Skip to main content

Turn your self-portraits into something fashionable with Chic Sketch

turn self portraits something fashionable chic sketch
Image used with permission by copyright holder
There are plenty of artsy apps that do digital on-the-fly photo manipulation, whether it’s turning something into a watercolor painting or line drawing, but how about an app that actually employs real humans on the other end? Mobile app developer Appetizer Mobile recently announced Chic Sketch, an iOS and Android app designed to connect you with real-life fashion designers to get a custom fashion sketch of yourself.

Chic Sketch is an app for turning a picture of yourself into a fashion illustration that looks those designers’ sketches. It doesn’t manage this by using clever filters and photo-manipulation algorithms, however: there’s actually fashion illustrators waiting in an office, ready to look at your picture and draw a sketch of you on the spot. First, you download the free app. After that, you either take a picture of yourself in-app or choose a picture from your photo library (it has to be a full head-to-toe shot), and upload it to a fashion illustrator. It won’t be instant, of course, since a real person is doing the sketch, but you can check out the quality of the sketches on Chic Sketch’s website.

Recommended Videos

The catch? It costs $10 per sketch – so choose your photos wisely. There’s also a social element to it with a live gallery feed, allowing you to see other people’s before-and-after sketches. You can also easily share to social media from the app. There are a limited number of fashion illustrators, so in anticipation of users becoming impatient with the process you have the option to upgrade to priority status by paying $5.

You can see examples of the before-and-after sketches on Chic Sketch’s website, and you can also take a look at the work of Chic Sketch’s co-founder and illustrator, Emily Brickel, on her site. Although there are plenty of fashionistas out there, we can’t see everyone flocking to this niche service. However, you can claim to have a very original, trendy selfie, which makes this app unique.

Cody Brooks
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cody Brooks has written on a variety of topics that address everything from political troubles overseas to who's who of the…
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more
Here’s how to delete your YouTube account on any device
How to delete your YouTube account

Wanting to get out of the YouTube business? If you want to delete your YouTube account, all you need to do is go to your YouTube Studio page, go to the Advanced Settings, and follow the section that will guide you to permanently delete your account. If you need help with these steps, or want to do so on a platform that isn't your computer, you can follow the steps below.

Note that the following steps will delete your YouTube channel, not your associated Google account.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more