Netflix “Halston” Reviews

Save yourself and just watch this documentary. It's only 105 minutes, is good and gives you everything you need to know.

By the end of the series, though, I was left without any clarity about how Halston wants its audience to see the man at its center. The branding mistakes are explicitly cast as terrible blunders, the missteps of a man who didn’t trust his artistic vision enough and was too swayed by greed and excess. But are we supposed to indict him for this? Are we meant to see this as a cautionary tale? Is Halston a villain, or is he a victim of circumstance? It’s another case of the generous reading versus the uncharitable interpretation. Generously, I might say that Halston intends to leave viewers with this complexity. Truthfully, it’s a big mess.

Still, as I watched the series, I could not help but get stuck on the idea of Halston as a cautionary figure. That deluge of his name, stamped everywhere all over everything and rendered essentially meaningless, reminded me of someone: Ryan Murphy, who is the executive producer of Halston and has a co-writing credit on three of the miniseries’ five episodes (alongside his frequent collaborator Ian Brennan and series creator Sharr White). Murphy is another creator who began his career with a distinctive, idiosyncratic vision, and who has since over-extended himself to the point that his name no longer carries any guarantee of the style that was once his signature. If Halston is a story about how not to lose an artistic identity, Murphy does not appear motivated to take his own advice.

WOW… Ewan McGregor is OFFENSIVELY flaming in this, like he’s trying to channel Paul Lynde. I thought this might happen given his performance in Birds of Prey.

The mini-series' visuals are too bland, the style too laborious and the music too generic.It has the J. C. Penney look and feel all over it, cheap and tacky. The acting is too precious and reverential.

Grade: D

Smoking a cigarette, Ewan McGregor looks like he's been directed to channel a late-life Lucille Ball.

The actress playing Liza is very good, but she seems like she's playing a person while McGregor is playing cartoon.

Matthew Macfadyen would be a better Halston.

Is this the official viewing thread?

Yes

R4 = Rex Reed

I’m loving Baby’s mother as the fashion publicist putting together the Versailles show. Why hasn’t this actress worked more?

How much sexy male nudity is in this? That's all I want to know...

How about the documentary "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston" (2011)? Who's seen it?

The black guy he sleeps with first has an incredible body.

This is going to start another discussion about whether it’s appropriate to cast straight actors as effeminate gay men

I think this will be one of the last times we see a major straight actor play a flaming queen

Although I know nothing about Halston…. Was he really this flaming? Could McGregor have toned down his performance to merely “elegantly fey”?

The only reason to bitch about an actor, gay or straight, playing a flaming character is because we think there is something wrong w/ being a flaming queen.

SPOILER: There isn't anything wrong with playing or being a flaming queen.

Was Halston always old or is Ewan playing him that way.

Halston was 36 in 1968, so Ewan maybe looks a bit too old. More than anything, though, this series breaks the cardinal rule - it’s boring. It’s dull as hell.

[quote]How much sexy male nudity is in this? That's all I want to know...

Only ass.

[quote]How about the documentary "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston" (2011)? Who's seen it?

Much better than the 2019 docu and 100 times better than this NF shitshow.

What was Halston’s font?

R17 = Incessantly-lurking DL frau, who sees and thinks of gay men as cartoons and wants only to clap and laugh at the "sassy queens" who entertain her and remind her, unconvincingly, that her junior high school bullying and later gossip against the effeminate gay men she encountered was completely justified.

Shoo, gash. Shoo!

Just watched the first episode.

What's not to love? I don't know how effeminate or butch Halston was, but Ewan is giving a very entertaining performance.

And the Liza interpretation is delicious and heartfelt. What's not to love?

I like Ryan Murphy because at least he constantly makes entertainment this gay man likes to watch.

Is his output highbrow? Sometimes. Is it cheezy? Sometimes. Do some series fizzle out by the end? um, Yes.

But they're always entertaining

To quote Lucille Ball, "You call THIS hot???"

Is Pat Ast portrayed in the film. And if so who by?

Ultrasuede is garbage. It’s much more about its utterly uninteresting filmmaker than it is Halston. Frederic Tcheng is now consistently making the best films about fashion: Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel ; Dior and I; and now Halston. His is the Halston documentary you should watch.

Aside from his early roles, McGregor had never found a proper vehicle for his talents.

R25 Yes, by Shawna Hamic, here’s her IG.

[quote]Aside from his early roles, McGregor had never found a proper vehicle for his talents.

And by that, you mean his dick.

I keep thinking it's Andrew McCarthy playing Halston.

R30 Which one drank and did more drugs?

Murphy's Netflix shows are so far disappointing. I liked parts of Hollywood, Ratched and this. But something is off. Not as good as his fx shows.

That Martha Graham looked more Louise Nevelson then Martha. Is Geraldine Chaplin no longer working?

I'm watching now and am so disappointed. I was really looking forward to this but it is a bore.

R34 exactly. His earlier work and even his stuff before he got his Netflix deal was exciting. But this was boring. Also a lot of Hollywood was boring for a show about prostitution and making it in Hollywood. That had too many long monologues about woke bullshit in the 1940s. Murphy's writing is not good most of the time and writing is in my opinion the most important part of a show. Pretty costumes and sets cant make up for lazy writing.

Were there to be a lot more episodes and for them to be longer? It seems very cut down, like they knew it was going to drag like hell so they streamlined it as much as possible in hopes to keep people watching. There were very clunky transitions, and I’m still confused why they didn’t make him look younger early on, and then they didn’t age him going forward. He remains the same age throughout the whole series. Was that a choice, are we to think he’s timeless and steadfast?

Halston was affected but not at all flaming. He was easily the most gifted American designer ever. He was also not a particularly nice guy- probably pretty insecure at his core- who was principally brought down by his reckless abuse of drugs, sex, and people. He bit off more than he could chew and cut corners to enable an unsustainable lifestyle and career. Couple friends of mine worked for him- one of whom he really could not do without. She finally left having been screamed at one too many times. When I met him he was pretty much insufferable unless you were “very important”, or the latest object of his lust. I thought he was kind of a monster. Like a few other very well known and powerful gay men in that time- I knew instinctively to stay away.

Great great designer- not a very nice person who really cannot be accurately understood unless addressing his profound self destructive behavior and the reasons for it.

That’s my 2 cents.

wish Ryan Murphy could've done a follow up series to Popular

R37 He sounds very much like the Scott Rudin of his day, maybe Scott is all fueled by alcohol and coke as well. I will say it was strange that his assistant goes and buys coke in front of the Prospect Park Boat House. I can’t imagine her leaving midtown and going all the way into Brooklyn and them hiking deep into the park to get to the boat house to buy blow, but why would they use such a recognizable location otherwise?

Me, too, r38.

I’ve always liked Ryan Murphy’s shows. Even when they inevitably go off the rails, they’re usually still somewhat entertaining (e.g., Sharon Gless in the final season of Nip/Tuck). However, everything he has produced for Netflix has been boring as hell -- with the exception of Circus of Books, which had already been produced and he just acquired.

Netflix doesn’t release viewing stats, so I’m wondering how his shows are doing. None have had any buzz, like Shonda has had with Bridgerton. At this point, I doubt Netflix will give him another $300 million deal.

Thank you for the review of Ultrasuede and for saving me the time, R26!

OK I'm almost done with this and can only say that everyone is better off watching the documentary recommended above instead of this.

I’m going to pay this a very backhanded compliment and say it’s perfectly fine for watching on an iPad while you’re doing work. But I can’t imagine sitting down to watch the whole thing on a TV. It just goes on and on and on…. A more talented person would have figured out how to make a two hour movie out of this.

The only thing I took away from Ultrasuede. They were showing Halston's townhouse and how it was left. All of Halston' s personal photos he had hung were left there when the place was sold. It was as if nobody cared or loved him enough to take home was was meaningful to him. Seemed so sad.

[quote]Great great designer- not a very nice person who really cannot be accurately understood unless addressing his profound self destructive behavior and the reasons for it.

I would say that’s the series’ greatest failure. We are shown Halston succumbing to cocaine mostly because “that’s what happened in the seventies” and then to AIDS because “that’s what happened in the eighties.” It does try to set up an overarching Madonna/Whore complex that dominated his psyche with his love for his mother forming the basis of his love of women’s fashion, while his hatred of his fathered leading to his destructive relationships with bad men, but this is done so clichédly and so fleetingly that when Halston breaks down after learning of his mother’s death, it’s actually a surprise because she hasn’t figured into the story for more than a few seconds in flashbacks.

And I loved "Dior and I," and didn't know it was the same director.

"It gets close to camp, especially any time Gian Franco Rodriguez, in a frequently ludicrous performance as Halston’s frequently ludicrous lover Victor Hugo, shows up to deliver dialogue like, 'Only difference with Mr. Les Misérables is that nobody ever called him Victor Huge-o. I’ll make your fucking dreams come true, baby.'"

I thought Rodriguez was far less cringeworthy than McGregor. This is probably his worst performance. There’s a particularly perverse fascination in watching a good actor give a such a sustained bad performance over a couple of hours…

[quote]psychologically superficial

This sums up every original Ryan Murphy production. His shows just feel like drag queens playing with dolls.

Super trashy drag queens with no talent.

McGregor is nothing like Halston.

As mentioned upthread, I found the transitions choppy but I liked it overall. The actress who played Liza was endearing.

Having quit smoking not too long ago, the cigarette smoking got to me. I’m resisting the urge to go out and buy a pack.

Every break was a smoking break...

Like the above poster said, this should've been a two-hour movie. It's dragging in places. McGregor is okay, but he's not the right actor for this.

Damn, Bill Pullman is an old man now!

It's not deep. It is entertaining.

That article OP posted does a great job at responding to some of these comments here.

[quote]Murphy's Netflix shows are so far disappointing. I liked parts of Hollywood, Ratched and this. But something is off. Not as good as his fx shows.

Ryan produced this but it's not at all his. The article relates this fact to the series.

[quote]And before you say, “But Ryan Murphy is only one key creative figure on Halston, along with frequent collaborator Ian Brennan, Sharr White and series director Daniel Minahan,” that’s what Halston is about as well — how when your name and your brand become intertwined, the credit for every success, however collaborative, goes to you, as does the blame for any failure.

Ratched, Hollywood and The Politician were much more products of his mind that he had his hands in deeply.

The Boys in the Band, however was nearly all Joe Mantello. The same applies here which is what I think people are picking up on. I'm sure he had input but I think it's clear where he probably threw his two cents in.

[quote]His earlier work and even his stuff before he got his Netflix deal was exciting. But this was boring.

I like that the article touched base on what people have been saying here, including me.

[quote]Halston is not as bizarrely conceived as Ratched or as maddeningly inconsistent (and finally bad) as The Politician, but it’s lacking enough in perspective and structure to make one wonder about the sort of creative nurturing the Ryan Murphy brand is getting at Netflix — and if he, like his version of Halston, isn’t starting to miss creating for the sake of art and the rave reviews.

It says a lot about what's going on right there. Halston is boring. Netflix isn't jumping in enough since the man needs to be controlled and nurtured.

Ryan Murphy can put out multiple shows in a rush and only one project of his on Netflix manages to get to and stay at #1 (Ratched.)

Shonda Rhimes can take years to put out one show and that one show manages to be the most watched in the history of Netflix.

The man needs to focus and do something himself in the style of his earlier works. It just seems like he's doing too much in too many places and not paying enough attention to whatever it is he's doing. Popular, early Nip/Tuck, early Glee and the first season of American Horror Story proved he has the chops but he also likely literally sat down, wrote those, managed them and nurtured them. That's what he needs to do because what he's doing now is wasting Netflix's money.

[quote]I’m resisting the urge to go out and buy a pack.

Stay strong R52.

McGregor was miscast in his season of Fargo, too. He played twins, and neither were compelling.

Depeche Mode saves this, at least in the trailer.

BORING

Indeed, so boring and so miserable. And the music choices were lacking, for the period.

Just finished it. It was kind of boring. You can get the full picture by watching the first three episodes. After that, its just a glacial decline in his career that hits the same beats over and over.

Soundtrack was the best part. I forgot about Fade to Grey by Visage, good song. Series was ok. Characters come and go without much explanation. I found myself googling about real life info to fill in gaps.

R45. Those weren’t Halstons photographs.

I enjoyed it and thought Ewan did a great job. I did wish we had seen a Warhol, Liz Taylor, Diana Ross, Baryshnikov or other Olympic Tower regulars. Also, I didn't see the music credited, either on the show or on IMDb.

I said in the other Halston thread that Ewan was miscast--he frequently is. I've never seen him play a convincing American, and he's played one repeatedly.

Ewan is charismatic as hell and works beautifully in the right parts, but he's only cast in the right parts about 25% of the time.

R66 That’s probably the track record of most actors.

Thank you so much R28. Looks like great casting.

Can someone smarter than me educate me on Halston? (Yes I could look it up, but I like learning from you bitches) I watched the first two episodes and, frankly, I was bored. But I'm intrigued about the man now.

Who would be comparable in fashion today or the recent past? Versace?

Admittedly I don't know too much about that world other than watching a few seasons of Project Runway.

charlie, upthread, said that Halston is one of the best designers ever. Is that typical charlie hyperbole or is there truth to that?

(Oh, and R38 and R40? Fun fact. I tried acting for like two weeks when I was about 20 and I made it to producers for the lead in Popular! It was down to me and two others. I was seriously the worst actor of all time and I have no idea how I got that far. I guess just dumb, youthful luck and fearlessness.)

I get a sense that they tried to make the Bill Pullman character a kind of surrogate wish-fulfillment father figure to Halston and thus Halston a victim of his chicanery. This allows them to let Halston off the hook for what was essentially his fatal flaw, his greed. It tried to make a story of someone who was arrogant, greedy and demanded instant gratification into someone who was merely the victim of circumstance.

Halston really was no different than most designers you see now. They have a shelf life of maybe 10 years, and then the next big thing comes along. Halston tried to sell a 1970s lifestyle and aesthetic into the 80s and became a bit of a joke.

Are they gonna show the scene where a coked out, ultra-paranoid in ultrasuede Liza is convinced that Skylab is going to fall on her like the house in The Wizard of Oz? Halston takes her out to Long Island and they sit on the porch together awaiting Skylab which Halston says will crash on the lawn right in front of them. (It didn't)

I love these articles- what’s real and what’s not. Apparently, he never owned Montauk property, but rented from Andy. And that Andy, a Major presence in his life, is all but missing.

Halzschton

Joe Eula was assistant to fashion/celebrity photographer Milton Greene for many years and many of Green's lauded works of Marilyn Monroe and other icons were actually Eula's creation.

The guy playing Joe Eula is probably my favourite in the show.

Eldergays - lend some insights for me.

I have one episode left to go and I am very disappointed. I wrote in a Halston thread that I was born in 80, had heard of Halston in later years, but he had fizzled by that time. I was very excited going into this series because it looked like it was going to be a wild, fun ride.

For me, they missed all the fun glamour of that period. Other than a brief intro into Studio 54 in episode 3, I wanted to feel the joy and ecstasy of Halston at the top of his game, enjoying the glamour of it it all. We spend the first two episodes with him constantly saying there is no money, one episode where he takes off, and then the rest is the downfall. I wish they relished the peak a bit more.

The series feels really joyless and not very much fun. Halston or the way McGregor portrayed him, was very unlikable from the get go. I don't mind a vicious, exacting queen, but play him more nuanced. He didn't feel like a genius to me or that was not on display in this series. Halston seemed like he had few good ideas that were brought to life by his team and just threw things at the wall until something stuck. He didn't seem passionate about the clothes portrayed here. Little on the backstory on his Jackie O hat making fame, which was something I didn't know prior.  With a character like this, you need to show the audience why people were so endeared with him. He felt like a crotchety old queen from episode one. This might be due to him being portrayed as the same age throughout the series. He seems forever 50 throughout this. McGregor plays him in a way that neuters any sex appeal he might have had IRL. The sex scenes were weak. At least show us a glimpse of his partners cock from the side in the jockstrap scene.

I'm so against SJW notions that you have be what you are playing - gay plays gay, etc. I am rethinking this notion. McGregor was so over the top femme. I get the affectations and eccentricity, but he could have played it more Tom Ford who also has the affected posh voice though from Texas and is definitely gay, but not a screaming, lisping queen. Whoever said he borrowed his voice from McCauley Culkin's Michael Alig in "Party Monster" was spot on (R1 ?). Michael Alig was gay, but not nearly as gay as portrayed. The funny thing was when the trailer came out a few weeks ago, DLers were worried that McGregor would play Halston as "too top or masc" - well fear not. Also, speaking of SJW, was Halston only into black men with the exception of the escort? That's how it is portrayed.

McGregor aside, I thought the rest of the cast was great. Another fear from the eldergays in the preview thread was Liza. I thought this actress was wonderful. I loved this Liza in the movie. The film elevated when she was on screen. McGregor's muse or assistant Elsa was also great. That actress is stunning. McGregor was the weakest link. Terrible performance.

I don't feel like the series was not particularly clear about Halston's downfall. There was that montage in episode 3 where Halston is endorsing every project under the sun. Is the gist that he basically deviated from high fashion to put his name on any and every mech/licensing deal, diluting his brand, while also being resolute that he wouldn't devalue the brand by being associated with crap? I just wanted to be clear. Or was it the coke?

Anyhow, BOOOOO!!!!! This series was all sheen (although it really wasn't that beautifully shot either) with no substance.  It was easy to just binge in, but I wasn't engrossed, was checking my phone, and ultimately will forget about Halston as soon as I see the final episode. This was no Versace, which I felt was riveting, and the Criss's performance was fantastic. They should have either gone the way of high camp and fun or go in the direction of a "Gia" for example and just lean in to the darkness. Gays have run Hollywood for decades and yet quality gay content eludes us. Murphy is a step in the right direction, but he's starting to feel like a one trick pony.

R76 I don’t know of the real life counterpart, but I kept think this actor was just channeling Michael Jeter.

The most frustrating part about Murphy is that he clearly has talent. He has a great eye for picking material and is really tapped into the cultural zeitgeist, but he must suffer from severe ADD. Every series he's created has started falling apart a season or two in. Glee only had half a great season before it started shoehorning in too many musical numbers to sell mp3s. He almost always loses the plot and forgets what made his shows so interesting in the first place. American Horror Story and Nip/Tuck both started off with just the right mixture of grisly horror and camp, but they both made the mistake of trying to outdo each previous season with more and more insane storylines and extreme gore/shock value until both series turned into plotless, meandering messes.

Ratched was fine as was Versace, but Murphy needs to calm down and stick to one or two projects a year. When he puts all his eggs in one basket, he tends to do better than when he spreads himself too thin.

That article about what is fact makes Halston's boyfriend Victor out to be a real piece of shit.

I think Halston is hitting very close to home for Mr. Murphy, not too long in the future we will probably have shows that are declared a “Ryan Murphy Production” that he has not had an inklings of input on as he sits at home and can not use his own name towards any project he might want to do. When the man becomes the commodity.

Did Halston get the billion or not with JC Penny deal or was his manager just hedging his bets? Did he die a very rich man?

No.

[quote] There isn't anything wrong with playing or being a flaming queen.

Wrong? No. Ridiculous, yes. There's a reason people make fun of flamboyance and it goes beyond buzzword patriarchy. Flaming men are a minority, be them gay or straight, and its also fake, a performance.

Cattiness, yes kween, etc. etc. all of this is just a show, a clowning show, so I don't understand why they get so mad when people laugh?

It seems like Victor Hugo had an equal allure for Warhol (not saying sexual) and he did very well playing them off each other. I think he made them compete over his attentions. Warhol missing from this is a huge hole in the story, and a climatic scene of Halston reading the Warhol Diaries after being so close and feeling betrayed by him should have been part of an eleventh hour closer.

For reference, here's the real Halston. Ewan McGregor didn't capture his essence at all.

After seeing this McGregor's performance is way over the top. The real Halston wasn't nearly as gay. The voice affect is also not so over the top. The real Halston is much more handsome than the Mcgregor version. Jon Hamm could have been interesting for this.

I like Ewan McGregor, but he can't play "classy." He always comes across as a working class bloke. He was very miscast as Halston.

Ewan was like the cut price Daniel Day-Lewis.

Jon Hamm could've been good, if only for the seething cauldron of rage just beneath the surface. Perfect fit for Halston.

I like to make goofy noises while I shit.

He was a great designer- his simple elegant clothes cut from one piece of fabric were revolutionary in fashion. He in fact influence all who followed more than any of his peers. Chanel, St Laurent, Halston- probably the greatest.

But as I said- he was a bit of a self destructive monster. St Laurent was self destructive, but not a monster.

Does anyone else think Ewan might have been playing off Ryan Murphy’s mannerisms?

R86 Are they all suffering from liver failure?

I suggested Lee Pace for Halston in a previous thread: tall, elegant, midwestern American, and openly gay. He'd have rocked this part.

R26 the 3 you mentioned are on Prime. "Versailles '73 American Runway Revolution" gave a different perspective on Halston's position at the time, have you seen it? Enjoyed it immensely...going to watch it again tonight.

Yes Lee Pace plays haughty and arrogant very well. Also is gay so would not be cringey playing up the mannerisms.

I think the writing is missing nuance. The casting of the roles from the smallest up is impeccable. I wish they'd had a better script. I'm enjoying McGregor more than most here

We saw Obi-Wan Kenobi getting fucked and you all can do is complain. Literally nothing makes some of you happy.

R99 Did you somehow miss the Pillow Book?

r99 And Young Adam?

R100, your comment makes no sense. We're talking about Halston, not his past work. My point is that he is simultaneously playing a cultural icon and Halston getting fucked in the ass. It would be a big deal if one of the Chrises or Henry Cavill did this as well.

Battle of Versailles documentary

R102 His 'point' is that his cock is featured endlessly in Pillow Book. So seeing him bent over is not that exciting.

I understood his point and it's not relevant.

All of Netflix's limited series are at least 2 episodes too long. The only exception I've seen so far is The Queen's Gambit.

Honestly, I thought the Queen's Gambit was one episode too long. Episodes 4, 5, and 6 all dragged and could have been condensed to 2 tighter episodes.

Anyone else notice the scene where Victor Hugo is told his test results came back and he's HIV negative. Then a few scenes later it's now 1984 (the date blasted across the screen)

The HIV test didn't exist until 85.

SORRY I meant HIV positive...

I thought Ewan McGregor did an excellent job as Halston. He's one of my favorite actors. So talented. I keep wondering how he would have been even better if he had better lines in a production that, let's face it, isn't impressive.

It looks like it didn’t even make the Netflix Top 10.

[quote]It looks like it didn’t even make the Netflix Top 10.

But it only dropped yesterday. Doesn't it need more than 24 hours to get into the top 10?

No.

R111 Who, aside from Eldergays, cares about Halston? It was never going to make the Netflix top 10.

I could barely get through the first episode. Maybe I'll try again later.

[quote]Doesn't it need more than 24 hours to get into the top 10?

Nope.

Most of Murphy's Netflix projects don't make it to the top 10. I believe only Hollywood and Ratched did and Ratched managed to hit and stay at number one for a few days.

He was so happy he had to post on Instagram about it which is kind of sad considering that wasn't his first project on there.

Just checked again, it's #9 in the US now! Congrats on your #9 debut Ryan Murphy!

Right between the kids animated comedy from several months ago, Cocomelon and the previous #1 from a few weeks ago the teen fantasy series, "Shadow and Bone!"

I thought the first three episodes were pretty good. The "downfall" episodes 4 and 5 were much worse IMO.

Halston's NY Townhouse, now owned by Tom Ford. Wonder if he's hosting the same type of parties there?

Someone apparently thinks Halston's love of black and brown dick is obscuring the real people behind that dick.

I will say, I would be fascinated to learn more about Robert Rogers and what the whole hustling scene was like back then.

How tall was Halston?

Bad gay. Until the end credits to this show flashed onscreen, I didn't know that Elsa Peretti died just this past March.

Um, nobody wants to watch a film about the black and brown guys who fucked Halston, r119

Um, I didn't say anyone wanted to watch a film. I said I'd find info on Robert Rogers interesting.

I’m enjoying it. So nostalgic. Love the Studio 54 stuff, that’s the New York I dreamed about in high school.

R121 I think the official “Dead to Me” people are slipping and missed posting it.

[quote] Someone apparently thinks Halston's love of black and brown dick is obscuring the real people behind that dick.

I'm glad it's confirmed that Halston was down with the brown and truly craved BBC. I thought Murphy was going for woke points with all the black and brown fuck buddies. I am glad that this is fair representation of the cravings of Halston hot hungry hole.

He should have stayed in Indiana.

Well, maybe we can look forward to Amazon Prime’s Geoffrey Beene and Hulu’s Issac Mizrahi?

[quote]WOW… Ewan McGregor is OFFENSIVELY flaming in this, like he’s trying to channel Paul Lynde. I thought this might happen given his performance in Birds of Prey.

He's playing Halston, Honey, not General Patton.

Who will play Sandra Bernhard in the Isaac Mizrahi story?!?!

My lord, Halston blazed a burnt path across shag carpet in the 70s and 80s.

Ewan was subtle by comparison and definitely not the flamer portrayed.

R130 Martha Qualley of course!

r130, Beanie Feldstein

Who was Liza's first husband, I thought it was Peter Allen. I have lung cancer after watching this.

I think Peter Allen was her first husband. She was like her mother in that she married gay men. Why? Was it for cover so she could mess around with whomever she wanted to? One of my gay friends was Allen's last boyfriend. They died within weeks of each other. Sad.

R134 This was the second marriage, the Wizard of Oz reunion one with Jack Haley Jr. They kind of got a feel for the interior of the church, but the exterior shots looked nothing like it. I swear they didn’t travel out of the Tri state area to make this series at all.

But... but... I thought Jared Kushner solved all this?

Ah, fuck. Wrong thread.

Dorothy's daughter married the son of the Tin Man. Perfect. He was also gay. Was Mark Gero her only straight (and hottest) husband? Were all the gay nuptials an homage to her father? Or did Momma push her into them.

R139 Momma was dead for most of them, unless she was haunted by her ghost?

Ewan McGregor is such a turn on. I thought he was adorable in I Love You Phillip Morris. He really is one of the finest actors of his generation. It has given him a long career. I thought he sounded exactly like Halston.

The dead body in the air vent wasn't a woman. It was a man. And he was dressed in a tux.

R142 was he wearing Z-14?

R141 = Ewan McGregor

I will watch this HALSTON series thing, but all I'll see is a young Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Is there a Calvin Klein movie?

Did anyone else have a greater effect on the appeal, desire, and sexiness of designer clothing in the 1980s?

I think that Rebecca Dayan as Elsa Peretti and Krysta Rodriguez as Liza are the best reasons to watch.

Dayan is transcendent as Peretti.

Now in the Top 10 at 6

Ewan does fine, though I am haunted by the idea of Matthew Macfadyen as more perfect casting.

Studio 54 is depicted as if everyone is practicing social distancing.

Studio 54 was very crowded. They are showing enormous spaces between people.

And Studio 54 has more than one small set of neon lights.

R148 ya think?

Do you really think McGregor's characterization is THAT flaming? Other than the affected voice, I don't see anything extraordinary. And Victor calls him out for his change to the affected voice, suggesting that he's purposely trying to create himself.

They set out the broadening and diluting of his business pretty well - even if it didn't make for scintillating television. And then the selling of the name and the company. From the Battle of Versailles and boutique stores to JCPenney - that must have been wild. And for this Midwestern kid, that's where I first learned the name/brand - in the 80s at JCPenney. I learned about everything else later.

The actress playing Liza seemed to be channeling Joyce DeWitt.

Ewan is on CBS Sunday Morning right now, the video should be up on YouTube by the end of the day.

[quote]Is there a Calvin Klein movie?

There would be if the fucker would hurry up and die already

"Halston, you've put your name on everything. What's next? Halston aquarium gravel at Walgreens? And what is Beatrice like? Is she a heavy woman?"

R151 Agree, the evolution of the business and brand is interesting, at least to me.

I enjoyed it for the most part. I didn't like that they went with the most obvious arc - the rise and fall in almost equal parts. I would have liked to see more about the rise and his time at the top and more in depth analysis of relationships - from friends and business associates, to lover/partners, to sex partners, to family (did he have any dealings with them before his mother died).

I thought Bill Pullman was really good, if not a fun character. And David Pittu was good as Joe. Really, the acting overall was fine. As others have said, the Elsa and Liza actors were great.

So, very watchable, even if it all seemed thrown together quickly and somewhat cheaply.

I enjoyed it. Six minutes in and he’s getting fucked.

I thought the woman who died in the air vent was supposed to be Bette Midler at first.

R159 I did too. Its cause that actress is her daughter.

So did I, R159.

One thing I learned about Halston is he liked leather trade.

I didnt know much about Studio 54 but quickly realized it couldnt be Bette cause at the time she would have been famous enough to immediately get in.

That’s what I thought too, R163, that it was some joke about Bette Middler not being able to get in.

Why didn't they show Liza and a urine-stained mattress in the basement of studio 54?

This does make Liza come across as a very loyal friend.

Is that true she’s Midler’s daughter?

[quote]quickly realized it couldnt be Bette cause at the time she would have been famous enough to immediately get in.

Didn't they say Joe Eula's "disco musical" to be in a theatre where Bette had played? I know I heard her name.

Yes, Joe said it was going to be at the Minskoff where Betted did her Clams on a Halfshell show

What I would love to see is a series on McQueen. There is something about him that I really love. He was very different than his contemporaries and was truly sensitive soul. I don't think I would want Ryan Murphy doing McQueen. There needs to be some reverence, but I would be riveted to see them recreate or give us behind the scenes of The Horn of Plenty, Voss, and The Highland Rape shows. I am also in love with Isabella Blow. Helena Bonham Carter might be the actual perfect fit for this eccentric character.

What is R165 talking about re: Liza on a urine-stained mattress?

He's a troll r170

The basement of Studio 54 was notorious for VIP orgies. And Liza would often slip downstairs.

From what I've heard there was the usual casual quickie sex going on in the basement, but no full-on orgies. That was Plato's Retreat.

Tell us more R172 and R173!

They made it look like Halston was getting fucked on the dance floor. Or was that a dream sequence?

He was watching Victor fuck a guy at 54

I can't believe Halston chose that nelly little rentwhore over that stunning guy Ed.

The first thing I bought from Halston was not the Ultrasuede shirt dress.

I was involved before such an obvious success.

This show almost makes me look like an adopter.

He was hung R177.

The series implied that Halston had a decided yen for Black and Hispanic trade.

But wasn't everyone he slept with? There was that dialogue suggesting that Ed Austin was hung too. Though he did kick Ed to the curb when given a choice, so maybe Victor was even more hung

I think it went beyond implication.

Victor was trash.

I would have had him killed.

[quote]What is [R165] talking about re: Liza on a urine-stained mattress?

Previews for Urinetown.

[quote][R121] I think the official “Dead to Me” people are slipping and missed posting it.

It's not our fault you weren't paying attention, bitch!

In the series, they have Elsa P. admitting that she is in love with Halston. Did she have her own romance with a non-gay man?

[quote] This was the second marriage, the Wizard of Oz reunion one with Jack Haley Jr. They kind of got a feel for the interior of the church, but the exterior shots looked nothing like it.

Honey, please get a grip.

What [bold]TINY[/bold] fraction of the viewership do you imagine would possibly ever give a shit??

I loved “Sassy.” Hers was a small role but I thought the actress was very effective and I completely believed her.

Victor Hugo was a massive piece of shit. People made fun of him behind his back and really, really hated him. I would have had him killed also, R183

So was Halston.

[quote]Victor Hugo was a massive piece of shit. People made fun of him behind his back and really, really hated him

Just out of curiosity, I am re-reading the Andy Warhol diaries and he seems quite smitten with Victor Hugo.

But he also thinks that Donald Trump is super-hot. Warhol was, in many ways, an idiot.

Victor Hugo died of AIDS in '93. He was destitute at the time.

Ed Austin died in '03. I don't know what the cause of death was.

One of the designers on the American "team" for the Battle of Versailles was the black designer Stephen Burrows. I didn't know who he was. Did he have a phase where he was very well known? How big was he? I learned a lot watching this series.

I read that at the time of Halston's death he was worth 100M. As he was dying he bought a 300K Rolls Royce and had his driver drive him up the coast so he could admire the beauty. Someone said he died broke.

R187 Here on DL, which is Everything Liza 24/7, a very large percentage, a very large one indeed!

Stephen Burrows is very much alive, and CERTAINLY a large part of the History of American fashion....his clothes were so joyful

R193 Burrows was the star of Versailles, not Halston (see the Versaiiles '73 doc).

Is there the obligatory “I’ve made it big now so I get blow jobs“ scene where the girls head goes down and they smile and put their head back?

Yes, R198, but in reverse - the guy who made it, Halston, sucks the dick - because that's what he wanted.

[quote] I can't believe Halston chose that nelly little rentwhore over that stunning guy Ed.

Ok I feel I need to say a few things here. You’re buying the actors, so I suggest you google pics of the real people.

I met Víctor Hugo in the late 80s NYC night scene (J’s Hangout if you must know) and because of our similar Hispanic backgrounds we became fast friends for about two years , when I wast right in the thick of the party scene. Dance music was coming back and so was the nightlife.

1. At least by then, he was not as evil as the series depicted; he was actually a pretty nice guy. Of course Halston was ill or dead and Warhol was dead, so maybe all of that had made him temper his ways a bit. 2. He was by no means a Nelly little queen. Fifteen years older than I was, he could still hold his swagger and hotness, even though his jet black hair was thinning and he was pushing 45. Body was still pretty hot and yes, the dick was monstruos and uncut. One thing is true, he was still doing plenty of coke, perhaps even dealing it.

AND, 3. Halston’s Townhouse- which I got to visit (even parked my car in its garage) was anything but anxiety producing. It’s minimalism and great lighting allowed for all kinds of moods to be injected to it, depending on the occasio. And yes, I visited it after H’s death, when it was empty, save for marks on the walls where artwork used to hang. So I never met the guy, and I’m sort of glad I didn’t - he wouldn’t have been what I consider great company.

Anything else you can share about your time with Hugo, R200?

Self destructive substance abusers are not unusual nor interesting. Unless they’re creative or highly intelligent types with family background of strife. This is why I think the miniseries ultimately failed. Studio 54 years were a brief period in Halston’s life and invariably changed him for the worse. But good writing and a well-crafted story arc would’ve explored the reasons why Halston chose to self-destruct, why he made poor business decisions, and if he regretted some of his behavior/ actions. towards the end of his life. His family has come out saying the series wasn’t truthful. It would’ve been nice to have the family on board so that the series could’ve had a fuller depiction of his final years. Halston’s siblings appeared to be close and supportive of him.

I don't even think Victor Hugo comes off that bad in the series given the context, even with the blowups and blackmailing.

[quote]I don't even think Victor Hugo comes off that bad in the series given the context,

You are an appalling judge of character.

R189, I honestly haven't read anything about Victor Hugo that is flattering.

Except for the weird friendship/whatever the fuck it was with Warhol.

Did Warhol collect hanger-ons like some rich people collect art? I’m actually mire fascinated by Andy than anyone else from that era.

"Did Warhol collect hanger-ons"

Oh, dear, R206.

I believe Andy Warhola put them to work in his "factory".

[quote] Anything else you can share about your time with Hugo, [R200]?

We were prone to group sex and we hung out at his Latino friend’s apartment, but all in all it was a pretty mellow crowd, coke and all. I think he liked me because I was a welcome chance to have a buddy he could speak Spanish with. Simple as that.

Oh, and he always smelled of sex.

But never Halston Z-14?

I wanna smell like a whore! Like sex! Like a Dubai toilet!

I could barely get through the first episode. All that smoking made me nauseated. Trite, corny, flat dialogue didn't help either.

R212, did you spend the sixties and seventies throwing up?

I always hated it, but now I really hate smoking. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't stick with Mad Men for that reason.

R214 is triggered!

[quote]We were prone to group sex

So, when did you become HIV+?

Fuck you, you malignant cunt. I don't know who that person you quote but you're garbage.

Despite a slow start Halston has garnered much press and conversations for Netflix and has paid off for them. In a follow up they will next be focusing a limited run series on another storied American product line, “Ralston” will follow the rises and fall of Ralston Purina, the animal chow and breakfast empire in the heartland of USA. Ewan MacGregor to star.

[quote]Fuck you, you malignant cunt. I don't know who that person you quote but you're garbage.

R209. My goodness someone is rather touchy. Truth is, you played around with group sex in the 1980s in NYC, you stood a high, high, high risk of sero-converting.

[quote] So, when did you become HIV+?

I’m sixty years old and still HIV negative. I lost the love of my life to AIDS. Yes, survivor guilt is real.

R216 = unlaid, unwashed, unwanted, unhinged, unloved

[quote][R216] = unlaid, unwashed, unwanted, unhinged, unloved

Five misses out of five tries.

Thanks for playing.

Even decades ago, R216 was too ugly for unpurchased sex.

What's wrong with saying that even in the mid/late '80s when you boys were aware of how HIV spreads, you were still engaging in very high-risk sex? It's the truth. So many of the guys who died in the '90s probably acquired it in the '80s when they should've known better. It is what it is. Just own it. I just deplore revisionist history. I'm not blaming the victim, mind you, but you boys need to take some responsibility. You can't blame President Reagan for EVERYTHING!

R216/ R224 = take your morbidly obese, judgmental, sanctimonious ass off this gay site and straight back to hell where you came from

What R225 said.

I watched the series. It was okay. But somebody upthread suggested watching the Amazon doc about Halston.

Two things:

1. Watching the doc made me appreciate Ewan's performance in a way I hadn't as I watched the series. Halston DID sound like nasally queen.

2. Victor Hugo was one hot little perv. I would have supplied him with coke if he'd fuck me the way he did Halston.

The director of the series, Dan Minahan, is s-e-x-y.

[quote] Victor Hugo was one hot little perv.

Do you need a guide dog to cross the street?

Careful R229, you don't want to hurt R209's HIV- feelings for sleeping with Hugo.

Watched the series and each episode got harder and harder to sit through. THe first was probably the best. Halston got more and more unpleasant as the series moved forward. I did watch the documentary afterwards and though there was some cutsey touches, it was much better, and you understood why people actually liked Halston. There wasn't a whole lot of nuance in the series. And it was interesting that the "villians" of the thing were well liked in the beginning and that it was Halston who pushed for the JC Penney thing, and not vice versa.

The book on which the series is based, Simply Halston, goes into great detail about Halston's business dealings in the late 70s and early 80s. He is mostly responsible for the shambles his business became. He absolutely refused to delegate to assistant designers whose work he could have simply shaped and approved (a far lesser workload than doing it all himself). For that reason, he missed a lot of deadlines and lost many lucrative Halston licenses in the 70s. The deal with JCPenney was huge and could have made him rich beyond his wildest dreams, but after a spectacular debut, he started missing deadlines again.

The corporate overlords were at their wits' end and tried to hire assistant designers, whom he fired. They tried to get him put on as just a consultant, making a lot of money for little work: He refused. Meanwhle, his massive office at Olympic Towers was burning money: Highly paid workers with no real duties, tens of thousands of dollars a year spent on ORCHIDS, and other madness. The business just wasn't turning enough of a profit to make all of that excess worth it. On top of matters, Halston was a total cunt to all of the people from corporate who tried to deal with him. Finally, they had to push him out and get in another designer to try to fix the JCPenney line, but by that time it was too late.

Halston was a genius, but he was also supremely self-destructive. If you want to hear the whole story, get the Gaines book. It just came out on Kindle.

R232, I’d also recommend the short story “By Halston” in the short story collection At Danceteria and Other Stories which covers the night of the “Halston III” JCPenney fashion show. The dialogue is great (much better than in the Netflix series).

I was appalled that they had Hugo waiting for a test result in one scene taking place in 1984 while, in real life, that test was not available until 1985. Sloppy.

R229, lol. I realize my taste in men isn't for everyone. But I have a thing for hairy 70s looking guys with bad 'staches. Sue me?

r52

like r134 said

i feel like I have lung cancer now

Liza still smokes!

I love R219 because he's stuck on the logic of his comment (totally reasonable) as opposed to what a dumpster fire of a person you'd need to be in order to ask that. Here we have someone who was on the ground for an interesting part of American gay history, willing to share his experience, and that's what you think of asking?

This show is so criminally underrated. In hindsight, it was really good and entertaining. It didn't deserve the negativity that it got when it first came out. A year later, I find myself thinking about it a lot.

If I could live in any historical era, 1970s NYC would be right up there. The whole Studio 54 era must have been heaven. So much excitement, sex and drugs.

the writing is just ok, but every scene seems to have some great NY actor doing a cameo and making it worth watching