Closet Envy: Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden
by Alexandra Phanor-Faury
Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem and author Thelma Golden is as equally revered for her visionary eye for emerging talent in the art world as she is for her intriguing vivid wardrobe. Golden spent the bulk of her career in the arts as an associate curator and curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art which made her a fixture on the international art scene. Flying around the globe in the name of art calls for an eclectic wardrobe for every season. While Golden has been quoted as saying if she weren’t working in the arts, she’d love to work for Oprah, we think the fashion world could use some of Golden’s lively sartorial vision.
The art aficionado utilizes her diminutive frame as a walking canvas to create her own moving piece of art with her collection of high-designer pieces. Golden turns to interesting details, shapes, prints to add depth to her looks. Her uncompromising fashion and style mirrors her approach to her work: detailed, youthful and unconventional.
Golden’s fashion statements haven’t gone unnoticed. The curator has been at the forefront of the New York social scene for years and we’ve come to expect nothing short of fabulous when it comes to her sense of style. As if Golden’s wardrobe isn’t to die for already, being married to one of the fashion industry’s great talents, Duro Olowu, provides Golden with an endless array of chic pieces that fall in line with her love of prints. Golden’s other go-to designers include Tracey Reese and Alaia.
To ensure her designer wears fit her petite frame just right, Golden is a big advocate of alterations. Whether it’s shortening a hem or taking in a jacket, wearing clothes that complement her size has always been the most important element to feeling and looking great in her clothes.
Her 16 feet closet space in her Brooklyn, New York home is not only packed with great altered pieces, her shoe collection isn’t too shabby either. Boxes of Prada and Sigerson Morrison line up the top and bottom shelves of her large closet.
Take a look at creative spirit Thelma Golden’s spectacularly curated wardrobe.