McHenry graduate develops STYL app

McHENRY – How do I look?

A simple question that doesn’t always come with a simple answer. Unless you have a confidant who will give you their true, constructive opinion, developing your own style can be a true work in progress. How can you tell what’s working and what’s not? Enter the STYL app.

An empathetic app that offers outfit advice, STYL is designed to eliminate hesitation of the user to beg the question, “does this look good on me?”

STYL is the brainchild of McHenry native and West Campus High School graduate Conor Sammartin. In 2012, Sammartin, a current Chicago resident, found himself shopping and struggling to get a handle on what looks good on him. Sammartin knew he wanted help and figured, why not help himself?

“STYL alleviates the hesitancy and anxiety associated with asking for outfit advice,” Sammartin said. “For me, it was standing in the aisle looking at shoes that, at the time, were an investment I wasn’t sure about, and I froze up a bit. When you’re in that moment, the question that sits in your head, ‘should I buy it, wear it, ditch it or keep it?’ has all run through our heads at any given moment of every day.”

In July 2015, along with co-founder Krissy Lloyd, Sammartin left his role as director of athlete marketing at Priority Sports and Entertainment in Chicago to pursue the app solution full time.

“It was beyond scary,” Sammartin said. “I knew nothing about this venture, but I believed in the app strongly enough and knew I couldn’t devote just part of my time to it. I’m lucky that my co-founder is also my fiancé [Lloyd], so she understands what it takes to move this forward and is on board.”

Beta versions of the app have been on the app store for testing since 2016. The official version of STYL launched for all Android and iOS users on May 23.

The process starts with the ASK, a question entered by the user that is displayed for 3 seconds before an image is revealed. This is to ensure those giving feedback understand what the question is before the image is displayed. This allows them to focus on providing helpful advice instead of being stuck on the image.

When a user makes an ASK, the ASK is displayed to the entire STYL community. The user has the option to make the ASK, as well as their account, private before posting, making the ASK viewable only to the users who follow your account. The Inner Circle feature allows the user to receive instant outfit advice from those they deem their most valuable, up to 10 users.

Inner Circle members receive a push notification from the user when urgent outfit advice is needed. Once the advice has been provided, the submitted ASK is removed from the responder’s feed permanently. Simple metrics are displayed so the user can make confident outfit choices based on the feedback.

This seems like a great approach, but being judged on how you look can be a bit of a sensitive situation.

“The hardest part is getting people to be vulnerable,” Sammartin said. “In order to get the info that is needed, you need to ask the question. With Instagram and other photo-based social media, people are afraid to put an honest photo out there. So how can we make it as easy and as comfortable as possible for people to ask the question?”

Sammartin and his team considered this and figured out a way to move beyond said insecurities, encouraging users to “dress confidently, together.”

“We took an empathetic approach,” Sammartin said. “Everyone before us was focused on the advice portion, but after working with a lot of students at Syracuse, we found we needed to focus on the question itself. Eyes go straight to the photo. You’re not going to get accurate advice if you don’t understand what they’re asking for. This is a comfortable way to receive honest and constructive feedback without turning it into a ‘hot or not’ type of situation.”

The app can be used for more than just live shopping advice. Packing for vacation, cleaning out your closet, picking an outfit for a first date or job interview, all are situations that can benefit from additional opinions via the STYL app. San Diego resident Natalie Muccillo began using the STYL app last year after a friend recommended it to her. It wasn’t long before she was hooked.

“First and foremost, the community of people on the app is what makes it special,” Muccillo said. “Everyone is honest and supportive and just wants everyone to look and feel their best. This app is not about showiness and does not have that social media feel to it. It is all about confidence in the clothes you are wearing or thinking about purchasing. I recently posted two pairs of shoes and everyone helped me pick which pair to buy. It was awesome!”

Muccillo said she appreciated the demographic information available in conjunction with the responders as it gave her some insight on the feedback she receives. She also is a fan of the notifications.

“I believe they really hit the nail on the head with notifications,” Muccillo said. “You are only notified of ‘likes’ so you’re not bombarded with negative information about who does not like something. I think that makes you feel more confident, but gives you the freedom to be honest when you aren’t a fan of an outfit. I hope the community continues to grow and that this app is around for a long time.”

The STYL app is available for free download on the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace.

For information on the STYL app, visit www.askstyl.app.