Does this outfit suit me? There's an app for that

If Alexander Graham Bell were alive today, he would no doubt be struck dumb by what his little invention has wrought. Today your phone is your camera, your calendar, your wallet, your watch — and increasingly, given the endless stream of hot new apps for its hitherto unimaginable usage, your best friend, trainer and guru.

Consider such apps as Drunk Dial No, which, when activated, hides the contact numbers of your exes; Bowel Mover, which keeps you up to date on your internal operating systems; or Haircaster, which tracks local weather conditions to advise whether your ‘do might be under a Frizzy Alert or you should just stay home.

Instead of going to a gym or consulting a dietitian you can use an app now to help you slim down (Lose It!) or to track your physical activity (Pacer).

Given how fashionable apps themselves have become, it would only be a blink of an eye before some bright young entrepreneur types came up with an app designed to make you more fashion savvy.

That is what three very clever commerce and engineering grads — Jaclyn Ling, Shums Kassam and Susie Pan — have done with their newly launched app, Blynk , which just won Best Start-up (and $100,000) at the International Start-up Festival in Montreal.

According to chief marketing officer Pan, who only met Kassam and Ling in December before the team launched Blynk in April, the idea behind the app is “to be everyone’s personal pocket stylist.”

Through a Tinder-like interface , users swipe through photos of outfits allowing Blynk to “learn” their style. Like the extraordinarily sped-up cycle from an idea to its realization online, such machine learning happens awfully quickly — after a mere 20 swipes, wherein a user “likes” or doesn’t like certain outfits or items, Blynk can recommend a personalized outfit just for you.

While sizing up your taste based on what you like and creating a look for you, without the slightest idea of your shape or frame, may seem to someone like me to be just about as effective a lesson in personal style as seeking self-awareness through one of those pop quizzes in a magazine, what Blynk offers however is accessibility.

Unlike a real live Hollywood stylist, who charges hundreds of dollars an hour to dress a celebrity for the red carpet, Blynk is entirely free. And super convenient: You can also (natch) click through outfits to purchase them immediately, and, unlike a real human adviser, Blynk is at the ready 24/7 as a visual reference whenever you happen to walk into a store.

Certainly the young entrepreneurs behind Blynk have their eye on the ball. Since launching its iOS public version a mere month ago, Blynk has already received more than a million swipes.

“People really like swiping,” Pan say, of the wildly popular Tinder-style interface (to which I would add: expressing one’s preferences by “liking” and shopping for new clothes).

The next step in the team’s plan for world domination is to take their app into the real world of the store. Talks with a major Canadian retail chain are, naturally already underway.

The fashion part of this hot new business proposition comes via CEO Ling, a McGill University finance grad and devoted fashionista who is already a star on YouTube, with her own fashion channel that has had over 700,000 views.

After a shopping trip with machine-learning engineer Kassam, where Ling gave him a wardrobe makeover, the duo came up with the idea for Blynk.

“Jaclyn took him shopping and put together seven outfits for him that literally changed his life,” says Pan, who joined the team through the Next 36 Program, an accelerator for young innovators. “I met him before and it was amazing how his whole confidence changed with his appearance.”

Pan admits her own style, previously that of a typical young aspiring commerce student, has changed significantly since joining Blynk. “Looking put together makes people feel good and have more confidence,” says Pan.

“Giving people access to a personal stylist in their pocket is a way to make looking good and feeling good easier and more accessible.”

To that, I can only say: swipe on.

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