Google Try It On promises to change how we shop for clothes online. The feature, which has just launched in New Zealand, allows you to virtually try on clothing and shoes before making a purchase.
The platform’s feature aims to do away with one of the biggest gripes of online shopping. While there’s no tech trick to tell you if something will fit or if that fabric feels scratchy, Google’s AI-powered try-on functionality is designed to give a good sense of what a garment listed online will look like on you.
The idea is to make shopping more streamlined and personalised. While shopping more is unlikely to help the environment (and AI-powered energy consumption is in the spotlight for its global environmental impact), minimising the need to return unsuitable garments is one potential upside of the offering.
At the launch event I attended for the new tool, a Google spokesperson referred to a recent company survey showing that 41% of Brits admitted to buying clothes in two different sizes. It also found more than a third of people say they are likely to buy the same item in multiple colours to reduce the number of times they have to send a return back.
While these stats leave me slightly horrified, I personally know of people taking a similar approach with their online shopping here. With heavy workloads and overtaxed schedules a common complaint, I can appreciate how online shopping in general streamlines one demand for our time. This is where Google Try It On is supposed to help.
The new feature has just launched in NZ after being introduced in selected countries in 2025. The company is now rolling it out around the world, and even collaborated with The Devil Wears Prada 2 around the film’s release to promote the offering. In a short clip, the character Nigel (Stanley Tucci) helps find a Met Gala dress for Miranda’s assistant Amari (Simone Ashley).
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How does Google Try It On work?
The feature is a photo-based experience that lets users upload a full-length photo and see how clothing including tops, bottoms, dresses and shoes would look on them.
It can be accessed directly from product listings on Google Search and Google Shopping.
Users search for a trend or specific item, find something they like the look of and tap the ‘Try It On’ button on the image of the product. This prompts users to upload a full-length photo of themselves, which Google’s AI uses to produce a realistic-looking image of them wearing the selected item.
With that one uploaded photo, the user has the ability to see thousands of looks on their own body. The looks users create are saved, making them easy to browse later.
What we thought
So how well does it work in reality? I was pleasantly surprised at the way the AI understands body shapes and how different fabrics fold, stretch, and drape. The images it spits out are realistic enough to understand what
I had a photo of myself taken at the preview wearing a fairly bulky jacket (see top left), but the resulting images still rendered the outfits and my shape fairly accurately. In some it made my body appear slimmer depending on the garment, but this would likely be improved had I taken my initial photo in something more fitting.
Even when I tried a one shouldered dress, the image appeared accurate to my body shape, even with my jacket on in the initial photo.
Some garments (a Jacquemus draped dress) rendered slightly out of proportion but others, such as denim, appeared spot on.
I also liked the way it rendered my outfit with different accessory options, giving me suggestions I wasn’t initially wearing, that matched the style of garment being rendered. For example, it placed evening sandals on my feet with a lace Carlson dress.
One thing to note is that the tech won’t work with swimwear, lingerie or finer details like socks and hosiery. Detailed prints can also come out looking slightly distorted.
While I prefer to see how things look and feel in real life (cheap fabric sheen not visible online is my bugbear!), I can definitely see the appeal of cutting down sourcing time for something specific. Where I can really see it shine is with items like wedding dresses where the user would normally try on many similar styles. Or, understanding how something like a bridesmaids dress or suit looks on more than one person.
It could also help smaller NZ designers and online-only retailers reach a larger number of shoppers who would otherwise be unable to visit a store in person.
So if you’re looking to level up your research before hitting the shops or cutting down the time it takes to find an item that looks good on you, it’s worth a try.
