Thursday, April 5, 2018

The end of Polyvore.

Today's post is about the end of Polyvore. In case you haven't heard the news, the website Polyvore has been acquired by SSENSE. If you're already on Polyvore, undoubtably you already know this, if not, you've probably gotten a full introduction to Polyvore from my blog. 
The demise of Polyvore wasn't a complete surprise to me when I tried to log on today and was redirected to SSENSE, instead. The past couple of weeks, actually, months, I had noticed a decrease in the number of contests on Polyvore; both Polyvore contests and contests sponsored by companies like Shein, Romwe, etc. For instance, for the past few months, Polyvore had sponsored one group of three contests a week, instead of the bi-weekly group of three contests it had offered last year. However, I didn't think too much of it; I guess I could have tried searching for business news about Polyvore.
So. What exactly the heck is SSENSE? I'd visited one of their sites before, and it's a wee bit confused - maybe, non-SSENSical; it's basically a blog site which has links, or an online store, to or for various fashion brands. Unlike Polyvore, there doesn't seem to be any user input; I'm not sure you could leave even a comment anywhere on the site. Maybe if you buy something - I guess that's the deal: buy something, you can say something.
Honestly, I don't see much "SSENSE" in buying Polyvore if SSENSE is just going to make it into their own website. Maybe it was to just eliminate the competition.
The demise of Polyvore has generated mixed emotions in me: on one hand, I created over 4000 sets on Polyvore, most of the sets were contest entries. Out of those 4000 sets, only 11 were trophy winners. I had never won a single Polyvore sponsored contest, all of my wins were in apparel company contests. I have not received any financial remuneration from any of my wins, as a matter of fact, I received an email, just a few days ago, giving me instructions on how to redeem my prize.  It doesn't look possible since they wanted a link to the winning set. That's usually what happened: something always went wrong: I'd win a prize, and get no email, get the email with only a couple days or a week to buy something, or get an email requiring me to do something that wasn't possible to accomplish. So. I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. On the other hand, it looks like clothes will start getting more expensive without an increase in quality; SSENSE is not the cheapest source, and they might be trying to create a higher price trend.
My other feelings about Polyvore disappearing: it was an easy outlet for my fashion creativity: setting up an outfit on Polyvore was easy. I got exposure to more and different clothing and stores. I guess I'll miss making my own outfit sets the most. Can't think of anywhere else to do it. Also, participants could get stuff they found on the web, onto Polyvore as well, so that was a plus.
I guess I could say it's the end of an era. But, since I'll have a wee bit more time on my hands, not making sets, the beginning of a new era.
Hope the news doesn't hit you too hard. Who knows?Maybe Polyvore will come back. If not, provided Blogger still exists, you can always check here for a dose of unbiased, unadulterated, fashion.
Catchya later.
Ciao.

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