'Alexa, do I look good in this?' Amazon now deeply involved with clothing choices

On the heels of an Alexa designed for hotel rooms comes one to take on tasks beyond just serving as a kitchen timer or keeper of your shopping list.

Echo Look, another member of the Alexa family of artificial intelligence devices, can provide an instant critique of your current attire, using a camera, special lighting and blurring filter for the background so the only thing you'll see is you and your clothing.

"Like a trustworthy best friend, Alexa helps you nail your look every time, Linda Ranz, director of Echo Product Management at Amazon, said in a news release earlier this month announcing its availability to all Amazon customers, not just a test market.

"With Echo Look, she can give advice on which of two outfits looks best, offer personalized recommendations on items that pair well with clothes you already own, create your personal lookbook, keep your closet organized, and much more."

That Echo Look announcement now appears to have more significance.

This week, Amazon made Prime Wardrobe available to all Prime members. Here's how that works:

▪ Fill the box with three or more items from its clothing, shoes and accessories line. (Up to eight items are allowed at one time.)

▪ Try them on during a seven-day trial period.

▪ Finalize the purchase of what you want and return the rest in the resealable box to your nearest UPS store.

Other than the annual Prime membership fee, there is no subscriber fee for the program.

And, while this all seems very casual, the program goes by the same rules you'd face trying things on in a store. No cutting off the tags, for example, if you plan on returning an item, and returned items must be in their original packaging.

"Do not wear the clothes out unless you intend to purchase them," Amazon says in its FAQ.

You can, though, still return within 30 days if you decide the unworn attire, with its tags, packaging and all intact, are not a good match for you.

To help avoid that there's Echo Look to pass judgment on your picks.

Priced at $199, the unit can take photos and a six-second video, so you can see yourself from every angle. You can get a second opinion with something called "Style Check," which Amazon describes as combining "machine learning algorithms with advice from fashion specialists."

Based on a Business Insider review, it offers side-by-side testing of outfits.

The Wall Street Journal did its own review last year, comparing what Alexa picked vs. the choice of human stylists.

"I don't think you can automate style," New York stylist Solange Khavkine said in the video. "I think style is something that has to come from a human being."

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 5:50 PM with the headline "'Alexa, do I look good in this?' Amazon now deeply involved with clothing choices."