• Our Top Five Fashion Apps

Whether you’re shopping from your phone or keeping up to date with industry news, there’s a fashion-focused app for every sartorial need. Last week Vogue launched a new one – Vogue Today – so to welcome it to the fashion app sphere I’ve pulled together a list of the most stylish downloads out there. From the best photo editor, to global street style feeds, these should all have a place on your phone.


Chic Feed

This app pulls together images from the street style sites and blogs, including The Sartorialist, Jak and Jill, Face Hunter and LookBook. It’s invaluable as a source of instant inspiration, especially now that street style snaps have surpassed runway reviews as a barometer of what’s new and exciting in fashion right now.

Chic Feed is free on both the iPhone and Android, and users can filter their feed by different sites – if you only want to follow The Sartorialist, that’s an option. It loads faster than visiting the original websites on your phone, but has the same minimalist layout that you would expect. And if you want a closer look at an image, each one is still linked to the original post it was pulled from.


ShopStyle

I live on shopstyle.co.uk, a website that lets you search millions of items from hundreds of brands when you’re looking for something specific. Now their app lets you browse clothes, shoes and accessories in the same way from your phone; filtering by colour, category, price, size, style and brand to find exactly what you need. Whether it’s a black skirt for under £50, or a designer clutch straight from the runway, ShopStyle can find it and link you directly to the website where you can buy it.

The app is only available for iPhone and iPad users right now, and lets them share their favourite finds via email, facebook and Twitter – so your friends and followers can weigh in with their thoughts before you buy via ShopStyle’s seamless checkout process.



Afterlight

Afterlight gives you greater control over your images than Instagram (another must-download, but too obvious to make it onto this list). The deceptively simple design makes it easy for photography novices to get a handle on the editing process, with filters that are adjustable according strength so that you can either give them a subtle enhancement or a completely different feel. Afterlight fans say it has more natural-looking filters than other photo editing apps, and I love the way you can play with dusty textures and light leaks, adapting the filters to each individual photo.

It costs $0.99 to download for the iPhone, but we recommend it if you want your pictures to stand out when you share them via emails, facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr or any other apps on your phone.



Swaag

One for the guys, Swaag looks a lot like Instagram but is entirely focussed on men’s street style; you can search for pictures by brand, hashtag or your favourite users. Unlike other street style apps, Swaag users often focus in on their accessories rather than the whole outfit – expect a lot of sneaker shots – but the most exciting thing is that you can tag different brands within your photo, in the same way that you would tag friends on facebook.

Less glossy, polished and posed than traditional street style forums, Swaag has a fresh and spontaneous feel with high energy. Users can even challenge each other to a ‘battle,’ letting community members vote on which look has more Swagg, or  group photos within different trends like Hipster, Sneakerhead or Dapper.



Vogue Today

Just launched last week, the latest app from Vogue promises to be “a daily slice” of the magazine, and “your personal fashion assistant” at the same time. Fashion Forecasts match the day’s weather to a suitable outfit, while a Buy of the Day and Quote of the Day (from industry insiders like Lilly Daché) provide bite-sized sartorial advice.

The best feature, though, has to be the Today I’m Wearing photo diary – taken over by a different trend setter each month, who photographs their outfit every day for Vogue’s readers. Past participants have included Mira Doma and Poppy Delevingne, and the images are always suitably slick.

So far the app is mostly a compilation of content that is already available on vogue.co.uk, but in a layout that’s much easier to navigate from your mobile phone. We’re looking forward to seeing what Vogue will add to the app, to solidify their position as the ultimate authority on style.

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