A little while after Polyvore closed down, I felt like making a fashion set. So. I went online and did a web search to try to find a website like Polyvore. My initial attempts were futile; nothing came up. I didn't search that hard; usually I reserve most of my web browsing for rummaging through the virtual
bargain bins of online clothing stores. A month or so after my first search, I decided to try again, and managed to find some websites and videos that
were talking about alternatives to Polyvore. And, here's what I found: much to my surprise, there are quite a few Polyvoreish websites. Since I wanted to make more fashion sets, and not check the sites out just for a blog post, I signed up to each site, and this post is coming to you a few weeks after I first signed up.
The first site we're going to look at is:
Shoplook.io
Coincidentally, Shoplook was the first site I registered with. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the site has other web extensions besides ".io". Not sure if those are any different from the ".io" one. I can't say how long this site has been up and running, I don't think it was purpose built as a Polyvore substitute. From what I can gather, the site was originally a sort of data collection site: users would log into the site and indicate their fashion preferences, and the site would make wardrobe suggestions based on the user's profile. After the demise of Polyvore, it looks like Shoplook is trying to fill Polyvore's shoes by adding more features to its site that are similar to the ones that used to be on Polyvore. The website has a blurb stating that it has the largest family of Polyvore users - ex-Polyvore users - on the web. Anyway, here's what one page of the site looks like after I signed in:
So. Obviously, you can see, that you can upload a profile photo. My status after a few sets is: designer.
Not sure what the grapes doodle is all about; hope they aren't sour. My stats are displayed on this page too: seems I've come up empty. That's not unusual, I've found, on Shoplook. Most of the sets by other people I examined had no likes either. One good thing: soon as I created a set it appeared in the recently published sets area; quite unlike Polyvore where my sets wouldn't come up even in searches. Initially, I had some luck with getting exposed - very little - on Polyvore, then poof! Nothing! Hope things stay good on Shoplook.
In order to create a set on Shoplook, you'll need to click on the clothes hanger icon in the upper right corner; maybe there's another way to get started, haven't found it yet. Next, you're sent to a page like this:
The procedure for creating a set on Shoplook is similar to creating a set on Polyvore. On the right hand side of the screen, there are categories of different types of clothing. Here's where I ran into my first problem. Let's say you need that top I have in my set, so, you go to the "tops" category. Now, once you open up to the tops, you'll find a gazillion different tops to choose from. Sounds great, right?Problem is, it's tough as heck to filter them down to what you're looking for. I could find only a couple filters: sort by price: high or low, sort by most recent, most popular, sort by seller; that was about all of the sorting I was able to do. You'll note, just above the table of jeans thumbnails in the pic above, there's a slider on the right side for price. It worked pretty well the first couple times I used it, now it seems to be kaput; it doesn't filter well at all, well, for dresses it wasn't filtering.
There's a Shoplook clipper, too, similar to the Polyvore clipper. I'm happy to report it worked better than the Polyvore clipper the times I have used it. It's available through the Google store and works with only some browsers.
Rounding up the tour of Shoplook, here's a couple sets I created; here's my first set on Shoplook:
Actually, I think the clutch the model is holding works a little better with that dress than the quilted clutch I picked out; this set was only a test.
Next set I did:
A little Spartan. And here's some of my recent sets:
These were pretty good; I'd wear any one of these outfits.
Overall, my experience on Shoplook has been fairly good. I had no problems with the clipper. The set creation system is a little less versatile than Polyvore's. I don't mind that I haven't figured out how to do transparencies or cropping on Shoplook - if that's even doable there at all.The big problem is sorting through the clothing choices to get what I need for a set. My last months on Polyvore, I always wanted a background for sets; here, on Shoplook, there aren't many background images to choose from.
Here's somewhere else to make fashion sets:
urstyle.com
Urstyle is similar to Shoplook. One difference: Urstyle has a user forum for users to ask questions, give answers, and make remarks. It's separate from most of the rest of Urstyle. There didn't seem to be a lot of ways for users to communicate on Shoplook: you'll note the mail icon and alerts; that seems to be about it; send someone mail.
After registering on Urstyle, here's my home page, I guess you could call it:
You can upload a profile pic here, too. The little green dot next to my photo indicates I'm online. Choosing a different colored dot means different things: don't disturb, online but hidden, things like that. Right off the bat, I received feedback on my sets; the bell icon and number inside the red circle show I've been noticed and by whom. To get the set process going, click on the "create" icon, maybe there's another way to get there, but that icon takes you to the set creation page. The mechanics of creating sets on Urstyle is very similar to Shoplook. Fortunately, there are more filters to help you find what you need for your set: sorting by colors, a little better on the pricing, also, if you enter a key word - for instance: flares - Urstyle seems a little more responsive to those requests than Shoplook.
My first Urstyle set was this:
That's how it looks on the page displaying all of my sets. Here's an up close and personal view of the set:
Pretty basic styling. Coincidentally, I used fancy borders, similar to the picture frame used in this set, for my first Polyvore sets.
I created another set, too:
Looks pretty nice. Here's one I did recently:
Urstyle has contests, too. The one and only competition I've seen is sponsored by Urstyle; the contest is to use a Urstyle item in a set. The top winners receive Urstyle items as prizes. There appeared to be some kind of contests going on on Shoplook, but I think they've expired, and the Shoplook folks haven't updated their site since then. Maybe more in the future. Urstyle has a clipper too. I might have to do an update about these Polyvoreish websites in the future, because I have not added the Urstyle clipper to my browser yet, so, I can't say how well it works, or not.
Next:
trendme.net
It's much like the previous two:
Trendme has unrelated ads throughout the website, as you can see here.
Here's what a profile page looks like:
You can choose which of your stats you'd like to share with others: private, friends, or public. You'll notice your profile page can be customized with a header photo; not sure I'll do that, maybe I will.
To create a set, just follow the-click-the-icon routine of the other websites, which brings you to here:
Pretty much like the other websites. The trendme set maker is fairly easy to use. Maybe easier than the urstyle set maker. The item selection filters are helpful and there are useful features to arrange the items in the set. Once you're ready to publish, a new screen pops up:
Simply enter the pertinent set info and hit "save" and voila! You're good to go.
Instead of a clipper, trendme has a way to upload images from your computer or from a URL:
Honestly, I like this method much better than an add on or app attached to my browser.
Our final stop on this whirlwind tour of the Polyvoreish side of the web, is here:
Bantoa.com
When I read the many rules attached to this website's requirements for making a set on the website, I couldn't help but think of it resembling a finishing school for "young ladies". To make a set on Bantoa, first you have to apply to be a "trendsetter". The application wasn't as scary for me as it first sounded; I was accepted without any fuss. Trendsetters are the people who make the sets on Bantoa, and those sets are used to promote products and to be examples of good style. Naturally, I was glad to become part of such a well thought of group.
There are a heck of a lot of rules on Bantoa. Of course every website that isn't hosted by your own web server has terms and conditions, but when you make a set on Bantoa, there are extra rules to follow, too:
Once you've figured all of that out, you're ready to make a set:
Items have to be "imported" first to a sort of palette, then, the items can be arranged on the "mood board". A nice part of this website is that you get your own trendsetter channel, and there are various widgets you can attach to your blog - if you've got one - that lead back to Bantoa. Of course, Bantoa is getting some free publicity with those widgets which are almost like little adverts. Not sure if I'm going to add any of the widgets to this board, or even how to do that if I wanted to; next time I bump into my ex Buddy, I'll ask him; he should know.
Back to the Bantoa sets: you'll note that in one of the pics that there are do's and don'ts tips for making a set; Bantoa says it has the right to edit sets so they'll be more aesthetically pleasing, so, not wanting to cause a fuss, I've been trying to do my best to follow their guidelines.
Here's a couple of my sets, brought to you courtesy of URLs provided by Bantoa.
To help you make your sets, and help Bantoa out too, you'll need to decide on some categories before starting work on your masterpiece: body shape, intended gender of potential wearer, age, affordability, stuff like that. Once you've got what you'd like to use, you can choose a limited number of those items to be in your set: three to six; very limited. Also, you must use items on the Bantoa website, no uploads or clippers at Bantoa.
Hmm. So those are websites where you can make Polyvoreish sets. Now, what other features do these websites have? Well, I'm glad you asked. One common feature is a points system. For instance, I receive ten points for each set I create on Bantoa. You get points from all manner of things on Urstyle: uploading images, liking sets, commenting, getting likes for your sets, things like that. Urstyle even has a points leader board, and let me tell you, baby, it looks pretty daunting; by my calculations I'll need to work hard on Urstyle every day for a few years to get close to the top Urstylist points leaders. Of course, they might be doing the same thing in the meantime, so, I might be going nowhere fast. Shoplook has points, too. Not sure about Trendme; I'll need to take a closer look. Now, what to do with all of those points? On Urstyle, point leaders for a certain time period get a prize. I think on Bantoa you get something too. It looks like Shoplook had something going on with the its point system in the past, though now it seems to be in hiatus. I'm pretty sure that on all of these sites, getting more points gets you a title change, from maybe designer to style icon, for instance. If you made a certain number of sets during a fixed time period on Polyvore, you'd get a title too, based on how many sets you made. Of course, there were here titles only, and, nicely, it wasn't tough to get the highest ("Style Icon") ranking.
The final, and most important part of these sites, is shopping. Like Polyvore, these sites' raison d'etre is to link visitors up with online stores and other outlets for shopping for clothes. I couldn't say in a general way what the business model for shopping is for these sites. That's because some sites seem to be working with certain stores, and some offer a limited number of items from stores. Polyvore had a number of programs to help businesses grow: stores could offer contests and they could like or encourage the efforts of set creators as well - those were some of Polyvore's suggestions on their business page. Also stores could become more closely affiliated with Polyvore and their products would be featured at the top of search lists. If someone clicked on an item listed on Polyvore, and they were sent by a link to the site the item originated from, supposedly, Polyvore was charging the stores whose items were clicked on, a fee per click. I uploaded some items from my Pinterest account, and, phew! I wasn't charged.
One thing I miss from Polyvore, and am not getting at these new sites, is a way to link to my blogger and tumblr accounts so my sets are automatically shown on those accounts. So easy at Polyvore! Well, actually, I did have some technical problems once in a while, but, for the most part, it was very convenient. Some of these new sites have Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter buttons, but it's just not the same. For instance, I linked my Shoplook account to my Pinterest account, but when I push the button to send my set to Pinterest, it seems to go off into a nether world; there's no board choice. I'm not sure what happened to those sets. I've got a big collection of big boards on Pinterest, and I guess it's going to take some searching. Ughh! Wish things were more automatic and not so manual. Of course, I do look through and edit at Pinterest because sometimes things do go astray and I like to look at my old stuff once in a while, still...
Well, guess that's about it for now about making fashion sets. Hope this helped anyone out there whose craving to do a set, and just hasn't because of Polyvore's demise and not being able to find an alternative. Or, hope you found today's post interesting in some way. Check back again for more fascinating fashion nuggets.
Catchya later.
Ciao.
Trendme has been tricky to work with, as of late. They've got a sort of video game scoring system that shows users progress on the site, though I'm having a heck of time getting out of the beginner bracket. Maybe something is wrong with it. I think the max points you can get for an individual action is less than 75, and the max level requires almost 2000000 points, so I don't think gaining the max level title is going to happen for me. I've got almost 25000 tumblr posts, but I don't see myself doing the almost 30000 tasks on trendme to get to the max level.
I'm still really into the whole boho/hippy thing. Also, in the last set, took a walk down grunge lane. I haven't added or uploaded any items, because I'd need the Urstyle clipper and I'm not sure I want to develop a huge collection of apps on my browser. I finally found the price filter, and it's been helpful selecting items. I like the brick-a-brac stuff too, but I seem to be getting near the bottom of that barrel, and so soon too!
