PAPERMAG: Erin Fetherston Hosts a Party for New Buy-Sell Style Site, TheCools

Shopping sites are a dime a dozen, ditto for those of the social networking variety, but stick them together and add a personalized style calculator and what do you get? The new, invite-only (for now) hybrid site theCools.com, conceived by the jack-of-all-trades CEO Olivier van Themsche (who is also a party planner and video game developer on the side). Van Themsche says he came up with his idea for the site when he realized his ever-imaginative club friends could afford their fabulous get-ups because they were mostly buying them on eBay. So van Themsche got to work developing a site that functions as a curated Etsy of sorts, where members can buy and sell, create photo albums of their outfits and inspirations, and get fashion tips from each other. Rather than posting where you've worked and what languages you speak, on theCools.com you list your favorite accessories, designers, or shoes as well as music, food, travel spots and art. There is also a quiz to help the site understand your "taste" that asks you a series of seemingly random questions including "Tanning Booth: YES! or F*** No!," or "Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck?" The more activity you have on the site, the better its bots can recommend new friends and products so that, unlike on Etsy or Ebay, you're not forced to dig for something you'll dig.

Last night's unveiling party was a dinner at The Fat Radish hosted by designer Erin Fetherston with a DJ set by Julio Santo Domingo. Attendees included writer-model-DJ-designer Kristin Simpson of the style blog WhatIsRealityAnway, street style photographer Phil Oh of StreetPeeper.com. and fashion bloggers Lindsey Calla of Saucy Glossie and Jenn Camp of Le Fashion. Check out these photos from the party.