Fashionably Skint: The App That Helps Students Stay In-Fashion

Blown most of your student loan already? Tab Fashion talks to Amanda Baker, founder of Fashionably Skint, a clothes-swapping application for university students.

11 years ago

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Amanda Baker Fashionably Skint the tab the tab exeter

Fashionably Skint is the newly-released free fashion app that aims to give students a new, fun way of finding something to wear for a night out – completely free of charge.

The app allows university students all over the country to borrow and lend clothes from students on their own campus.

After having a play with the app ourselves, we just had to meet up with Amanda Baker, the person behind the app, to chat about its origins and her future aspirations.

Tab Fashion (TF): What inspired you to create the app?

Amanda Baker (AB): “My own university experience inspired me to create Fashionably Skint. As a student, money was always tight but there was always opportunities to go partying every night.

“As well as studying, partying is a big part of the university lifestyle. However, being a typical girl, wearing the same dress more than once always seemed a bit cringe, especially when I had lots of photos posted on Facebook wearing it.

“Luckily, I lived with three fashionable girls so we always borrowed each other’s stuff. This saved me a lot of money and enabled me to go out more regularly.”

Fashionably Skint Founder: Amanda Baker.

TF: How hard was it to set up?

AB: “To be honest… It was pretty hard and took about a year to plan and develop. Borrowing and lending clothes in general sounds so simple, because, well, it is.

“But when you apply this concept to a mobile app, it becomes so complex.

“The biggest challenge was keeping it simple and user friendly. I’m very confident we’ve nailed it now though! It took us three attempts.”

TF: How does the app work?

AB: “When students register on the app they can select their university campus (or network). This will determine whose clothes they can see and request to borrow.

“Users can add items to their wardrobe on the app by either taking a new photo (like a selfie) or uploading one from Facebook.

“They then tag the item (to specify its type, brand, colour and size) so fellow students can easily find something to wear using the app’s refined search functionality.

“The app also has a messaging feature that enables users to communicate and arrange clothes swaps near them.

“After the item has been lent, borrowed and returned, users can rate their experience in a similar way to eBay.”

TF: What are your plans for it for the future?

AB: “I plan to make Fashionably Skint the ‘MUST-HAVE’ app for fashion lovin’ (skint) students.

“I’m already building strong relationships with major fashion retailers to offer exclusive discounts to our users, as well as running regular competitions through the app.

“We’re also planning to launch something very exciting next year: WATCH THIS SPACE!”

Click on this image to visit Fashionably Skint’s website.