Wardrobe Manager

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Update: v1.01 released.

Enhancements to size derivation; support for UK and French women's clothing.

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Version 1.01 was released on 20 November 2017. In addition to a few minor bug fixes, this version contains enhanced size derivation routines and sizing tables for UK and French women's clothing. To support this last development, the [documentation] table contains an entirely new guide entitled "Wardrobe Manager Sizing Derivations."

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Version 1.0

15 November 2017

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Wardrobe Manager

The Wardrobe Manager base implements a full-featured outfit, garment, and accessory database intended for the individual who wants or needs a more structured approach to managing his or her wardrobe.

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Supported Functionality

The system provides

  1. Database of clothing items. Wardrobe Manager supports ā€“ but does not require ā€“ an extremely detailed database of individual articles of clothing (ā€˜garmentsā€™). Among the many attributes it can store are such things as description, composition, size, dimensions, condition, manufacturer, vintage, characteristics, origin, purchase price, and classification, as well as images of the garment and notes pertaining to it and its condition.
  2. Location and status management. If the clothing database can be thought of as encompassing a garmentā€™s static datastore ā€“ that is, variables that never or only rarely change during an itemā€™s lifespan ā€“ this function represents its dynamic complement, dealing with data that may change with each wearing, including such attributes as the garmentā€™s status, availability, location, and disposition.
  3. Actionable events. Garments considered unavailable ā€“ for instance, items out to be cleaned or repaired ā€“ are tracked by status, location, responsible party, and expected return date; garments at or over deadline are highlighted.
  4. Support for outfits. In Wardrobe Manager, an ā€˜outfitā€™ refers to a collection of garments intended to be worn together. Actions taken against an outfit propagate downward to its component garments, while at the same time changes of status to individual garments propagate upward to affect containing outfits.
  5. Life-cycle tracking. If desired, Wardrobe Manager can produce full cradle-to-grave cost accounting for each garment, for use in budgeting, tax preparation, and the like.
  6. Dimensional measurements. In addition to a garmentā€™s stated size, Wardrobe Manager can record any number of dimensional measurements ā€“ for instance, bust, waist, shoulder-to hem, inseam, and the like. Such measurements can prove valuable when dealing with vintage or bespoke garments or garments with non-standard or missing stated sizes, and they are essential for items offered for sale on Ebay, Etsy, or similar online markets. Measurements may be entered and displayed in units of inches or centimeters.
  7. Enhanced size reporting. In the case of a garment with recorded dimensions, Wardrobe Manager reports both its stated size and its standardized size, derived from dimensional measurements. This standardized size is provided as both a numeric size and its alpha equivalent (ā€˜sā€™, ā€˜mā€™, ā€˜lā€™). Garments may be searched according by {match size}, simplifying the task of finding clothing that fits.
  8. Appearance management. Wardrobe Manager can track the times and places an outfit or garment was worn, to prevent unintentional repetition.

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Documentation

A standalone table in the base contains extensive documentation in the form of attached PDF files. Included are

  • Quickstart. Up and running in 30 minutes or less. 5 pg.
  • Users' Guide. Detailed information on operations and modifications. 41 pg.
  • Zapier Guide. Step-by-step instructions on configuring an optional Zapier Zap! in support of an improved display of certain data. 12 pg.
  • Release Notes. Currently unimportant; eventually will contain full text of all subsequent changes to the base, allowing users to hand-patch existing systems if desired. 2 pg.

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Technical Features

For developers, Wardrobe Manager makes use of a number of interesting Airtable tricks and techniques.

  • Alternative configurations. As published, the base is tailored to support a wardrobe of women's clothing. However, full support for men's clothing is included, primarily in the form of hidden fields. Converting from a female-centric to a male-centric management system takes less then 5 minutes.
  • Configurable options for data entry and display. Wardrobe Manager allows dimensional lengths to be added or displayed as inches or centimeters. Defaults for either may be changed on existing systems without impacting existing records. Data entry may be in either measurement, no matter the default, through the use of 'hinted' entry.
  • Extensive error-checking. Wardrobe Manager monitors records for 18 common data entry or logic errors. Should one be detected, it alerts the user by propagating special error messaging fields.
  • Multi-line text display. To improve usability in gallery and kanban views, Wardrobe Manager uses a specially formatted list of linked values that, when copied into a long text field, allows the list to be displayed one item per line, rather than in one concatenated string. This copy process may be performed manually or as a Zapier Zap; full Zap configuration is provided.
  • Derived sizes. Wardrobe Manager provides a normalized size, often as both a numeric and the corresponding alpha sizes, for many garments. Aside from being a neat hack, operationally, the process for doing so makes use of some poorly known Airtable capabilities, including the use of complex formulas in rollup aggregation functions.
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Updated March 17, 2018 at 12:32 AM
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W. Vann Hall

Short version: Consultant, developer, and author with extensive data and telecommunications experience. |ā€ƒLong version: http://paladesigns.com/resume |ā€ƒFun version: http://paladesigns.com/bio
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Garment by Color (all)
Garment by Color (on hand)
Garment by Color (on hand, clean, repair, loan, rental)
Garment by Location (all)
Garment by Type (on hand)
Garment by Type (on hand, clean, repair, loan, rental)
Garments Needing Cleaning or Repair (by type)
Garments Out to be Cleaned (by type)
Garments Out to be Repaired (by color)
Data entry
Garment by Type and Match Size
Unrestored 'Out' Garments
Gallery (on hand)
Calendar (garments due back)
Development view (all fields)
Data Entry
All outfits
Development view (all fields)
Data Entry
Grouped by garment
Developer view (all fields)
Data Entry
All out
Out by garment
Out at cleaners
Out at cleaners (including returned)
Out for repair
Out for repair (including returned)
Permanently out
Due dates (cleaning and repair)
Due dates (loan or rent)
Developer view (all fields)
Data Entry
Contacts (by type)
Developer view (all fields)
Data Entry
Worn occasions
Calendar
Developer view (all fields)
Documents
Development view (all fields)