What's Your ID?

From NeNe Leakes to obscure internet personalities, digital archivist Nathan Capistrano makes it his business to identify curated and off-the-cuff fashion moments.

- by LingJie Tuang

Who are you wearing?” — a phrase cemented as part of comedian Joan Rivers' legacy when she covered red-carpet interviews in the early aughts - encapsulated the insatiable thirst for celebrity culture: the need to know who they dated, where they ate, and how they kept their bodies tight. It was the same reason that brought Google Images to life, all thanks to J. Lo's infamous Versace dress that had users crashing their search engines to get a closer look. Today, identifying what celebrities wear has spiralled into a phenomenon larger than just public appearances. Gwyneth Paltrow's ski crash trial in 2023 escalated from a legal to a sartorial spectacle as the internet clamoured to identify her courtroom style that ranged from The Row to Prada. “This is what Jackson Wang allegedly wore to The Met,” was how a friend decided on her next pair of sunglasses after finding it out from Xiaohongshu. Same-day updates on Instagram and Twitter showcase what Aespa’s Karina wore upon landing in Incheon in a split-image format, with individual pieces and their prices arranged in a collage.

The incessant curiosity is also a driving factor behind the launch of digital archivists into the stratosphere. Meet Nathan Capistrano, based in the Philippines, better known as @muglerize on X and Instagram, who notoriously identifies fashion from pop culture moments through pixelated Stan Twitter GIFs and screengrabs from glossy music videos. In one tweet, he identifies the Peter Dundas for Pucci dress NeNe Leakes wore in Season 6 of Real Housewives of Atlanta. “You look fabulous,” said Kenya Moore. “You don't,” Leakes snaps back. In another tweet, he shares a photo of Mariah Carey on the set of