How I’m using my Notes app as a wardrobe hack to streamline getting dressed

Copy and pasting my way to fuss-free dressing.

I imagine for some people getting dressed is a pleasurable process. Their outfits come together seamlessly, like in Cinderella when little birds delicately drape clothing over her limbs. I really can’t relate to both the former and the latter (I’m sure you also can’t relate to the getting dressed by birds part). As much as I love fashion, finding an outfit I feel myself in has always been a challenge.

A few years ago I wrote a piece for Fashion Journal about the way my anxiety disorder impacts getting dressed. What I described then still rings somewhat true today, despite me having a much better handle on my anxiety, a more finely tuned personal style and a more robust sense of self.

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“For my anxious mind, the paradox of choice fashion presents can be debilitating. I look at sleeker women around me – women with capsule wardrobes and a penchant for Pleats Please by Issey Miyake – and I aspire to that level of assuredness. To commit to a look and a palette so completely has always been beyond me, and besides, whatever I choose to wear, I end up feeling too much of one thing and not enough of another,” I wrote.

I know it’s strange to quote myself but there were (and still are) so few articles about anxiety disorders and clothing-related meltdowns that my article is still one of the first results when you Google ‘anxiety and fashion’.

Over the years, there are strategies I’ve implemented that mitigate the likelihood of a meltdown occurring. I ruthlessly cull any items that don’t fit right or are hard to wear or style, I invest in versatile, high-quality pieces and I prioritise comfort. I even use a spreadsheet to methodically decide what I’m going to buy each season (if you’re also a bit unhinged, you can read about the method to that madness here).

I’m always on the hunt for hacks that can make this process even more pain-free and I’m very fond of ‘gamifying’ my life – you have to get your kicks somehow – so I knew I’d found something useful when I came across content creator @isabellapmayer’s video. Although it’s no longer online, she explained how she uses her iPhone’s notes app to create what is essentially a digital catalogue of her favourite outfits.

So how does the hack actually work? Well, you’ll need an iPhone with the iOS 16 update (apologies android users). If you have the required technology, all you need to do is tap on an image where you can clearly see your full outfit and then click ‘copy’ when it outlines the subject of the image (aka you). It’s then as simple as creating a note and pasting your outfits in there, one by one. Genius, right?

I’ve only been compiling my outfits like this for the last few weeks, and I’ve used photos from across the last few months, but I’ve already had some fashion-centric revelations. Seeing a selection of your favourite outfits altogether helps you see what styles, colours and silhouettes you gravitate towards. It’s useful information that can help you get a firmer grasp on what you do and don’t like, information you can put to use when deciding what to remove and what to add to your wardrobe.

For instance, I didn’t realise just how much orange and green I wore, but seeing it all laid out made a compelling case for me to start wearing colour more regularly. I own a lot of black items because they’re easy to style but I definitely feel my best when my outfits are bright.

I find that outfits can look too block-like when I pair a coloured item with a plain black item, so I’m now focusing on bringing pants and skirts in colours like beige and blue into my wardrobe.

It’s also served as a reminder to wear dresses and skirts more often. I’m a pants person, but some of my favourite outfits have resulted from me going outside my comfort zone and trying different silhouettes, like mini or midi skirts.

Now when I’m getting dressed these components are front of mind for me, and if I’m in a real tizz and the clothes are piling up faster than my student debt, I know I can reach for my Notes app. When everything else fails, I have tried and true outfit formulas to fall back on that I don’t have to rack my brain for.

It’s not as easy as being dressed by birds, and it’s not as impressive as Cher’s digital wardrobe in Clueless (if we had more women working in tech I swear this wardrobe would have been made a reality a long time ago), but it’s something. And if getting dressed isn’t always easy for you, it’s a hack that’s worth trying.

This article was originally published on May 8, 2023.

For advice on culling your wardrobe, head here.