and
be comfortable. So I took a bunch of company swag shirts so I wear the "same"
shirt every day essentially. I have a bunch of pairs of the same jeans. One
belt. One pair of shoes. I got a couple of identical hoodies if it's cold.
Everything fits well and looks pretty acceptable. I have absolutely no
decisions to make, always look the same, always ready to go quickly. Some of
my friends and family find it a bit odd, but it saves me money and hassle on
dealing with something that I do not enjoy. I also like that I don't have to
worry if a shirt or something gets messed up. I just toss it and pull another
out of the closet.

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aguzzi94
Thanks for your response :)

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Lorenz-Kraft
I don't think at all about anything that I wear. I just pick the next from my
stack of trousers/shirts/socks. Thinking about what to wear seems to be a
waste of my time.

Same about buying: When I see something I like, I buy.

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aguzzi94
Thank you for your response :)

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Lorenz-Kraft
And a little more productive info for your project: I think there are already
several companies using your idea. For example:
[https://www.outfittery.de](https://www.outfittery.de)

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aguzzi94
Thank you, we're aware of it. We're confident though, cause we're using a
different approach to this problem.

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rajacombinator
If you think HN includes your target market, you probably shouldn’t get into
this business.

~~~
aguzzi94
Hey! You can always learn something, especially from people that point out
flaws to you!

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mettamage
I have a couple of templates. I use a couple of fashion basics.

1\. If belt then match with shoe.

2\. Use 2 to 3 different colors match, preferably: one main/front, one
alternate/background and one terriary/accentuation color.

3\. Dress to a stereotype. I dress a bit /fancy (e.g. dress shoes and buttoned
shirt)

But most days I don’t care, and dress for comfort, lol.

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aguzzi94
Thank you for taking the time to respond :)

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thiago_fm
There's a company in Germany that has been doing this for a long time:
[https://www.modomoto.de/](https://www.modomoto.de/)

I'm not sure if it's profitable. I think it's a really average idea / business
model, to be honest.

~~~
aguzzi94
Thank you :) We're confident though, because we have a new approach to the
problem and to the way people go shopping. Also we have a lot of expertise in
the fashion market

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MichaelKovacs
I used to work outside of tech and noticed that people in other areas think
about it more. We (tech) default to systems for recurring things like what to
wear but I remember more creative fields like agencies and media seemed to
think about this a lot. Walk through a creative agency office and you can see
that everyone makes an effort each day. Maybe there will be some more feedback
from those people. Just a thought.

As for me, system all the way. 6 t-shirts, 3 jeans, jacket when needed.

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aguilar
Before going to sleep I use to check my wardrobe to see what is available for
the next morning. I spend less then 5 minutes mentally selecting the
combination I will use.

~~~
digital_voodoo
This is me.

~~~
aguzzi94
Thank you for your response. Same as above for you :)

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rblion
None.

I wear the same white alpaca sweater almost every day, the building I work
inside is cold. I wear the same pear of jeans almost every day. I pick
whatever shirt is clean and feel like wearing.

When I go out to a nice event, celebration, date, etc. I usually wear my
Armani blazer and whatever shirt (maybe tie). Takes a few minutes at most.

Hiking/camping - whatever is in my bag that is clean.

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cwt
Not much time. I've almost naturally fallen into a rhythm of wearing the same
4 shirts to work M-Th and Friday is jeans/casual. I alternate between a few
pairs of pants. So, less than a minute is spent deciding and looking for my
work clothes. Going out, I tend to wear whatever is top-of-stack, weather
permitting.

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arandr0x
Not a ton (I have an idea come to mind either in the night or the morning) but
I easily spend 5min finding the stuff inside my closet and then an extra 3min
debating if it's OK for the current weather and if I need extra layers or
waterproof layers and if I own warm or waterproof things that match with my
previous idea of what I want to wear.

~~~
aguzzi94
If you're interested in a solution that will take that time virtually to 0,
please check out our app: [https://www.getvispo.com](https://www.getvispo.com)

It generates combinations with your own clothes, based on the occasion (work,
party etc.), weather, season, and a touch of our Italian taste. You can also
save the combinations for future use. In this way you can always remember what
you have in your closet, discover new great combinations you've never thought
of, and save a lot of time.

~~~
arandr0x
I don't think I'm your target audience. I like thinking about what to wear.
(I'm female so maybe HN will forgive me for being a bad technologist
stereotype in this way)

What I would want would be if I stumbled out of bed, said "where the
(expletive) is my warm but super short dress" and Tony Stark's butler made it
fly out of under the five cardboard boxes it has somehow fallen behind and
went "Dear lady, it is freezing outside. Would you like cheeky printed tights
or lace ones with this? Your favorite leather jacket is probably piled up
under your Macbook."

Alas, I do not have a robot butler, and so I am seriously considering sticking
RFID tags inside my clothing so I can have an app that tells me whether it is,
in fact, hung up somewhere and I'm too sleep deprived to see it or I forgot to
do laundry _again_.

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cafard
For work days, essentially none. My wife sets out the clothes for me, and my
role is limited to choosing brown or black shoes and belt. (Well socks, but
generally that's whatever's in the front of the door.)

She has all the clothes sense that I have never particularly had.

~~~
aguzzi94
Your wife is stealing our job! Good for you :) If you (or her) want a second
opinion, please check out our app:
[https://www.getvispo.com](https://www.getvispo.com) It generates countless
combinations with your own clothes, based on the occasion (work, party etc.),
weather, season, and a touch of our Italian taste. You can also save the
combinations for future use. In this way you can always remember what clothes
you have in your closet, discover new great combinations you've never thought
of, and save a lot of time.

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big_paps
None. I almost only have blue, white, or grey colored clothings, so i pull out
the upmost shirt, underwear, pair of trousers every day and i always look
superfresh and perfect.

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kspy
stared buying blank mono color shirts (amazon essentials has cheap ones that
are fine quality) just so I don't need to really think about it on my way to
work in the morning

~~~
aguzzi94
Thanks for your response :)

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seidlitz
Zero. Well, maybe I do spend a couple seconds, but not more...

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psv1
None - all of my everyday clothes are the same.

~~~
aguzzi94
Thank you.

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natalyarostova
5 seconds.

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aguzzi94
Thanks :)

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_ah
There are only two decision points in daily clothing: (1) What to buy, and (2)
what to wear. If you've bought correctly, the "what to wear" decision is 5-120
seconds and no more. There's no pain to alleviate here... even a free service
that told me what to wear today would be useless to me, and would take longer
than just choosing myself.

This leaves the purchase decision, which is far more profitable and is (I
assume) the focus of your venture. I see 5 primary market segments here:

1\. Buy cheap, quick, lower quality. Any generic discount store or retail
website fills this niche.

2\. Buy cheap, higher quality (or better style), at the cost of time. Mid-tier
retailers do well here, but it requires a heavy investment of time and mental
energy to know what you want and find it on sale.

3\. Buy quality, full price, auto selected. These are your monthly
subscription box services.

4\. Buy quality, full price, curated. Here you go to a store and someone
knowledgeable helps select clothing that fits your requirements. Clothes may
be tailored / bespoke. Nothing is ever on sale.

5\. Buy quality, full price++, individualized. This is when you have a
personal shopper / style consultant who knows you, knows your measurements,
and shops at all the stores on your behalf.

If you're solving the question of "What do I buy? What is my personal brand?"
then you're playing exclusively in categories 3-4. You want people who are bad
at decisions, have disposable income, but also aren't ultra-wealthy and thus
don't _need_ the luxury human touch. I'm not convinced that this is an
unsolved problem: you'll be competing with incumbents and need to be
_dramatically_ {cheaper, better, better marketed}.

Clothing, particularly men's clothing, is pretty darn simple. If there's any
real edge left in the "what do I buy" business, it's probably fashion curation
based on body type (especially women's body type) which can be quite variable.
There are a number of efforts under way here but I don't feel like anyone
truly owns this space yet.

And since you asked, my personal datapoints: I am in category #2 (I'm cheap,
but I care about quality and am willing to put in the time). Once I feel
comfortable enough in my income I'll move directly to category #4 (pay for
quality + convenience). I don't feel that category #3 offers good value, and
I'm a long way off from affording category #5. I have a curated wardrobe of
~10 very nice dress shirts for daily wear and a set of "black base" jeans /
shoes, plus a set of "brown base" jeans / shoes to match with the chosen
shirt. Each morning I look at my closet and am done deciding within ~1 minute.

If you think you have an edge here, I'm genuinely curious to know what it is
:)

