How to find clothes from a picture

1. Start with the best photo you have

Every search is only as good as its photo. If you have more than one, choose the one where the piece is biggest, sharpest and least hidden. A screenshot of the original post usually beats a photo of a screen, and a photo of the piece itself beats both.

• Crop to one piece. A search for a whole outfit finds outfits; a search for the jacket finds jackets.
• Keep the details. The collar, buttons, sole or hardware are often what set one product apart from the next.
• Don’t over-edit. Filters change colours, and a camel coat can come back as a brown one.

2. Read the clues in and around the picture

Before you search, look for anything that names the piece. These clues often lead straight to the product:

• a logo or a brand name on the piece itself;
• a label, a care tag or a model name printed on a shoe;
• a caption, hashtag or @handle near the photo;
• product tags or links on the post;
• the event, shop or place in the background.

Our guide to identifying a clothing brand goes through labels and logos in more detail.

3. Search by picture

A search by picture compares what’s in your photo with products for sale. General image search tools look across the whole web; a clothing search app such as Style Finder focuses on what you can wear. It frames each piece it recognises, searches shops for possible matches and checks each shop’s page for the price and photo.

1. 1

   Open the photo

   Take a new photo with the camera, or choose a photo or screenshot you already have.

2. 2

   Choose the piece

   Pick the piece you want from those framed in the photo, or draw the frame yourself.

3. 3

   Compare the results

   Look at the closest match first and compare it with your photo: shape, colour, pockets, sole, hardware.

4. When there’s no match

Not every piece can be found. It may be sold out, vintage, made to measure, or too new for search results to know it yet. Try these:

• Search again with what you know: the brand, the event or who wore it.
• Search the design, not the name: “brown suede trucker jacket” finds pieces with the same look.
• Check second-hand marketplaces for sold-out and vintage pieces.
• Settle for the look: a similar piece in the same colour and shape often works just as well.

Questions