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HALSTON THE MOVIE ...MY CRITIQUE

May 24, 2021 Posted by Vicky Tiel

HAVING BEEN A PART OF THIS TIME IN FASHION HISTORY I HOPE TO GIVE THE FILM AND HALSTON AN AUTHENTIC REVIEW. Ewan McGregor was awesome, totally mannered, totally the same face as Halston with that overwhelmed stoned elegant stare. The movie perfectly showed a period of time we will never see again.

There are two types of dress designers, the real ones and the fake that many call Stylists. The film explained how the brands were built with designers who were the stylists. Halston like many “so-called dress designers” did not have the taught skills to be a REAL designer, draping, sketching, sewing, measuring clients, so they hire the best they can afford and Halston hired the best for his team. Joe Eula was the best dress sketch artist of his time working in magazines and Joel Schumacher the real designer went to Parsons like Mia Vicky the year behind us for fashion design, sketching draping, and sewing. (Joel later made movies).

The REAL dress designers like YSL, Karl, and Azzedine do EVERYTHING. Halston was a clever man who only made hats, not a hard job. Coco started with hats. THE NEED TO PAY TOP PEOPLE TO ASSIST THE “DESIGNER” AND KEEP THEM IS WHY SO MANY BRANDS FAIL. Few stylist-designers are the real deal and most designers can not keep these great talents as assistants. Assistants are often too shy to become stars but they earn a lot as the artist behind the brand really needs them but they often move on. The movie explained this well.

When I got to Paris in 1964 and I opened our business MIA VICKY with my partner Mia Fonssagrives and we used the gown atelier of French couturier Louis Feraud, (whom Mia married) and were shocked to see that designer Per Spook sketched and made the clothing, not Louis. It was like this in 1964 as it is today, which is why the designers are BRANDS THAT NEED BIG FINANCE. Halston in the end lost his company and sold out and died of reality, AIDS, and sadness.

BUT I TELL EVERYONE WHEN I HAVE TAUGHT AT F.I.T.THAT TO BE A GREAT DESIGNER YOU MUST CREATE ONE DRESS THAT WHEN YOU SAY THEIR NAME AND CLOSE YOUR EYES THEIR DRESS COMES TO MIND. Karl never did that…YSL, COCO, BALENCIAGA, PACO. AZZEDINE, AND YES! HALSTON DID DO THAT WITH THE ULTRASUEDE SHIRT DRESS.

The movie Halston is a must-see for artists and fashionistas, it’s a must binge with a lot of life lessons. It depicts a time when sex, drugs, and rock and roll were a dream and will never come back. Now we live in reality.