Welcome And Style Disclaimer

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome back to Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. I am Nazish and I'm really glad you are here. My guest today is Sarunas Rodriguez, an entrepreneur, visual designer, and the founder of Ask My Wardrobe, an AI virtual try-on digital wardrobe platform. He spends his days thinking deeply about lifestyle, daily habits, and relationship people have with their style, their choices, and themselves. So today we are sitting with someone most of us never really stop to examine. The quiet link between what we wear and how we feel ourselves, how we feel. So, Sarunas, thank you so much for being here and let's get this started.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Feeling more confident. And yeah, let's begin, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Yes. So, dear listeners, some statements reflect personal belief and experiences and are presented as individual views, not medical advice. So listeners should consult qualified professionals for medical condition.

Trend Pressure And Dressing For You

SPEAKER_00 1:34

So, Sarunas, I want to ask you that there is this idea that has been carrying about style or how you look is somehow shallow. The real depth, I believe, lives somewhere else. But from what you have seen in your work, the relationship people have with their clothes is much more layer than that.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah. So this is a very deep question. Uh-huh. Right. And to be honest, like everybody has its own personal style, and there is no way that two people two persons have an identical style, and you that you can find another person that will have something similar. What I constantly see online is that a lot of people follow trends, right? And we can find that maybe this month baggy jeans are trendy. Next month we will have some summer outfit that will be trendy wide. And sometimes this pressure of trends and um again, stuff that goes online and gets very popular usually um presses people to wear something that they don't like. And when working with Ask My Wardrobe, we see user users uh testing clothes, um, virtually trying on clothes that um that are trending right now on social media, and we also talk to our users, and from my personal experience, and we tend to follow trends that we don't necessarily agree to maybe try to look better to other people, right? And I don't think this is the answer when it comes to feeling better in your day-to-day life. Okay, I believe that everyone should uh dress and have a style that they like, no matter what trend is going on. Of course, there are people who start the trend, maybe there are people who uh really like the trending clothing, the trending clothes, maybe the trending accessories, right? But this is definitely not for most of us, and I think that more people should notice in in their day-to-day life what are they doing, what are they dressing, right? And start to think am I dressing for myself, right? Am I dressing for confidence, right? Something that I like, something that I uh feel good wearing, or am I dressing because uh everyone is dressing this, right? Everyone likes these clothes, right? So this is uh again something very personal, but I really think that um knowing and understanding when you dress um that you are different, everybody is different, and you don't need to follow trends because people who create trends are are just brands that uh want you to buy stuff, and you can usually see that um brands start doing uh different clothing and uh promoting different types of clothes. Uh, when the reality is that a lot of people um fall to this trap, right? And the more people that go with this trend, the more people will join, right? So it's kind of like a uh scheme, right? So next time when you um are trying to buy some clothes, uh whether it is online uh or in person, um try to look something that you really like and don't fall fall into this trap of uh wearing something that is trendy, right? So this might maybe would be the the best even uh and when it comes to uh deep understanding of what you like and what you want to wear. Um this is pretty important. I don't know if I uh answered the question. Maybe maybe this one this one was a little bit off the topic.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

No, it wasn't actually. This is exactly what I believe all the listeners who are listening in tonight would want to listen to. Because we have we all feel that insecurity, we all feel that doubt inside us, and this conversation with you really clears it a lot.

Finding Style Through Everyday Identity

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yes, so so um another thing, maybe I I also want to add up um to this uh to this uh thing that people uh don't uh find it very easy to uh find their style, right? And this from from my personal experience, I usually wore um the same shorts and the same t-shirt. I I remember it very visually and very well that I always wore uh green shorts and a random uh red t-shirt that I wore like five years ago. That I bought that t-shirt five years ago. And um, and I started noticing that um having a good um outfit is not only beneficial for um myself, right? How I feel, but also this affects other people too. This will affect how other people see you as a person and how other people treat you, right? And I started working um in finding why and how to dress better. And the why, again, the main why reason would be that uh you will definitely feel better if you find something that you really love, and if that close represents who you truly are, right? If you are a person who likes, for example, for me, I really like cargo pants. A person who um when going out or when going to work, uh if I'm going to some place, I'll always uh bring um uh napkins, uh maybe my wallet in my cargo pants, right? In my separate um uh pockets, right? And this uh I feel that the cargo pants really represent me as a person. Um maybe it can tell other people that I am an organized person, right? Or if you wear a costume or if you wear a suit, right, to um different places, right? It can uh mean for other people that maybe you are a serious person, right? And you're not gonna wear to a let's say a job interview, you're not gonna wear shorts, right? You're gonna wear a suit because you understand in your mind, you understand that you want to look good and professional, and people need to see you as a person that you can that they can trust, right? So when searching for your style, uh it is very important to understand also that um your style, your outfit will show people how and who you are, right? And maybe later on you can't really judge the book by its cover, right? But the first person, the first thing that a person will see in you, right, when meeting you, will be how how you look, right? So if you have a a bad outfit, something that you really maybe you don't even like yourself, but you don't care that much, you will instantly um present yourself not that good as if you were wearing something that uh maybe represents you more, or maybe that it suits more for the event, uh for the for whatever reason you are meeting with people, right? And again, the tool that uh I started building after finding this problem uh helps you um visualize yourself with any clothes online, right? And before buying any clothes, you can actually visualize yourself wearing those with your current wardrobe, right? So if I have some cargo pants, I can try on uh whatever sweater I want to buy, right? And I can see if it fits me. And I think a lot of people uh struggle, um not from my experience, but I saw a lot of people that go to the shop and start and spend like a lot of time uh searching for clothes. One friend specifically spends like hours uh shopping, and then when I go with her, um she can decide what to buy, right? She's constantly taking three, four pieces of coding and mixing and matching them, and she can't really decide it. And maybe that is also one of the reasons that I built the tool, right? You can mix and match any clothes and find out what fits you the best, right? And once you find it, you just need to plan it out for whatever whatever reason you're going to wear the clothes for daily, uh maybe workout clothes, office clothes, work clothes, um, date clothes, wedding clothes, uh meeting with friends' clothes, night out clothes, right? Uh every reason, uh every occasion that you go uh outside or in public or even at home can um can be a different outfit and can represent uh different um parts of your personality. So this is something very important for you to know too.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

It is, it does sound important, and you know, this really lands with everybody who must be listening right now because dismissing it as a surface does not make the impact go away, it just leaves us aware of how many of how much it is already shaping us.

Confidence Building Beyond Clothes

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, yeah, so um again with um the thing that shapes us, uh one thing that will shape you when you have a good outfit, or when you start uh looking more into details in your everyday life will be confidence. And this is something that you can instantly see in a person, and like you just need like three seconds uh when you are meeting somebody to see if that person is confident or not. And from my experience, I wasn't confident at all before, uh, especially in public, uh, especially when talking with strangers, uh, being around strangers, and to be honest, I was just an introvert, and I swapped that. I wouldn't say that I now uh enjoy being an extrovert, but I can definitely say that I'm not afraid of it anymore. And for this, I did I did three things, and um, well, I'm gonna talk about uh a few things, right? And the first thing is not related to clothes, but I really want to mention it. Uh, and it is um I started to go to public places um more often, and uh specifically the rule that I made was to go to the same place for at least 30 days in a row. So for the next month, I went to the same coffee shop to work, right? So I went to this coffee shop 30 days in a row and I noticed that people come and go, right? If you go to the same place, you'll notice that maybe the staff will be the same, but the people that are in there are not the same, they are different people, right? And when you notice that, you I started to realize that um people are living different lives, right? And maybe not everybody is watching it to, right? And you are not the only one who's the first time here, right? And for introverts, I think this is this is a very big deal, right? Because um, if you are an introvert in a public space, you will think that, oh, and maybe this person is looking at me, uh, maybe he's judging how uh how I'm walking, what am I saying, right? I don't want to mess this up, right? But once you go like I'm about two weeks to the same coffee shop or to a park or to a library, uh, you'll start to notice that everybody is on their own business, and everybody is just um doing their own thing, and sometimes those people are not even uh you haven't seen them, or those people are not coming back, right? So maybe if I see someone today, I won't see them tomorrow, right? And you will uh notice that this uh will provide you or maybe give you more confidence, right? And this will help you um, this will help you build more confidence, right? And the

Repeatable Outfits And Less Stress

SPEAKER_01 16:01

second thing, and I think we already talked about this uh with the styling and finding your perfect clothes, but uh when I started to look uh to look deeper into clothing styles and why people wear stuff, uh why people wear something that is trending rather than something that they like, and why do they spend two hours in the shop and don't buy anything? Um I started noticing that confidence also comes from what you wear, and again, how you represent yourself is how much confidence you are getting, right? If you uh represent yourself well, you will be more confident, right? And absolutely, yeah. So if you wear something that you like, you will automatically be more confident. This is very understandable, everybody gets it, but if you wear something that you like and you wear something that you like for that occasion, right? So if you wear um, let's say for a wedding, a wedding suit that you like, that will boost your productivity and your confidence, right? Much more, right? So once you are dressing well, you will start noticing again that a lot of people start to treat you differently and it will boost your um confidence. For me, when I started digging this deeper, I wasn't really interested in wearing something. Um I wasn't interested in wearing something that is uh uh taking you know a lot of time for me to to decide what I want to wear, right? So I s I started uh to spend more time in it, right? And I wanted to learn how people think when choosing clothes, and I built my perfect outfit, right? My daily outfit, maybe the outfit that I go to more formal meetings, right? And every outfit has a reason to be that outfit, right? And everybody has a different outfit and a different style. So building something that you can repeat, right? Clothes that you don't uh buy randomly will definitely boost your confidence, and if those clothes fit the occasion, the event that you're going, this will boost your confidence like much more, not only because you like what you wear, but because people will treat you differently.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

This makes so much sense. I cannot stress it enough because it is so true. And you know, it does put uh a lot of confidence in you by just you know dressing up nice, and maybe you might not do it for others, but doing it for yourself is such a good feeling, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And I'm glad that you said that not doing this for others, uh, because in the beginning I told that uh you need to wear for yourself and not follow trends, and this is so true, and it might conflict with wearing for special events. Again, maybe you don't like wearing a suit, but uh this will this is like necessary for a wedding, for example. Um so again, um for at least your daily, your daily routine, your daily things that you do, you should have a style that you wear and you like yourself and not follow trends, right? And uh do it for yourself. And once you do it for yourself, you will notice that uh people start noticing you, uh, maybe talking to you differently. And uh, once you see that effect, you will never look back into clothes uh as easily as now, right? So this is something that I learned the hard way because I really spent like maybe four years uh not even thinking about it. And now when I started with this with this tool, I basically use it every day, right? Because I constantly want to improve my wardrobe and maybe add a new sweater, maybe add a new pants, and I constantly compare online clothes, right, with uh with the tool, right? Uh and with my current wardrobe, and that way I can plan what I want to buy next, and that way I can upgrade the wardrobe. And I also use this tool for um planning everything a few days before it happens, right? So, for example, tomorrow I will be going to one event, and I plan this uh uh outfit for the event all today, and yesterday I was planning for this specific event, and I just have the outfit prepared, so I don't need to think about that the what I'm gonna wear, how I want to look. I can just have it a few days uh before prepared, right? And don't think about it, which uh removes more stress from my uh daily routine, right? I don't need to start thinking about what I'm wanting what I want to wear the day when I need to wear it.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

That is that is Such a beautiful approach towards things, and I think that this is gonna help a lot of listeners,

Use Your Wardrobe And Stop Wasting Money

SPEAKER_00 22:05

you know, who have trouble figuring out what to wear, when to wear, and those end-minute you know, resolves coming up to something that they might not feel confident in. It is such a beautiful advice for everybody tonight.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah, because um if you like for me, when when I was um organizing my wardrobe, I I noticed that um I'm only using like 30% of clothes that I have. So maybe like mainly five to six t-shirts, uh two sweaters, and maybe one or two pants only, right? And the other pants, the other t-shirts were just like occasional, right? Something, someday I was uh going to the store, I saw these pants, I I saw that they are trendy, and I bought them, I wore them once, and I never use them again, right? So this is uh probably one of the biggest mistakes that people do is buy something that they know they are not a hundred percent certain, right? And this is a waste of money and a waste of resources uh spent on something that you are not gonna wear, right? So knowing what you want to wear and knowing how you look before you buy, this is a very huge advantage to anyone who likes a style and who constantly want to upgrade their appearance and how they look, right? And that way get more confident. And once you use this tool or you try to visualize yourself wearing clothes before buying, you will definitely save more money and you will notice that you are starting to get your wardrobe more used, or at least getting rid of clothes that you don't really use, right? So, for example, what I did is took the 30% of the clothes that I wear, and the other 70%, I just packed that up to boxes and never used those clothes again. And I didn't even notice that I really uh got rid of those clothes, right? So now I use 100% of my wardrobe, and every time I buy something new, I use askmywardrobe.com to know if I'm gonna really use these clothes and if they match my current wardrobe, right? So that way I buy I really buy something that will help me with my daily lifestyle, right? With my uh with my style, right? So, because I have my own personal style, I want to be able to buy something that really matches me, and it's very hard to do it online. So this really helps me for me. I really hope that it helps uh and maybe uh your listeners, uh Najis uh will help, uh will be able to use this tool, it's completely for free, so they can use it whenever they want, and it will save them a lot of money and maybe even a lot of time. Because if you are if you prefer to buy clothes in person, uh you will probably want to go to the shop, to the dressing rooms. But what you can do is try those clothes virtually at home, find the clothes that you really like, make a small list, have your online wardrobe in the app, and just go to the shop and try those clothes and select the ones that you really like, and that way you can save time, money obviously. I mentioned it before, but that way you can save time in the shop because you're already going to the shop knowing what you want to try on and knowing that it will fit your current wardrobe.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

That sounds amazing, and I believe this is gonna help a lot of people believe that it is good to dress up for themselves, and it is good to feel confident in what you put and not follow the trends. Yeah, so you know uh it is uh I can also say that what we wear doesn't make us who we are, but it does tell us quietly whether we are still allowing ourselves to be. Am I right?

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Yes, definitely right. Like if you uh what you wear does not tell you who you are, yes, but it does tell us whether we are still allow allowing ourselves to be. Yes, this is such a good point. I need to write this down, but uh uh I haven't even thought about this before, and I was just talking about it all the time. Yeah, what what you wear is not who you are, but it helps you define and maybe um let others know who you are, right? So a lot of people um maybe don't know how to express their feelings, or maybe that they don't know how to show who they are, right? And I think that personal style really helps you uh provide and show people who you really are by wearing something that represents who you are. So this is something that I I really started to think about right now, right? I I didn't use this uh this uh I haven't heard this quote, but but yeah, it really resonates with uh with the things that I talked here before, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Yeah, absolutely.

Where To Connect And Final Takeaway

SPEAKER_00 28:06

So, you know, Saranas, this has been such a thoughtful conversation. And you know, before we close, I believe all my listeners would be wanting to you know take a walk with your work and know so where is the best place for them to connect with you?

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Yeah, the best place to connect with me and ask me any questions uh would probably be LinkedIn. I'm gonna provide you the link for LinkedIn, or you can go straight to the website askmywardrobe.com and you can go to the contact section. I read every email and uh try on the tool. Try it, try it for free. It is um free forever. Uh, you can try it on, and when you try it on, let me know how you like it, what you want to improve. And um I really hope that people start uh wearing something that will represent them, give them more confidence, and by doing that, even save more money.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Thank you so much for sharing that with us. And you know, I am really glad that we had this conversation. I will make sure to include all these details into the show notes so that you know you're just one click away for all our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Thank you so much, Nazish. Uh, again, thanks for all the all the listeners and thanks for you for uh bringing me on to this uh amazing podcast. And um I really hope that somebody texts me, right? To know how how and and and learn something from from this. And maybe the biggest tip that I will give you is to um start wearing however you prefer wearing, right? What you like wearing and not look at uh trends, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Yeah, that is a very important motto for our conversation today.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Yes, because uh trends come and go, but you are still the same, right? And if you wear something that you like, it will give you much more confidence than wearing something that everybody wears.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Absolutely. Uh thank you so much for spending your time with us on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. And dear listeners, if something in this conversation made you look at your wardrobe a little differently tonight, let that be enough. You don't need to change everything, just noting, just notice what you reach for and ask yourself gently what you are really choosing. I'll see you next time. Until then, take care of your mind, take care of how you show up and remember the smallest choices are often the most honest ones.