My Style Genie — A Cool New Fashion Site

I was recently asked to be a beta tester for a new interactive fashion website called My Style Genie. What’s it all about? Well, it’s a virtual closet. And online shopping. And a fashion blog. And access to a personal shopper and stylist. All rolled into one.

I am really excited about the possibilities for this site. And if you have a love/hate relationship with organizing your closet, and/or OCD, and/or no idea what to wear, then you will be, too.

This image gives you a general idea of how My Style Genie works.

When you first sign up, you start off by filling out a profile. And it’s pretty in-depth, as it should be. You tell the Genie all about your body type, your likes and dislikes, your coloring, and more. It’s really important to give it as much information as possible, so that your wardrobe experience is as tailored as possible.

From there, you can start putting together outfits of your choice and do some shopping. Polyvore addicts will find this feature familiar, but even easier to use. And the category filters are great. You can search by season, occasion, color, retailer, budget — all the things that matter.

But it’s when you explore the site a little more that you start to notice some seriously cool stuff. My absolute favorite thing to do is have the “Genie Stylist” suggest outfits for me. We all have that one shirt we wear with the same pants every single time. Fashion ruts are perfectly normal, but with My Style Genie, they are no longer unavoidable. You simple pick an item, and MSG will suggest either items from your own closet, or from retailers, to combine with it.

Here’s an example:

I picked a cute black Eileen Fisher top that, while versatile, always ends up with skinny jeans and boots. MSG gave me suggestions for 10 different outfits using this top. I really love it with those grey trousers!

MSG also allows you to save outfits and name them. So far, I’m saving outfits I think would be cute for a couple of trips I have this summer, and for the days I work up at the kids’ school. And what’s really cool is that you can track when you wore each saved outfit, so that you don’t commit a faux pas and wear it again too soon or with the same crowd!

You can also upload images and information about all the clothes, shoes and handbags you already own. I have this pink shirt from Old Navy, so I grabbed a screenshot from the Old Navy website, uploaded the pic, and then filled out the detailed profile for that particular top.

If you want the Genie to be able to “interact” with your existing wardrobe, uploading and providing info is a must, of course. It is time consuming, though. Depending on the size of your closet, it’s at least a weekend project, I’d think. But it’s a must-do for true fashionistas, or anyone who wants to get the most use from what she already owns.

And one other feature I really dig is the Shelves. This is where you organize your virtual closet by categories. You can save items you want to buy on your Wish List (fashion lust and envy at it’s finest!). Put things on the Suitcase shelf to get organized when you’re packing for a trip. Do you use the dry cleaners a lot? It can be tough to remember what you have out, but the Cleaners shelf can help you track that. And you can even make tax time easier by using the Donate shelf throughout the year.

So what do I not like about My Style Genie?

• It’s still a little buggy. I can tell there are still some cosmetic issues (overlapping text, weird formatting) that need to be fixed here and there, but for the most part, functionality is just fine.
• The designers list isn’t huge, and it tends to be heavy on the high-end brands. As much as I love Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, etc., they’re always going to be on my wish list, not in my wardrobe. Also, there need to be more retailers. The list right now is really small.
• The site can be a little confusing to use. Some pages are pretty cluttered, and it took me a while to figure out what I was doing.
• The ads on the site are intrusive.

No, it’s not perfect yet, but like I said, I think it has tons of potential. Every woman I know would benefit from using this site in one way or another. For shopping, organization, styling, whatever — My Style Genie can work magic for you.

Want to sign up for My Style Genie? It’s not open to everyone just yet, so use this special invite link to sign up. Your invite code is MSGVIPamybhole. I’d love to know what you think of the site!