What Not To Wear: How Algorithms Are Taking Uncertainty Out Of Fashion

Where will I wear this? Stitch Fix, a popular online subscription and personal shopping service, promises to spare its customers from the drama of shopping by matching each person with a personal stylist who selects clothing and accessories based on the individual's size, style and budget. How can a stylist, who does not personally know you, manage to successfully curate your wardrobe? The secret sauce is the algorithms, which are at the core of the company's business model and do everything from drive the clothing selections to assign human stylists to optimize production and logistics. As a personal style service "that evolves with your tastes, needs and lifestyle," Stitch Fix benefits from algorithms on a daily, customer-by-customer basis.