Many rich and famous people are not shy about showing off their wealth. One of the surest ways to show off a little opulence is to go out in the latest fashions. But while flaunting designer shoes, dresses, suits and other items may turn heads, where do they keep all of that after it’s been worn or gone out of style? When aristocrats find their surplus tailoring spilling out of ordinary, everyday bedroom closets, they turn to custom closets to store their clothes. These are some of the most over the top and wacky houses for clothing.
Mariah Carey’s Manhattan Monument
Mariah Carey is a singer, songwriter, and actress with a firm place on Mount Rushmore of divas. In her three-decade career, she has walked more red carpets than can be counted. Luckily, she has a place to store all the dresses from those galas. In her 10,000-square-foot Manhattan triplex, the butterfly diva installed one of the largest custom closets in a private residence, befitting her status. The space is laid out with bleached hardwood floors that have been polished to a high gloss, giving it the look of marble but the warmth of wood, perfect for walking barefoot and trying on clothes. The accents are arranged in gold leaf and the shelves containing shoes and accessories are backlit. All the glitter and reflective surfaces mean the star gets studio-quality lighting every time it steps out.
The wardrobe without skeletons by Imelda Marcos
Ms. Marcos was the wife of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the country for more than twenty years. While Ferdinand was famous for her iron fist, Imelda was known for the softer materials she amassed, especially shoes. Born into poverty, Imelda Marcos became obsessed with buying all the trinkets she could afford for her new status. While the rest of the country suffered deprivation and hunger, the Marcos family looted and stole whatever they could get their hands on. Imelda kept her clothes inside a couple of custom cabinets that she had built inside the presidential palace. The rooms were huge and climate-controlled, with the kind of escalators one associates with libraries. When the People Power Revolution soldiers stormed the presidential residence, they were shocked at the wealth they found hidden away. It was reported at the time that she owned over 1,200 pairs of shoes before she and her husband went into exile in Hawaii. Imelda was later interviewed about the revolution and the seizure of the palace: “They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes.”
Custom cabinets can be signs of wealth, both on the good and bad sides. These ladies represent the line between success and excess.
