Why you should be using technology to buy your clothing. If you’re lacking style motivation and don’t know what to wear, I’ve teamed up with Thread to talk you through their impressive platform using technology to style your 2021 wardrobe.

Thread, which was founded in London in 2012 has a very snazzy way of allowing us ‘man-about-the-town’ gents to shop for new clothes, by pairing users with stylists who can provide shopping advice through the site.

Obviously, Thread can’t afford to hire personal shoppers to learn all they can about every single one of the site’s users. So, it uses a mixture of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to help its stylists out.

Now, I’ve used Thread before, as their online store is home to some of my favourite brands! But, seeing as my algorithm knows me too well – for this article, I have set up a new account with the mission of finding a new coat for spring – ready to report back to you guys on what the digital journey to buying is truly and honestly like.

Here goes, it’s all very simple and easy to do:

Set up in style

1. Download the Thread app or head to thread.com
2. Sign up and you’ll be asked to provide some key stats about yourself, along with your measurements, what’s currently in your wardrobe, and your budget.
3. I was then prompted to click on a few Instagram-style grid photos which I think best reflect my style (I’m guessing this is where the algorithm starts to kick in)
4. Using that information, you are assigned with a virtual stylist who will start suggesting clothes for you to buy (mine was called Toby, big up Toby!)

Downloading your stylist

• Thread’s stylists then look up what you want to buy, and they suggest individual items as well as full outfits. But after that initial human involvement, Thread uses its algorithms to do some of the heavy lifting.
• I knew what I was looking for, so naturally I started ‘liking’ coats and jackets, letting my online stylist know what I wanted – along with what suits me before Toby emailed over my first download of suggested items – they were spot on!
• Once the stylist has decided on a beige coat, for example, the algorithm looks to find the best ‘beige coat’ for the customer – this would be a hard problem for a human to do because of the volume of clothes to sort through, so the tech really comes into its own here!

Using the platform is a bit like walking down a high street with a personal shopper on your elbow; going just into the shops that catch your eye and then being guided to just the products in those shops that fit your style and budget. It is time efficient and effective shopping at its best.

Threads combination of curation plus AI works well for any individual who isn’t quite sure what they are looking for.

I’d go as far to say, another read AI is great, is that it doesn’t forget anything, unlike humans. For example, if you have a relationship with a stylist for four years and you mentioned something four years ago that you liked or disliked, it’s likely the stylist would forget – whereas a computer never forgets!

The computer also won’t tell you if you shouldn’t buy something…wink, wink. But back to the process of shopping.

Does the style suit you?

• In the app, you’re able to ‘like’ clothing items and add them to your personal likes board. There’s also the ‘ideas’ tab which starts to use all that technology to show you how to style different items – all based on your personal choice and stored data.
• In the ‘ideas’ tab, you have the option to click ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ the ideas being served – as I’ve been looking for a coat, I’ve been served some fantastic styling tips on how dress my coat up for date night, or more casually for popping into town. I think this is an added bonus to make sure your algorithm is working most efficiently, for you.
• Not only did I manage to find a spring jacket that suits my style, the whole process from signing up, being served EXACTLY what I was looking for, to purchasing the jacket and having it on my back took 24 hours. Impeccable Thread.

Overall, the use of Thread for your shopping needs is epic! It’s a seamless development of free, online personal styling service for guys who want to look great without the hassle, combined with thoughts and advice on men’s style – downloaded digitally.

New Thread users receive 20% off their first shop over £75 when they sign up as a new user.

In a world where we can’t go into shops or maybe reluctant to do so, bravo Thread, this is the 21^st century shopping experience men will learn to love. Shop via my affiliate link, click to visit Thread here.