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If you're passionate about style, chances are you've downloaded a few fashion-related apps for your smartphone.

You've probably also noticed that the quality and utility of these apps varies widely, and that many of them overlap in functionality. To combat that problem, we've divided the existing coterie of fashion apps into six main categories to help you find the most efficient organizer for your existing wardrobe, the most robust shopping guide for both online and retail stores, the best app from an individual designer, and the most comprehensive resources for fashion news, style advice and style inspiration.

Because the majority of big brands have opted to develop quality apps for iOS exclusively, we've only included apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. If you have any recommendations to share for those platforms, we hope you'll do so in the comments below.

Best Wardrobe Organizer







While there are a number of free apps that promise to help you organize your wardrobe and effectively mix-and-match items to create outfits, nothing is as robust as Stylebook's $3.99 app for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Like runners-up Touch Closet and Gap StyleMixer, which are available for $0.99 and free, respectively, you can use the app to photograph and organize your clothing by category. You can then collage these images to create different outfits. What's especially useful about Stylebook, however, is that you can remove the background from images of clothing, which helps you create clean, layered collages (in all fairness, the "background removal" tool is often ineffective — it's best to use the manual eraser or edit out backgrounds in Photoshop). You can even resize clothing by spreading or pinching your thumb and forefinger — a feature that Gap StyleMixer and Vogue Stylist lack.

In addition, Stylebook sports a calendar that allows you to track when they wore outfits and plan outfits ahead of time — great for figuring out when you're going to need to have your favorite dress dry cleaned for that special after-work event next week, for instance. You can also keep a log of what outfits or pieces you've worn to avoid repetition.

If you're serious about organizing your wardrobe on your mobile device, Stylebook is worth the $3.99 price tag, in our opinion.

Best App for Style Inspiration







Fashion begins with inspiration. And although style inspiration is available everywhere — on the runways, in magazines, on countless style blogs and in just about every kind of design — synthesizing and re-presenting that information in a meaningful way isn't necessarily easy. Magazine-like style blog WhoWhatWear brings its collection of trend reports and celebrity-inspired style ideas to the iPhone and iPod touch in a visually fresh and editorially concise manner. It provides the same trend reports — with accompanying styling suggestions — that you can find in magazines like Harper's Bazaar, Elle and Lucky, but for free.

The only notable runner-up in this category is Chicfeed, a free, no-frills app that collects and organizes the latest images from street style blogs like The Sartorialist and Face Hunter into a simple slideshow.

Best Shopping App







Lucky magazine's much-lauded Lucky at Your Service iPhone app not only helps you find the best apparel, accessories and beauty products (at least according to Lucky editors) of the moment, it also helps you track them down online and, in some cases, at nearby retail outlets using GPS. Lucky will even call the store to reserve it for same-day pickup. Best of all, it's entirely free.

Although Lucky's app has some killer features, it's not a one-stop shopping app; its selection is limited to editors' recommendations. If you're looking to browse a wider online inventory, ShopStyle's free app is your best bet; it compiles items from more than one hundred online retailers, such as Neiman Marcus and Bluefly, to help you access a broad range of brands, styles, prices and colors, and identify the lowest prices.

If you prefer retail stores to e-commerce sites, however, Lustr Fashion Finder is your free, go-to app. Lustr uses GPS to pull up the best current and upcoming sales and promotions in your proximity. You can also search other neighborhoods and sale timelines, as well as the kinds of products you are looking for, and compile all of the information into a shopping itinerary. The app also offers exclusive promotions to its users.

Bargain hunters will also appreciate Gilt's iPhone and iPad apps to take advantage of the site's luxury flash sales, which are scheduled at different hours throughout the week. The deals to be found through eBay Fashion's app are also worth checking out.

Other runners-up include Rugby Ralph Lauren Make Your Own, which lets you design, share and purchase your own rugby shirt, polo shirt or sweater; Yoox and Net-a-Porter, for browsing their extensive catalogs; and iShoes, which makes up for its lack of browsing options with above-average close-up photographs of more than 50,000 shoes.

Best App for Style Advice







If you're looking for style advice, look no further than Glamour magazine's free Ask a Stylist for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Simply snap a photo of the item or ensemble in question, upload it to the app along with your question for almost immediate advice. (Glamour promises a wait of no more than fifteen minutes.) You can even browse the bios of the participating stylists to submit it to one whose taste is most similar to yours.

To get a second opinion (or third, or tenth), check out runner-up Fashism, which lets you solicit opinions from the site's online community.

Best App by Individual Designer







Apps by individual designers are, by and large, roughly the same. Each generally offers runway photographs and video footage, a slideshow of the current season catalog, a news feed, some background history about the designer and a store locator. Some, like runners-up Gucci and Donna Karan, include a few novel elements; the latter uniquely allows you to mix and record your own music, for instance, while Donna Karan's enables you to book appointments with personal shoppers, and read the designer's interviews with the likes of Susan Sarandon, as well as peruse Karan's answers to style questions from fans (unfortunately, there is no option to submit additional questions).

But the winner in this category goes to Ralph Lauren's app, which includes fantastic behind-the-scenes video and photo montages of the design and casting processes, archival runway footage and interviews with the designer. Of all the apps, its design is perhaps the most elegant, ultimately presenting Ralph Lauren's rich heritage in a holistic and engaging manner.

Other runners-up include Diane von Furstenberg, which allows you to shop for items through the app, including an exclusive $325 wrap dress; Chanel, which allows you to view close-ups of accessories on the runway by rotating your device (but which does not, unfortunately, include any video); and D&G, in which Stefano Gabanna's tweets are featured prominently alongside the rest of the app's (mainly visual) features.

Best Fashion News Resource







Already one of the leading sources for fashion and party news on the web, Style.com's app is the best for keeping up with the news on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. There's no quicker way to access high-quality runway photos and videos on your mobile device during Fashion Week, which are also accompanied by intelligent reviews. The app also includes archival footage, international party coverage and features from the site's style blog.

If Style.com's app isn't enough, check out Fashion News, a basic RSS aggregator that comes pre-loaded with a list of fashion and beauty blogs, which you add to, remove from and read offline — and that's about it. (In other words, if you're a developer and looking to create a fashion app, fashion news is ripe for innovation.)

Have you tried any of the apps above? What did you think? What other fashion-related apps would you recommend to users, or like to see made available for smartphones? Please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.

Series supported by Nordstrom







The Fashion Tech Series is brought to you by Nordstrom Conversation. To share your thoughts on apps and social media in the fashion industry, join the Conversation at Nordstrom.

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