The inspiration behind "whattowear" stemmed from the desire to reduce the impact of fast fashion. With the rise of mass produced and cheap clothing, a lot of users are tempted to purchase before checking their wardrobe for similar outfits. To reduce this friction, WhatToWear is an in-pocket solution that makes it easily available to all users as a constant reminder to check the website (and their e-Wardrobe) to cross reference their purchase choices. We understand that wardrobes are either too far away from users or are filled with too many outfits for users to remember or have the time to look through. Hence, this could potentially reduce the issue of purchasing similar outfits (a common issue among those with very consistent taste in outfit choices).
Additionally, we recognise that a lot of time is spent daily to avoid repeated outfits when meeting the same people, spending excessive time contemplating daily attire and planning future outfits. This is especially important for users, like students who go to weekly classes and mistakenly wear the same outfit each class. Hence, our website aims to also enhance the efficiency and creativity in daily outfit selection.
The team collaborated on developing the "whattowear" app, focusing on different aspects: We coordinated and discussed the design of the website, the user flow, the database and the different logics to be implemented.
Some members of the team worked on the frontend and the backend of the website at the same time, while some did only the frontend or the backend and thereafter integrated it together. We also saved the data in both the MongoDB and the localStorage for easier reference to the data in the frontend logic.
In the outfits page, we allow the users to view the outfits worn in the previous week side by side when the user chooses the outfits for the current week. By showcasing outfits worn in the previous week, we believe that users can visually compare and contrast their style choices, allowing them to notice patterns, experiment with different looks, and avoid repetition.
Our team took some time to break down the different actions and the schema of the database before going into the code. We also encountered challenges in integrating the frontend with the backend, ensuring seamless communication between different components. Additionally, coordinating the development of various features posed logistical challenges that required effective communication and collaboration.
Successfully establishing a functional app that addresses the outlined challenges was a significant accomplishment. The team is proud of implementing features such as outfit planning for specific days as well as a user-friendly wardrobe management system.
Despite some team members initially lacking familiarity with the MERN tech stack, we demonstrated resilience and adaptability by acquiring new skills on the fly during the coding phase of the project. We are proud to be able to successfully complete the development of this project that we are passionate about.
Through the development process, the team gained valuable insights into coordinating tasks, integrating frontend and backend components, and designing a cohesive user experience. It also served as an excellent opportunity to enhance skills in web development, database management, and teamwork. Moreover, this experience also provided some of us an opportunity to explore and become acquainted with a tech stack that was previously unfamiliar to us.
Future plans for "whattowear" include:
Weather Based Recommendations: Integrate a weather API to provide users with outfit suggestions based on the current weather conditions in their location.
Social Sharing: Allow users to share their outfits with their friends so that they can coordinate and plan their outfits
Randomised Outfit Recommendation: Recommend a random outfit to the user
MongoDB , Express.js, React, Node.js (MERN)