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Amazon Prime members can upload their outfits and get a fashion expert's opinion — here's what it's like to use in person

Amazon Prime's free-to-use Outfit Compare feature helps you decide what to wear, so I gave it a test drive.

16. Outfit Compare

Unless you stick to a daily uniform like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, everyone has that frustrating moment once in a while where you just can't decide what to wear.

Amazon wants to help with that. The online retail giant rolled out a feature in March called Outfit Compare, which lets you upload two different outfits and get an opinion on which one looks better.

The feature is free and available in Amazon's mobile app, but only Prime members can use it. And while Amazon famously doesn't reveal how many Prime subscribers it has, estimates peg that number around 80 million in the US — which means a lot of people have access to this feature and may not even realize it.

If Outfit Compare sounds familiar, it's because Amazon launched a similar service called Style Check in conjunction with the launch of its Echo Look device,

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I tested out Outfit Compare over the course of a few weeks. I didn't often use it to decide between two different tops or to pick the right pair of shoes, mainly because I didn't have the luxury of time in the morning or a full-length mirror at home. But snapping a quick mirror photo of my outfit each day did help me gain a lot of insight into how others might view my style.

Here's what it was like:

In order to use Outfit Compare, you'll need two things: The Amazon app and a Prime membership. To find the feature, you'll need to click on the menu button.

Here you'll find the "Programs and Features" tab, which is where Outfit Compare is housed.

About halfway down the screen, wedged between "Credit & Payment Products" and "Sell on Amazon" is Outfit Compare.

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Outfit Compare saves all your comparisons, and it's kind of fun to look through your past outfits (and make sure you're not repeating anything too soon). To create a new comparison, click the button at the top of the screen.

You'll be taken to this screen, where you can either let Amazon access your camera and take a photo right then and there (which is a little unwieldy, since it takes to many clicks to get to this screen), or you can upload a photo from your camera roll.

To do my first comparison, I tried two methods: Taking a mirror selfie and having someone else take a photo of me. Pro tip: A mirror photo is definitely sufficient, so don't bother asking someone else to take a photo each time.

The results don't arrive instantly — it can take anywhere from one to five minutes to get your results. When they're ready, you'll get a push notification from Amazon.

The most important thing to know is that the photos have to be full-body pictures. I tried to do a close-up shot to help decide between two pieces of jewelry and the app said it couldn't complete my comparison.

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All of my comparisons except this one gave me the response "We like this better." I suspect this one was a tougher call because the only thing different about the two outfits was my jacket, and the colors were similar. I like to think the reason I never got a "Definitely pick this one!" response was because all my outfits look pretty good, but it's more likely there just has to be a major discrepancy between the looks to get such a forceful recommendation.

The service takes into account fit, color, styling, and current trends. When it came to two similar outfits — a loose dress and flat shoes — Outfit Compare (or really, the fashion expert at Amazon looking at my photos) noticed some key differences: The dress on the right is slightly more fitted, the sleeve length is more flattering on me, and white sneakers are on-trend right now.

Sometimes I was surprised by the results. There were occasions where I preferred one look, but Outfit Compare picked the other one. But Amazon says its people are experts that come from backgrounds like styling, retail, fashion, and editorial.

I don't know if I'd use Outfit Compare every day — mainly because it's a little time-consuming — but it's a fun feature that lends a lot of insight into your personal style.

There were times when I thought I looked pretty good, but didn't like the outfit very much once photographed. Other times, I was able to learn more about what looks good on me just by analyzing why Amazon chose one outfit over another.

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Even if you're not particularly into fashion or don't give much thought into how you look every day, it's still useful. At the very least, your clothes shouldn't by ill-fitting, rumpled, or out of style and Outfit Compare will help you avoid that.

Outfit Compare is free to use in the Amazon app for Prime members.

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