I Created an App

If you know me or have read any of my ramblings, you know I’m a big fan of AI.  I am not an IT-savvy, technical computer person – just one with a few ideas and a penchant to learn new things – but AI has allowed me to bring many things to life, which includes this website and now my own app. 

For years, I had this note sitting in my phone: ‘App idea: app that you input your body type and style, then it scours the web and recommends clothing and accessory items for you to buy.’ 

I am someone who believes it’s important to be well put together – however you define that – both to represent you as a brand as well as give you that extra bit of ‘oomph’ to spark your confidence (who doesn’t love a good power suit when giving an important presentation?).  I also pride myself on being someone who is appropriately dressed for any occasion – you won’t catch me wearing a clubbing outfit to the office or a garden party dress to a charity gala.

Problem was – given I was a busy professional – I didn’t always have a lot of time to be searching for and trying outfits that would work for me.  The app idea was something that appealed to me as it would help meet a need in my life, whilst saving time and money.  By making smart shopping decisions I could also reduce the negative environmental impact of returning items when something turns out to be not quite right (which is something I’ve started to become increasingly more conscious of as well). 

I had the idea, but I had no way to build it unless I sought out a developer who could help me.  Without the time to do so, this idea sat in my phone unexplored for years.  Now, with the latest developments in AI, a bit more free time on my hands, and the inclination to explore the viability of this, it could go beyond just an idea sitting on my phone.  So I am proud to say I have now built a fully functioning app that helps meet my goal of always being well-dressed – whether that’s for the office, date night, a dinner with friends, travel, or any other event, I’ve created an app that will recommend clothing of my style to suit my body type, colour palette, and personal preferences. 

Meet prêt-à-fit ("ready to fit"), your personal shopping app. Style that fits. In every sense.

The app isn’t just for me, it’ll work for any man, woman, or non-binary person who is OK with online shopping.  It takes into account your body type (e.g., pear, inverted triangle, hourglass, athletic, rectangle, etc.), colour palette (cool, warm, neutral, deep), style icons, shipping preferences, dislikes, and budget all to recommend clothing options that are just right for you. 

I am such a fan of AI because whilst Rome wasn’t built in a day, an app can be.  Just kidding – it was only the first basic iteration that Claude built in minutes.  The whole process has required lots of testing, integration across different platforms, and further refinement which has been ongoing for a while now as I wanted to create something that I would genuinely use and I hope others would to.    I don’t know that this will ever become anything beyond a fun project I worked on but at the least, I believe that with AI changing the nature of work, having practical hands-on experience will help me when I eventually do land my next job.   

It’s all done; I’m just working out some final details before putting it into production.  If this sounds like something you would use, please join the waitlist so I can gauge interest and decide whether this is something I really should pursue forward (I’m only asking for email and name so that you will be notified if/once I go live and you can decide then whether you want to become a member).  Please also consider sharing with anyone who may be interested.  You can also follow my Instagram account if you want free styling advice or just want to follow my journey.

If you have an idea but don’t know where to start, start simple and go from there.  Here’s the exact prompt I started with in Claude: 

I have this idea to create an app where you input your body type and colour palette then it scours the web and recommends clothing and accessory items for you to buy and wonder if this is something you can help me with?  If so, how much work would be required and how difficult would it be?

Helpful hint if you’re using Claude, you can create a project and set project instructions.  I set instructions to Claude to keep things in simple language so I can easily follow along when I’m required to do specific tech-y things, e.g., setting up the necessary GitHub account and promoting any code changes.  For reference, here were my standing project instructions:

I have no experience with coding and no computer science background, so I need you to keep instructions easy to comprehend for an inexperienced non-tech person please.