first time im hearing this now. capsule wardrobe! maria callas in terence mcnally’s masterclass talked about having the Look. it’s when you’re bound to a certain recognizable style that becomes your brand. lagerfeld with his glasses. steve jobs with his turtlenecks. zuckerberg with his grey shirts. anna wintour with her hair (ok it’s not clothing, what do you expect from a fashion guru). the Look is not necessarily being fashionable but about being yourself. perhaps capsule wardrobe is a mashup of the Look (in relation to a curated wardrobe) and the konmarie method of a. keeping what brings you joy and b. keeping clothes to a minimum.

umm, no, that’s not my Look. it’s my wakanda warrior pose.

im almost always wearing black. it was something that just naturally happened during my college years and cemented itself when i started working. ive had a few colored shirts throughout the years but it’s probably in the last 5 years that ive almost exclusively worn black tops and dark jeans.

well, ok in this photo i wore blue chinos.

my reasons for wearing black were mostly because they were economical. number 1, it takes me about a second to decide on what to wear in the morning. i open my closet and pick oh, maybe this black shirt instead of that other one, and they’re all the same black shirts (fila large size black shirts because the length and width of the shirt is perfect for me and also the length of the sleeves). it’s a no brainer.

secondly, black doesnt scream out fat. i was a skinny 90 lb kid in the 90s. and in the year 2018 im maybe 2018 lbs. no, im not. im hiding some things (like my midsection really). my neck and cheeks have gotten really big too so i should maybe consider turtlenecks. in tropical philippines. thirdly, there’s no third reason. my shirts are inexpensive, only my underwear is expensive but ive stopped buying expensive underwear for the last 3 years maybe but that’s for another blog.

this is me 50 lbs ago. and without hair. my Look then was a shaved head.

ive read and done the konmarie method of weeding out my stuff in 2015. take note, weeding, not keeping things tidy (at least for me). marie kondo, if you havent heard of her, is a japanese tidying-up master who wrote a book, spark joy, about the konmarie method. basically if you’re cleaning through your wardrobe, you take out all your clothes into a pile and touch them one by one, segregating the items that still give you “joy” when wearing and tossing out items you may not have worn in the last 1-2 years because maybe it doesnt fit you anymore or you were saving them for special events but have tons of those, and you might need to reconsider and let them go. it’s very therapeutic and helpful for hoarders like myself. i was able to cut down my clothes to a minimum. and they’re all black.

i did my kondofying of the closet around 2015. and im proud to say ive managed to keep my closet roughly the same now as it was when i cleaned it out. before photo below. mind you this was carlo’s and mine, yes it was recently cleaned up and organized but there were a lot of clothes here. photo taken in 2015.

here is my closet now, 2018 taken just this afternoon.

carlo and i just celebrated our 11th anniversary. you wanna know the secret in being able to keep a relationship going strong all these years? separate closets! i kid you not. what you’re seeing is just my closet.

in the photo above on pile number 1, i have maybe 5-6 cotton jackets (i get cold easily). pile number 2, i cycle through about 5 shirts for sleep/home use (oversized cotton shirts for comfort). i still have 3 shirts there i cant let go (one is a purple shirt coco martin wore as his costume in his first movie, an ET shirt from my cousin tootsie, and a coke shirt with ET on it from tita an). undernearth i have white button-down shirts i dont normally wear but need for formal events (a tuxedo shirt) or funerals (ironically, white is de rigueur in funerals). pile number 3: 2 dri-fit shirts for shooting (uniqlo shirts are nice) and maybe 10 cotton fila shirts for everyday needs plus around 5 button-down shirts (long and short-sleeved shirts). last pile, i have 5 pairs of denims and chinos. 3 or 4 easy shorts (in dark blue mostly) and another 2 in dri-fit material. maybe 5 boxer shorts for home. there are other seasonal items in my closet (stored separately) but these here are generally my go-to day wear to work (shoots, meeting with agency or clients, even sorta formal events — i just put on a cardigan over my cotton shirt and im good).

ps. the 2 stuffed animals in the closet were owned by our dog-baby who passed away 3-4 years ago. and since every time i see this stuffed monkey and cheetah it sparks joy in my heart and im reminded of pogiboybabyroobabydog all the time so i still keep them in there, on hangers. there is another stuffed banana toy of pogi’s kept safe in my props boxes in storage. hehe. *tear.

capsule wardrobe. that apparently is what i have. cheers!

see? im almost always in black. have you figured out what your Look is?