125// Building a Wardrobe That's You AND You Love with Julia Dietmar of OpenWardrobe

Do you feel overwhelmed by clutter when you walk through the door? Are you tired all the time and stuck just getting by, with each day being a carbon copy of the next and no time or space for yourself? Hi, I'm Sarah, and I was you, so I understand. You're a busy mom, whether at home or working full-time, Feeling like you're in survival mode. There isn't time for more because you're just putting out fires, overwhelmed by all the stuff and aching for something more. That's what the Simple Intentional Podcast is here for, to support you. Whether it's to clear clutter, ditch the overwhelm, and create ease and simplicity, figure out how to be more intentional in your life, or inspire you into action. Each week I'll share things like practical and actionable tips you can start using immediately. To start living more intentionally and create your life, as well as interviews with people that will inspire and educate you. I'm a full-time working mom, wife, and lover of all things simple. After a stage 4 cancer diagnosis in 2014, I started on a path to change how I was living, and I'm sharing with you everything that has helped me move from a stressed-out, people-pleasing perfectionist to calm, in control and feeling like the best version of myself. So grab your earbuds, a cup of tea, and join me to start making powerful shifts in your life today. This is about so much more than stuff.

Hello and welcome to the Simple and Intentional podcast. I know every one of you listening is going to benefit from this episode because we're talking about your closet. I hear all the time how overwhelming those overstuffed closets feel, how you want to feel good in your clothes, but you struggle to put things together. And then you often end up buying new things as a solution, which just adds to the problem. And deep down, we know the problem isn't the clothes, it's how you feel in them. So I'm excited to introduce, introduce you to my guest this week, Julia Dietmar. Julia will share with us how you can use what you have, be more intentional with it, and style items so you feel more confident and more you. Julia is a certified image consultant, tech entrepreneur, and founder of Open Wardrobe, a platform that helps you get the most out of the clothes you already own. Julia created Open Wardrobe to solve a problem many of us face: a closet full of clothes and still nothing to wear. Her platform blends AI with personalized styling and smart tools to help people build wardrobes they love without overbuying, overthinking, or cluttering up their space. Hi, Julia. Welcome and thank you for being here.

Hi, Sarah. Nice to be here.

So I always love to start with guests just sharing a little bit more about themselves so that listeners can get a sense of who they are. And maybe you can tell us a bit more about what led you to create Open Wardrobe.

Yeah, of course. Well, I'm a techie. I'm an engineer by training, and I spend third, first third of my career really just writing code. And then I decided that I wanted to be closer to the customer, being closer to the business. So I switched to product management and I did, I worked for many companies as a product manager, many mostly digital products, software type products. And then I was at a startup that got acquired by Walmart, and that's how I got into retail. It was almost accidental. It wasn't anything intentional, but Walmart is one of those giant retailers where you can learn a lot about retail in general and different verticals. And I worked with some of our apparel merchants, and that's how I kind of got into clothing. And from there, after I left Walmart, I joined a company called ThredUp, which is secondhand clothing for women and children. And that's how I got into kind of a more sustainable circular economy. So it kind of led me very, very gradually to Open Wardrobe. And AI piece was firstly just my engineering background, and then after ThredUp, I joined a company which was deep tech and we were building AI for retail specifically. And because it was based on computer vision, it lent itself very well to apparel and clothing. And so that's kind of, you know, stepping stones that led me to Open Wardrobe.

Yeah, that's so interesting. Like, what if— like a funny route that, you know, get there. It's funny how these things happen in our lives. But what a useful tool, because I know my listeners and my audience I would say the closet is one of the number one struggles that, that they deal with. And especially like how to put things together, how to use what they already have. So it's like you've created this amazing solution for that. So, and with your experience as like an image consultant, what, like, what do you think leads to that, that sort of struggle where people have a closet full of clothes and they feel like they have nothing to wear.

Yeah, so, uh, by the way, I became an image consultant because of Open Wardrobe, um, right? So when I opened— when I started this company, I, I wanted— I always knew how to dress myself. Yeah, but it took me years and years and years to just try different things to figure out. I didn't know any theory behind it, so I, um, actually decided to get trained and certified so that I learned the theory behind it and could train our AI on it.

Yeah.

So, basically, from my own experience, and I can tell you just from what I'm seeing with our customers, is people often forget what they have. That's kind of problem number 1. Because we have overflowing closets, you very often, and myself included, I just sometimes I just go through, oh, I forgot I had it. Okay, let's try it on. So that's problem number one. So when you digitize everything and you have everything in the app or you have everything on the screen, it's just kind of easy to see what you have. Yes, it takes some effort to do that, but it's very much worth it. So that's problem number one. Problem number two is we don't know what suits us typically. And we buy stuff either because we go to the store, we try something on, and there's a— very nice salesperson, it's like, oh, it looks amazing on you. And then you're like, oh, really? You think so? And you get it and then you bring it home and then you don't wear it. Or, you know, there's an influencer or there's a, you know, friend who looks amazing in something and you want to look just as amazing. You buy that same thing and it does not look as amazing on you because your body is different, your coloring is different, right? So that's another thing. And then the third part is just kind of a lack of, I don't want to say lack of creativity, but it's just maybe we don't, we're too busy or we don't have time or we can't really just kind of think very quickly. You know, I get this blouse, how do I wear this in many different ways, not just in one way? So a lot of us, what we tend to do, especially men, men are like all about that. You know, you go to the store, you see something on the mannequin, you're like, oh, I like this outfit, I'm going to buy the whole thing. That's how you wear it, right? Yeah. You, you can't really just think, oh, you know, this blouse, I can wear it with the skirt and then the pants and then maybe put some accessories. It's just kind of, right? And you tend to get into this rut.

Yeah.

And that's why you get bored and then you, okay, I need to buy something new, and that kind of compounds the problem.

There's two things you said that I think are really interesting. Um, the first one was about, um, the strategy of getting dressed. Like, I think, um, You know what you said, that you've practiced and practiced for years with your own styling and your own image, and so you got good at it. Um, but that there is some strategy and some thought behind it. Because I don't know if people really realize that, you know, or think about it that way. You know, um, maybe they just think this stuff comes naturally to some women or, um, whatever. But, but that actually when you put a little bit of thought and effort into it, like I shared earlier this summer, um, after interviewing another woman who, you know, is a stylist, that I sort of looked into like different ways to tuck my shirt. You know, I never thought about it, but wow, it just like made such a difference in how I felt and I felt more put together and that sort of thing. So that these little things that we can kind of practice, like you said, and you kind of add them into your repertoire and you build it over time. And then the other thing that you mentioned was about boredom. And I think that's so true that how many times have you bought something because you were bored Or you just think, oh, if I just buy those jeans or I just buy that top, then I'm gonna feel put together or then I'm gonna have the wardrobe that I've been dreaming of or whatever. But that really, that's not the solution.

Exactly.

Yeah. So how do you think that women could stop buying so much and be more intentional with the pieces that they do buy?

Well, the first thing is to understand yourself, right? So if you like, me, you know, just through experimentation, you figure out what works on you and you create something that we kind of call outfit formula, right? Which does not have to be— when people say outfit formula, everybody kind of immediately thinks Steve Jobs, that, you know, the same thing. But it doesn't mean that. It means just, you know, the silhouettes, right? So if you know that the wide pants work for you, that that does not mean just that one pair of white pants. It means different types of shapes in that kind of, you know, it could be a skirt. It doesn't have to be a pair of pants. So, so really understanding yourself in terms of what suits you and for shapes and also colors. So for me, before I discovered this whole image consulting and color analysis, I like just by looking at it. I like, like, mustard tone colors. Yeah, they look horrible on me, and I tried so much, and it just does not work. Yeah, um, until I kind of discovered what my color type was, and I understood why. So understanding the why behind it, it just kind of makes you accept, yeah, who you are, and then you stop struggling, like, oh, why does it look great on her but not on me? Something's wrong with me. No, right? So that's one thing. And then the second one is really being more intentional in how much you buy, not just from the sheer volume, but like repeats and things that, you know, you maybe have something very similar in your closet already. And then you just don't know how to wear it. So if you figure out many different ways to put things together, then you stop having this "I need something new" syndrome, right?

Yeah. So it is like, it's that experimentation, you know, just like playing around with things. And yeah, I'm like, I remember when I was a kid, not a kid, but maybe a teenager, you know, magazines used to do that. They used to talk about silhouettes and like, I feel like now we look at magazines so much less, I guess, you know, we have different resources we go to, but you know, they used to do that sort of that balance of like, you know, if you're wearing a blousy top, like wearing slimmer pants or that kind of thing. And I guess just figuring out what the balance is for you. Like, are you, you know, you somebody who does really well with a loose top, but like better with fitted bottoms or, or vice versa and, and kind of understanding that. And then. I guess from a decluttering standpoint, when you start to slim your closet, then you can kind of go through and like you said, you have the colors and the silhouettes as like a filter to be like, okay, this doesn't work for me. I'm gonna let this go.

There's one more piece to this and it's your personality, right? So maybe colors and silhouettes work, but it's just not you. You know how people say, oh, this outfit is so you, or this item is so you. And that, that's like your personality. And it's very interesting because when I work with our clients, sometimes I look at an outfit and everything is fine, but they're like, but I would never wear it. And it's just not me. And then like getting to the bottom of what's you, what's not, is also a very important piece here.

Yeah, I really love that. It's so true because this, like, I have this thing about capsule wardrobes. Cause I think a lot of times, you know, people go to Pinterest or something like that and there's these, you know, beautiful flat lays of like, here's the 20 items you need. And it's just very generic, right? Like it's, you know, um, I jokingly said another time that it was like, you know, that trench coat, that like beige trench coat. It's like in every one of those. I'm like, I had that trench coat and I never wore it. Like, because it didn't really suit my personality. I didn't love it. And so that when, like we want a solution to the problem and we want it to be easy. We wanna be able to go and say, okay, I can just buy this and then it'll be done. But that's just not the way that wardrobes work. Like it's, like you said, it's an evolution. It's understanding yourself, your personal style, your personality, what suits you. And you have to take a little bit of risk when it comes to that, right? Like try things out and that then, You can build it over time, but that going out and buying, you know, 5 of the same t-shirt and 3 of the same jeans and whatever cardigan, like that isn't gonna lead to the satisfaction in your closet, um, that you feel when you've really taken the time. And I mean, I know I've been working on this for a long time, like really, really intentionally, probably since 2020. And I finally feel like I'm kind of at a place where I'm like, okay, I feel really good about pretty much every single item I have. But it's, I mean, and this is what I focus on. So I've taken a lot of time and effort to do it. Like I could simplify and I got down to basics easily. I did the decluttering and I said, okay, like I'm gonna live with what I have. And I did that for a while. And then, you know, I started to add in the pieces, but it really did take a certain level of risk-taking, I think, that I wasn't necessarily comfortable with. I don't know if you've seen that, but, you know, spending money on clothes can feel wasteful if you don't end up using them, you know. But I don't know, but I almost think like you have to do it a little bit, you know, try things, not go overboard. But, you know, it is, it is hard.

Yeah. And, and, and for many people, for me, I, uh, when I was younger especially, you know, you go and then you buy this perfect piece and it made me feel good for a week. Yeah, right.

Yeah.

So it's— there is something in, you know, what they're calling shopping therapy. Yeah. But you need to be very intentional, very mindful about what you're bringing in, right?

Yeah, for sure. Because you get that boost, but like, is it going to last, you know? And, and is it something that you're going to continually feel good in? But also, I think you like— you bring up a really good point because Like, I like my clothes and I feel good in them, but not every single day I'm going to throw on my clothes and feel like, oh, I feel amazing because that's just, you know, that's just life. Exactly. So we shouldn't have that expectation either.

Yeah, absolutely. But it can help. It can help boost your mood, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

Different colors. And then if you just look at— if you feel shitty and then you look in the mirror in the great outfit and like, oh, I look good.

Yeah.

And it feels, it feels much better, right?

Yeah. And I think that, you know, for a lot of the women listening who are like overwhelmed and, you know, just really dealing with a lot and they're busy and that they don't always take the time for themselves to do that either, you know, like maybe it's kids first or work or whatever, taking care of their homes and then they don't really put the time and energy into making themselves feel put together and feel good. And, but there is a lot of power in that for sure. Like the way you walk out into the world and, you know, just even if you're at home, you know, just feeling like, okay, I feel good about myself.

Exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. Because clothes are tied like really closely to self-image. And I think about that a lot too, because I think a lot of the women listening as well have sort of lost themselves a little bit, you know, in the— whether it's motherhood or career changes, like these different seasons of life and I don't know, how do you think that women could reconnect with their personal style, or how do women kind of find that?

How they find that? That's a very good question. And so for somebody like for me, it took years and years, right? And with experimentation and just trying different things out. Some people, they just go to a personal stylist, which can be a double-edged sword. Because if you find a really good stylist, it is life-changing. But there are not that many really good stylists, right? Because we talked about personality. Either you find somebody who matches your personality perfectly and they just, right? Or you find somebody really good who doesn't try to make everybody look like themselves. You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, so that's, that's another thing. And, and the third one is you just basically try to get as much information as possible out there. There's so much information right now, right? And then, and then you kind of figure it out for yourself what works, what doesn't. And then really is, is it's really just a mindset. So You said you really started being intentional like 5 years ago. So you, at some point, you probably made a decision. And of course, 5 years ago, we were all locked into our homes, so not much to do.

I know it was sort of funny timing.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you just kind of at some point make a decision and take control of your closet, or— mine is still a mess, like completely, honestly. So it's— I need to find time to just like really purge and make sure that I only have stuff, pieces that I always wear and I love.

Yeah, it's a big— I mean, it can be a big job. I started with, well, funny enough, it was actually March of 2020 because I'm a teacher, so I had March break. I'm like, okay, this is the week I'm going to get things like under control, which I've learned is not really how things work. But I did pull everything out and I did Project 333, which is Courtney Carver's wardrobe challenge. And so the idea is over 3 months, you commit to wearing 33 items and workout clothes don't count if you work out in them. And I, but I think that's, and loungewear, but other than that, like it's 33 items. And I mean, I don't know if I had exactly 33 items, but I went through and it's where I came across this idea of like sort of a maybe box where everything that wasn't a yes, I put into this box boxed and packed away. And I remember that first feeling of having like a reasonably empty closet and how good it felt. I could see everything, it was easy, and I just really got hooked on that feeling. So, um, although, you know, it sort of ebbed and flowed over the years, and, and for sure going through it in 2020, you know, I ended up in my leggings a lot more than I would have, but, um, it really gives you I don't know, it's almost like a lesson in personal growth to go through your closet and tackle things and start to ask yourself the question, like, why did I keep this? Or what is it about this item that makes it hard to let go? And, or why did I buy it? Like, what was I hoping? Like what image or whatever? And then like you said, you know, it's just figuring out your personal style through understanding You know, what is it you want to put out there? You know, how do you want to feel? You know, what does your life demand of you? All these things. And so again, that's why I think the capsule wardrobe thing is tricky because especially women, we have a lot of fluctuations in life, a lot of different seasons. And so holding onto, you know, a couple extra pairs of pants because there are a couple different sizes and that might, you know, just, makes sense is okay. Um, it doesn't need to be so restrictive.

Yeah, I agree with you. Absolutely. Um, with all the fluctuations in life, not just weight, but, you know, everything else, you, you do need— and it's okay if you don't wear everything all the time, right? It's, it's absolutely okay as long as that piece is functional and has some function in your life. Yeah, it's, it's fine to have it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so what do you think about the role of confidence? Like, how do you think that plays a role in when we get dressed?

Huge role. Huge, huge, huge. I think, and even, even colors, strangely enough, right? So if somebody who really wants to feel powerful, I always say red is your color, right? And then of course, you know, there are many different shades and then find the one that works for you and blah, blah, blah. But it's definitely very, very, very much plays a role. We also, when I was trained as an image consultant, and that for me, that was a kind of a big revelation because because what we were taught and what I then observed in my clients is your personality and how you want to show up plays a huge role. So for example, if somebody, let's say their coloring is all kind of soft and muted, which is like normally they're advised to wear kind of soft and muted and blended colors, nothing bright, but their personality is just bursting. Yeah, right. So you cannot dress them completely against their personality. So you need to figure out the ways to say, okay, well, you need this pops of color because that's just you.

Yeah, yeah, right.

So that's personal. And then the confidence works very, very similarly. So if you just want to be hidden, if you want to just kind of— so of course, like muted darker colors. But if you want to feel confident and if you want to show up, there you go.

So it's—

yeah, I think it's— you have a very, very good point there.

Yeah. And so can you just talk a little bit more about Open Wardrobe? Like, how does it work and how does it help women with their closets?

Yeah, I mean, there are, there are kind of a few basic functions. One is, of course, you can digitize your wardrobe and then you can see what you all have and pre-plan your outfits. You can play with, like, we have very easy tools. So that's one. And then, of course, we have our AI that helps you put outfits together. And it's designed not to always hand you a perfect outfit. It's designed to spark creativity so that you can say, okay, here's a blouse. Just how do I wear it in many different ways? So it starts throwing ideas out at you and then you can just tweak it from there. So it's, and it's super, super easy to use. And then the second piece is more kind of educational, understanding yourself. So we have this thing called Style Blueprint where you can go and answer some questions and it kind of gives you, here's your color palette, these are the silhouettes that work for you, these are the brands that work for your personality. And then, you know, of course we can, we're going to continue revising from there. And then we have also our browser extension for Chrome. So when you shop online, you can access your wardrobe if you have digitized it and our Lola AI from any website. So let's say you go to whatever is your, you know, Nordstrom.com, right? And then you look at a sweater and you can say, okay, how do I wear this with what I already have? And you see many, many, many outfits. And we're going to be very soon adding functionality on does it suit me? Should I buy it? So it kind of makes those decisions for you. And it's just a tool, right? It's not, you know, it's not a solution to everything. It's just a tool that you can use to make decisions. And that's it.

It's so great because, I mean, I think the other thing that a lot of women feel is like an overwhelming amount of decision fatigue, which I know for me was a big reason why I didn't really do a lot with my wardrobe for a long time, because there's so many other decisions to make. Like, your time is, you know, you know, your time is busy with so many other things that like, do I really want to take the time to go shopping? Like, is that what I want to do with that free time? Or do I have other things that are more meaningful? But, you know, it also was meaningful to me to, you know, take care of myself and feel put together. So I love that. It helps you with the decision-making because anything that really simplifies and cuts down on the amount of decisions that women have to make, I think is so great. It's like I had my colors done with Your Color Guru and I found it again like a similar thing. Like here was suddenly this filter that I could use. So if I went to shop online, I could, you know, because it's so great how many websites have like color filters, you know, and it's the same. Like where you can just pick, okay, I want a green sweater, so I'm only going to look at green sweaters, like cut out all the extra noise. So I love the idea that Open Wardrobe really just like filters and helps you make decisions because that's huge.

Absolutely. And then from there, by the way, we also have integrations with alterations and repairs. So let's say you have a garment that you know, it doesn't feel quite right, right? Or basically it needs a basic repair. So you can order it from the app immediately. And if it's something you don't want anymore, we have integration with Poshmark. So if you have a Poshmark account, you can just one button, we create a listing and just list everything. Wow.

That's so thoughtful.

So it's just basically making managing your clothes as easy as possible.

Yeah, because alterations, like, I mean, I think that's another thing that, um, I didn't— I used to do this more when I was younger. I guess I had more time to take my clothes to get altered. But wow, what a difference something like that makes. Um, like, you know, just taking in, uh, the waist or something on a pair of pants or hemming them just a little bit shorter or getting darts put in or something like that just to make it like, you know, more personalized. It really just makes such a big difference.

It's more personalized, but it's also just fitting you because most of our body— most of us do not have bodies that are like the standard. Yeah, right. So there's always something that can be adjusted and that does make a huge, huge, huge difference.

Yeah. And I love the sustainability piece too, because, you know, we, we do throw out a lot of clothes. Like, you know, I mean, I've seen now that almost thrift stores can't even handle the amount of clothing that gets thrown out. And with, you know, some of these really cheap retailers too, like, um, it's just pennies for clothing, really. And then a few wears and it's out the door. So I love the idea of all the tools that are within Open Wardrobe that allow you to work with what you already have.

Yeah.

So we're, we're managing that as well. So any last tips you would give women who are feeling overwhelmed by their closet or want to kind of get it on being a bit more intentional?

Yeah, my, my only tip is really just understand yourself and understand what you want out of your clothes, how you want to show up.

Yeah.

And then there are so many tools out there that help you figure out, like, does zero Does your closet match your lifestyle? Does it match your body? Does it match your colors? There's so many tools. And just make a decision. Yeah. That just needs to be a point where you say, okay, enough is enough. I'm gonna get control of my closet. And then just do it. And it's, it may take time depending on what you want to do. If you want to digitize, of course, it will take some time. But if you say, okay, this month is, is going to be the month when I'm going to manage my wardrobe and just do like 10 garments a day and then you'll get through it in no time.

Yeah. Yeah. That's such a good way to look at it. Just break it down into, you know, as you put your laundry away or something, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I have 3 final questions that are just for fun that I ask guests. The first one is, what is something you can't live without?

Uh, my Kindle. I can't even fall asleep without it.

Yeah, I love that too. Although I'm in Canada, so I, I use Kobo because I can't— you can't, uh, Kindle doesn't work with our library here. So, oh, okay. Yeah, I know. I want Kindle to work because there's more choices, but, um, and what about a favorite quote or saying?

Okay, so that's an interesting one. Have you seen that movie Finding Nemo? A cartoon. My son was obsessed with it when he was little.

Yeah.

So Dory character, when she said, just keep swimming. That's my mantra.

You know what? That's so funny. That is actually one of mine too, because we love also Finding Dory, which was like the second one. But yeah, just keep swimming. It's such a good one. I love that. And last is an easy go-to dinner.

Um, pesto pasta with chicken breast.

Mm. That's simple and yummy. And kids like that too.

Yeah, exactly.

Awesome. Oh, well, thank you so much, Giulia. This has been such a great conversation. Could you just share with listeners like where they can find you or where they can learn more about Open Wardrobe?

Yeah, just go on our website, www.openwardrobe.co. It's C-O, it's not dot com, it's C-O. And all the information will be there. You can download the app from there. You can sign up for our web app. Um, browser extension, everything is right there.

Awesome. Well, I'll share that in the show notes so people can find it, cuz this really sounds like such a useful tool. So thank you so much for your time.

Amazing. Thank you, Sarah.

That's all for today. I'll see you again next week. And if you liked today's episode and found it helpful, I'd be so grateful if you would write a review. If you do, your name will be entered for this month's giveaway. You can also share with another mom who would be helped by listening. And be sure to follow me on Instagram @simpleintentional. Thanks for listening.