Lady LUX

Now you can window shop right from your phone. Introducing Snapette, the first location-based fashion application that allows you to browse all the latest footwear and handbags in stores near you. All you do is key in your location, decide what brand, store or specific style you want to peruse, and then you can check out photos of the hottest shoes and bags.

The perfect pair of summer sandals or an incredibly classy black evening bag could be right around the corner, and now you will know without all the fuss of searching from store to store. Kick back and enjoy a piece of fashion heaven.

“Snapette hopes to be a platform and partner to stores and brands to engage with new and potential customers,” site co-founder Sarah Paiji said. “We're already hearing from stores that this is a great way for a lot of women to see what shoes and bags they carry, and even get directions to take them to the store.”

Snapette also gives the customer control. You snap photos of all your fabulous finds in stores and upload the images, listing the brand, price, store and other pertinent information. Other users can then access your favs, searching by categories such as Near, Hot and New, and post their comments and vote – and vice versa. The app also allows you to create a personalized “virtual closet,” full of what you’ve Snapped, Like or Want.

And that’s not all. Since the app is global, you can connect with other fashion lovers anywhere on the planet, whether in New York, Paris or Shanghai, and see what’s hot in cities around the world. It’s your own international fashion report. When you find like-minded fashionistas, you can swap picks by following them.

“Snapette hopes to build a global community of women around fashion by providing them with an engaging and useful social shopping experience on their mobile devices,” Jihnee Kim, one of the site’s founders, said.

Launched Thursday, Snapette is now available for download through its website, www.snapette.com, as well as through the iTunes store, and can be used on iPhones, iPod Touches or iPads. Be sure to check out the full release on July 28, which will allow sharing on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.

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