Well, Swirl. Where do I begin?
Swirl is a social shopping app that truly does live up to its name; it’s a fusion of all things frugal fashionista. Swirl centers on those user-generated collections of “inspiration boards” that have made Pinterest so beloved and essential, but Swirl takes things a step further by letting users breathe life into their dream closets. Swirl locates all those items you can’t live without, in stores, near you, and lets you know when that expensive sweater you bookmarked last summer finally goes on sale. And Swirl lets you browse and clip style inspiration based on stores you actually shop at, so your smart phone becomes your personal shopper whenever you enter the mall. Bonus: While Swirl encourages you to salivate over luxury brands in the way of your Pinterest feed, it also makes it extremely easy to stay on top of current deals and discounts in all your favorite (read: more accessible) stores.
Check out the “Offers” tab and get access to all the sales and promos in Swirl supported stores (just about any brand you can think of, from budget-friendly to luxury, is in this app). Some offers supply you with the necessary coupon codes, while others are advertisements for current in-store sales.
You can use Swirl to follow all of your favorite retailers and discover all the latest products in any given store. You can see what other users are clipping and store your favorites in your own style inspiration boards. And Swirl easily connects you to retailers’ websites, so you can figure out what you’re looking for without having to comb through clothing racks.
I really like a lot of the inspiration boards I can find on Swirl, especially those that break down how to get in on any trend while on any budget.
And there really is little want of fashion inspiration: I can search for items by store, like “Gap” or by item, like “cardigan.” But even though Swirl links up with retailers’ websites so easily, it doesn’t let me clip my own fashion findings, so I’m sort of stuck with what’s already out there in the Swirl-o-sphere. Which, I guess, is okay, since I would be using Swirl primarily to save time but, for the die-hard-design-your-own custom closet type, this could be a bit of a draw back.
So here’s the big question: Is Swirl helping you to save money? Or is it just so temping to see all those pretty little pieces pinned together that the app actually encourages you to spend more? Frugal shoppers, I seriously need you to weigh in. Email me at liz@snipsnap.it!