The holiday shopping season is upon us! If you’re like me, not only do you over indulge in gifts and presents for your friends and family, but you put a pretty hefty dent in your bank account from spending on your personal wardrobe as well. There’s something about a change in the seasons that inspires even the most frugal fashionista to indulge over the holidays. For stylish women with busy lives, it can be hard to simply go into a store without any prep and find items that resonate with your signature style. When this happens we end up with items we ultimately don’t need or want. The apps below help users brainstorm style ideas, find style inspiration from an online community and most importantly, allows them to shop from the comfort of their own phones.

Check out our picks for the best style apps for this season below!

Polyvore

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User: The Creative Style Maven

Operating System: Android and IOS

Think of Polyvore as your fashion oyster, with a number of creative opportunity’s to define your personal style. Polyvore allows users to create collages, called collections, from items that are found on the app.  Users can then share those collections with other users, and swap style ideas and feedback. Since, purchases cannot be made directly through the App, all of the items found on Polyvore link back to their original website- allowing them to be made directly from the retailer.  Typical collections range from celebrity inspired, color inspired, seasonally inspired, and more. Polyvore is a great tool to start coordinating outfits as a whole, and rethinking your personal style.

Stylekick

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User: The Show-Off

Operating System: Android and IOS

The Stylekick community of users has one goal, showing off dope personal style, and following up with purchase. In a set-up that is similar to Instagram, users view photos that are uploaded by other users, and like and leave comments on the photos. In addition, each picture contains an icon that will bring them to a “shop the look” page. From this page, users are linked to the items retail site where they can purchase products. Where Polyvore’s focus is on the individual products and collections that are displayed in mood-board fashion, Stylekick is all about the individual wearing the items, and showing off how they look in real life. Every good fashionista knows that not every chic style can be pulled off by just anyone, and Stylekick allows it’s users to get feedback on whether or not they actually pulled off a look.

Spring

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User: The Shopping Addict

Operating System: Android and IOS

This shopping addict can only think of one word to describe the Spring App, and that is amaze. As a busy, working mom, I don’t always have time to get to the mall. That being said, I still love shopping as much as any dedicated fashion lover. The Spring App has over 1,000 retail brands available to shop from. Users can shop Men, Women’s, Lifestyle, Kids, and Beauty categories, mark favorites, create shopping lists, and browse trends. Spring lets you make purchases directly from the App and you can keep your credit card on file. Mark certain brands and designers as your favorite then browse only those brands when you want to peruse your favorites, or, you can go rogue and browse everything in a particular category all at once. Products are high and low end, allowing shoppers to splurge or stick to their budget respectively. This holiday season, if I don’t pick up the phone, you already know what I’m busy doing.


Elizabeth Aguirre is a Digital Writer and Retail Design Project Manager living and working in Chicago, Il. When she’s not tweeting about social justice issues, she can be found meditating or blogging at cultureofthechi.com.