#boycott ssense

[shelovesitxo]

My thoughts on how Ssense has handled their recent acquisition of Polyvore.

[thedarlingbarbie]

Mini Announcement

Polyvore has been taken over and deleted by Ssense. I am not endorsing Ssense or the takeover and therefore I am deleting all links on this blog that once lead to Polyvore as it redirects to the new site. I’m sorry for any confusion this may cause, and I hope that maybe Ssense will see the outrage from the fans of the former site and give us back our beloved platform. Follow THIS LINK to sign a petition to Bring Back Polyvore xx

[andyarana]

#BringBackPolyvore Petition reached 14k signatures!

As most of you all know, the beloved creative website - Polyvore - deleted itself and shut down a week ago on Thursday, thereby creating an outrage in the past couple of days (all of which is well warranted). But, we are still making strides for Oath Inc. and Verizon to bring it back, completely intact. 

Now, the petition - started by a former Polyvore user, Lauren Coates - has now reached 14k signatures of the 15k (even then, the petition will continue to grow in support) we need. 

I don’t know if they’re going to bring Polyvore back (and I still believe that they will). but please show your support and sign the petition; reblog this post, follow the Twitter and Facebook page @BBPolyvore as well as Instagram @princessesofpolyvore, and continue making your voices heard. 

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/former-polyvore-users-creative-minds-bring-back-polyvore

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bbpolyvore?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBPolyvore/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/princessesofpolyvore/

[bainidhe]

continuing to torture myself by reading people’s outraged reactions to Polyvore shutting down suddenly... that site was my fun, creative outlet/timewaster and the one damn thing not blocked by the firewall at work. and of course all day I’ve been getting ideas and thinking “oh I should make a set of that on... oh right.”

[mizutoyama]

Polyvore is dead, long live...?

The creative platform that was Polyvore was shut down yesterday, without prior notice, after it was acquired by Montreal-based online fashion retailer Ssense. Many, including myself, felt betrayed by this sudden turn of events. Polyvore allowed many to create outfits or interior sets using items we couldn’t afford, while others used the platform to create art. Polyvore also allowed it’s user to group items in collections, which, for someone like me who likes making lists and putting things in specific folders on my computer, was a great feature. While there is a petition to bring back Polyvore, seeing the way Ssense dealt with the whole situation, I highly doubt they’ll bring back the website that allowed many to express their creativity. So now, one has to find alternatives. Here is a list of websites that I and others have found online, with a small review from yours truly.

1. IQON

IQON has been around for a while and is more-or-less the Japanese equivalent of Polyvore. The set builder resembles Polyvore’s a lot. The downsides? It’s all in Japanese, which isn’t too bad with the help of Google translate, you can’t create collections, and you can’t clip items from other websites.

2. trendMe

Some have nicknamed it the “Bootleg Polyvore”, and with reason. Its appearance is very close to the now-defunct website’s, but the general feel is where it lacks. No clipper, no collections, and while you can add your own item, the whole process feels dated, not to mention that it doesn’t work 100% of the time. For people who loved the social side of Polyvore, it does have a messaging system.

3. Shoplook.io

Based on their Twitter account, they opened yesterday. It seems to be the most promising replacement so far, as they have promised to incorporate Polyvore-like features to their growing website. Those promises include messaging, clipping, collections, etc. Let’s hope they survive...

4. Finery

Finery’s main purpose is to help you create outfits with what you have in your closet, and help you in that process by adding into this virtual closet everything you bought online by looking at your emails and recognizing bills from various online stores. So, at first glance, it may not seem like a suitable replacement, but they have a chrome extension that allows adding any clothes you see online to your virtual closet. There is also a wishlist option, but as the wishlist is not categorized, putting everything in the wardrobe simplifies the outfit creation process. Of course, this is not really an option for home interior and art creators, though, with some creativity, you could work something out (as you can fill the brand and retailer section yourselves, you could use those to input categories as you can filter items through those sections). Oh, and it also has a mobile app (at least for iPhones).

5. ClosetSpace

ClosetSpace is, like Finery, a website to help you create outfits with clothes you own, but you add items from anywhere in the web. The downside, compared to Finery, is that you have to do it manually. There’s no widget or chrome extension. It also has duplicated some of the items I have added, but without the picture, but it might just be a one time glitch. Not home interior and art creators friendly. The main upside is that its outfit builder ressembles Polyvore set creator a lot, compared to Finnery

6. Old School

This is not a website per se. It’s actually going old-school by using various platforms. To store your items, use Google Photos. The storage is unlimited (as long as you chose “High Resolution” instead of “Original Resolution” in the setting), and you can categorize your items using “Albums”. For example, if I save a 3.1 Phillip Lim sleeveless dress, I’ll put it in the “3.1 Phillip Lim” album as well as the “Sleeveless dress” album. You may wonder how one creates a set through that method. That’s why I named it “old school”. You select the item you want to use from Google Photos, download them on your computer, and then use any creative tool you want, may it be Canva, Fotor, Gimp, Photoshop, etc. It’s old school and not very practical, but after the sudden disappearance of Polyvore, you can bet your pocket money that I’m gonna save my images somewhere safe that has low risks to disappear any time soon (aka Google).

What I will use

Finnery, because of the clipping-like chrome extension, though I’ve recently experienced some glitches.

Closet Space, because of its outfit builder.

Old School (Google Photos + Canva), because I don’t trust independent websites anymore

[the-not-so-ordinary-girl]

Boycott SSENSE

Okay, so I know in the grand scheme of things a website closing down isn’t that big of the deal and I am not usually the person to get so worked up about things. But the thing is, SSENSE recently purchased Polyvore (to those who don’t know it was a fashion/art/home decor site where you could make sets with said items.) I spent the last five and half years making fashion and decor sets and not only did it help keep my mind occupied when I was suffering from anxiety it helped me to be creative, to be social. Tonight, without warning, the website is gone, five years of work gone, (I have seen the responses of other users, and their disbelief and heartache mirrors my own.) Not only have I and many others lost a way to be creative or a favourite clothing site, but we were given no warning and no chance or way to save our creations. I know boycotting won’t get our work back or revive Polyvore. I know it’s just a website, but artist have lost their creations, haven’t been given a chance to save it or pre-warning. It’s not okay, it happens, but it’s still not okay. 

To anyone who had a Polyvore account I am truly sorry you’ve lost your creations and the place in which you could freely express yourself through fashion.

To everyone SSENSE, screw you. The least you could have done is given people the option to download their work or a pre-warning. I will never use you’re sight, and I will discourage anyone who wants to use it.

https://fashionista.com/2018/04/ssense-acquires-polyvore-ends-operations

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-bites/ssense-shuts-down-polyvore-sparking-outrage-among-fans