Cookie banner

This site uses cookies. Select "Block all non-essential cookies" to only allow cookies necessary to display content and enable core site features. Select "Accept all cookies" to also personalize your experience on the site with ads and partner content tailored to your interests, and to allow us to measure the effectiveness of our service.

To learn more, review our Cookie Policy, Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.

or
clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

ASOS’s Visual Search Is My New Favorite Pastime

New, 1 comment

Where else can you find an outfit inspired by the Dapper Horse?

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

My favorite website, ASOS.com (this is not #spon, this is just a personal fact about me), has launched a new feature for American shoppers called Style Match, which lets you take a picture of a thing, and then finds items that look like that thing.

Things like the shirt I am currently wearing, which I definitely do not need two of but now I strongly desire one with sherpa lining (items are listed in British pounds because until today, the service was only available in the UK):

Asos’s style match on a buffalo plaid shirt

Or my coworker Marine’s sweater that makes her feel like a flying squirrel:

Asos Style Match red sweater

Or Eater intern Christine’s incredible bumblebee earrings:

Asos image search bumblebee earrings

Or That Grammys Dress:

And the dress that problematic fave Stassi Schroeder wore to her most recent murder-themed birthday party:

Or perhaps this iconic Miss Piggy ’fit:

Or the Dapper Horse:

Or the rapidly browning avocado sitting on my desk:

You get it!

To be fair, the technology of ASOS’s Style Match is not new — there are plenty of apps that use reverse image search technology to shop. But what makes it exciting is that this time, I will probably actually buy the stuff they are trying to sell to me.

Clearly, however, Style Match does not work on everything. When I tried to search for my coworker Kristen’s amazing velvet skirt, it gave me this nonsense:

Here’s how to use it: On the ASOS app, tap the camera icon next to the search bar, then use your camera to take a photo or choose one from your camera roll.

Now please, go forth and create outfits inspired by your obscure meme of choice.