How Do You Find Chic?

Never were two words more explanatory than the apt named CHIC-Finder, a new fashion app brand. I can hear your cheers of joy, my readers, at the launch of another fashion app. I am a proponent of fashion apps as some of you know from reading my Diary of a Fashion Apps Junkie post a couple of months ago; however, I had to go through self-enforced rehab after I realized that my use of fashion apps was beyond out of control.

I was, therefore, skeptical when asked by CHIC-Finder to review their app. I doubted if the app could really fulfill its mission amidst the already crowded fashion apps’ landscape. Chic-Finder is a fashion community, fashion-finder and shopping tool all rolled into one. It did not take me long to wonder how this app would be able to successfully fulfill all of these functions

The process to register with CHIC-Finder consist of immediately selecting a minimum of three community members to follow before moving on to the selection of a minimum of three brands to follow. I will admit I was initially taken aback by having to select followers so quickly after registering. I felt like I was at a mixer where I had just stepped into the room, put on my name tag and was commanded to go find three people to meet. I quickly moved on in the process with a feeling of where is this app going to take me next?

I was subsequently taken to a feed page that contained pictures collected by the community members I followed. This is really where it became interesting. CHIC-Finder, I discovered was not just an app for clothing and accessories. There were photos of furniture, sporting equipment and a hodge-podge of many different types of items that made me wonder; now I am getting somewhere. I discovered a toboggan that is so magnificent that if I was into toboggans I would love to have if I belonged to the wealthy crowd. A sled available at Anthropologie conjured up similar feelings.

De Petra Tassel  Mountain Boy Sled

Next, I stumbled upon a distressed dresser that would look superb if I lived in a mansion. Anyway, after I reeled myself back in from the brink of daydream land, I was able to focus on the clothes and accessories again that those I followed had snapped.

The usefulness of the CHIC-Finder shopping feature makes it an app I will probably use to browse specific items by my favorite designers and retailers. The large number of designer brands and the shopping possibilities on CHIC-Finder are unlimited. Approximately 600 clothing and accessory items were available for me to browse when I randomly selected to search for items by 3.1 Phillip Lim and about 3,700 items were found when I conducted a search for items by Asos. There is no doubt that this app is like a hand-held personal shopper.

I can definitely see myself checking in frequently just to see what the community members I have followed decided to visually collect during their fashion excursions on CHIC-Finder. I found more than a few items I am craving right now like this faux-leather dress and metallic tunic:

Regence Tunic; Anthropologie

Zipper-Trim Faux Leather Dress; Charlotte Russe

The primary purpose, however, of CHIC-Finder is to find items identical to or very similar to items a community member photo-snapped while shopping on the app. This feature, as you can imagine, is very handy if you want to find less expensive versions of pieces worn by your favorite celebrities

I put on my cloak of objectivity, tossed on my private eye hat and commenced with my investigation so that I could prepare to identify the pros and cons of CHIC-Finder. I was of the opinion that CHIC-Finder could not possibly find amongst its broad inventory matching fashion finds in a reasonable time frame.

I used the search feature to find shirts similar to a sheer black Asos top I had my eye on. The search results were mostly positive. The shirts presented to me by CHIC-Finder were mostly similar in style to the top on my wish list. There were a few that were throwaways such as a black typography t-shirt and a black polka dot top that did not resemble the shirt that I wanted to become my new BFF. After seeing them, it was a bit like playing can you spot the fakes. I had similar results when I searched for blazers that visually matched a glamorous BCBG MaxAzria print blazer I fell in love with at first sight. All in all, this was a non-issue. I have always subscribed to the mantra that when it comes to finding fashionable clothing and accessories I would rather have more options to choose from than less.

CHIC-Finder is still new; therefore, as with most new apps the brand will make refinements to improve the search process. I expect that this app could become a favorite amongst fashion-lovers. It is user-friendly, contains a lot of fashion inventory to browse and a budding fashion community which gives it a great basis from which it can successfully soar.

I encourage you to find out more about the CHIC-Finder app at http://www.chic-finder.com.

Don’t forget to browse my latest Keaton Row lookbook, Keep Your Cool (in Winter Whites).

Disclaimer: I was not compensated, in any manner, for my review of the CHIC-Finder app.