A Life Lived in Fashion with Halston Model, Muse and Archivist Chris Royer, Part II (Dressed Classic)

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Dressed: The History of Fashion
Episode: A Life Lived in Fashion with Halston Model, Muse and Archivist Chris Royer, Part II (Dressed Classic)
Air Date: January 16, 2026
Hosts: April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary
Guest: Chris Royer, former Halston in-house model, muse, and archivist

This episode continues a captivating conversation between the Dressed hosts and Chris Royer, a central figure in American fashion, best known as one of Halston's closest collaborators, muses, and a principal archivist of his legacy. The discussion centers on iconic photo shoots (notably the legendary Deborah Turbeville bathhouse spread for Vogue), Royer's experiences as a top model in the 1970s, life within Halston's inner circle, Halston's groundbreaking international "Halstonettes" tour, and Chris’s personal efforts in preserving Halston's oeuvre.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Iconic 1975 Vogue Bathhouse Shoot

[03:10–07:56]

• Background: The celebrated bathhouse shoot for Vogue (photographer Deborah Turbeville, May 1975) is a milestone in fashion photography, featuring Chris Royer front and center.
• Behind the Scenes: The shoot was originally scheduled with Helmut Newton in Monte Carlo, switched to Arthur Elgort in Florida, and finally executed in a cold, dilapidated New York bathhouse by Turbeville.
• Atmosphere: Despite challenging conditions (cold, unheated setting, doused in water to make suits cling), the mood was serene and collaborative.
• Working with Turbeville: Turbeville gave minimal direction, encouraging the models to find their own expressions within the space, resulting in that signature "Debbie mood."
• Memorable Moment:

  "It was so cold...and you got doused with water to make the suits cling to you...We just knew it. This is something that's going to be an iconic picture."
  — Chris Royer ([06:29])

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2. Life as a Vogue Model and Collaborations with Fashion’s Luminaries

[08:13–13:19]

• Arthur Elgort: Royer recounts repeated collaborations with Elgort, often marked by spontaneity and a focus on relaxed, real-life poses—sometimes working all night and shooting in unlikely locations (e.g., camper van at 4AM).
• Notable Stories:
  • The “beauty shot” captured impromptu in a camper van—later featured full page in Vogue.
  • A shoot with a dog near Central Park that became iconic after the dog ran circles around her (“only in New York!”).
• Contrast with Turbeville: Elgort favored relatable, direct images, while Turbeville created mysterious, romantic, and often removed scenes.
• Memorable Quote:

  "Arthur was very much about spontaneous shootings...With Debbie's pictures, there was less of an eye contact and more of a very, very romantic process in it."
  — Chris Royer ([12:39])

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3. Living the Halston & Studio 54 Era in 1970s New York

[17:05–24:15]

• Insular Social Circle: Life revolved around Halston’s creative team, the fashion world, arts (Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli), and intimate dinners or events—especially for safety in the dangerous city climate.
• Studios & Social Life: Parties, studio visits, and gallery openings were common, often attended in groups for safety and social cohesion.
• Notable Encounters:
  • Meeting Salvador Dalí: Attending a press conference at the St. Regis, Royer was invited for tea and sketched by Dalí, who dubbed her “the Angel.”
  • Regular Guests: Dinners hosted by Dalí often included Andy Warhol, notable New Yorkers, and Halston’s circle.
  • Memorable Quote:

    "Dalí...sketched you and called me the angel. He said, 'Because your blue eyes are casting, you're looking into the blue heavens.' So that's how I became the angel."
    — Chris Royer ([22:23])

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4. The Halstonettes & the Legendary China Trip

[26:52–39:34]

• Origins of the "Halstonettes":
  • Term coined by André Leon Talley for Halston's close-knit group of nine female and three male models (including Royer, Pat Cleveland, Karen Bjornson, and others).
• Global Tour (1979):
  • Six cities, three continents, spanning 24 days—showcasing American fashion in Japan and China (a pivotal cultural/commercial moment).
  • Japan: Treated “like royalty,” grand shows, cultural immersion (geisha dinners, temples, kabuki).
  • China: The trip symbolized China’s opening to the West—Halston’s event drew curiosity, especially as Chinese press and women interacted with American designs for the first time.
• Wardrobe: Each model was custom-outfitted by Halston, with specific attire for different locations/events.
• Historical Impact:

  “That trip was the one that opened the doors, right? For everything...That was the beginning of it all. And Halston knew it.”
  — Chris Royer ([37:00])

• No Sales in China (at the time): The trip was diplomatic and cultural; actual commerce emerged only much later.

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5. Archiving and Preserving Halston’s Legacy

[39:34–46:43]

• After iconic pieces “disappeared” from magazine shoots, Royer and Halston began systematically collecting and cataloguing selected garments, some of which were later given to museums.
• The Royer Collection:
  • Focus on garments made specifically for Royer (often original, not production versions).
  • Includes rare examples from Halston’s sportswear line, innovative fabrics like rayon and ultrasuede, and signature design elements (infinity scarves, dirndl skirts).
  • Each piece is “not just beautiful clothing,” but rich in personal and design history.
• Memorable Quote:

  “The original samples are the ones that are truly...they were made on the model’s body...That’s a very important sort of part of the design because you see why he did it in that way.”
  — Chris Royer ([41:25])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the Turbeville Bathhouse shoot:
  “We just moved very quietly and it was very serene. Debbie just kept shooting...and you just fell into this mood, what we called our ‘Debbie moods.’”
  — Chris Royer ([07:20])
• On 1970s New York:
  “My whole life was basically working with Halston Vogue...you'd be working very early in the morning, and then when you had time before collections, you'd go out, there would be all these great social dinners...It was a true New York lifestyle.”
  — Chris Royer ([17:33]–[24:15])
• On Salvador Dalí:
  “He called me the angel. He says, because your blue eyes are casting, you're looking into the blue heavens.”
  — Chris Royer ([22:23])
• On the China trip’s impact:
  “That trip was the one that opened the doors, right? For everything...now that—that's when you say everything's made in China—that trip was the one.”
  — Chris Royer ([37:00])

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [03:10–07:56]: Chris describes the legendary Turbeville bathhouse shoot
• [08:13–13:19]: Stories from Vogue shoots with Arthur Elgort and Turbeville
• [17:05–24:15]: Life in 1970s NYC; Halston’s inner circle and social scene
• [21:58–24:06]: Relationship with Salvador Dalí and his unique Sunday dinners
• [26:52–31:40]: The Halstonettes and Halston’s historic Japan/China tour
• [39:34–46:43]: Chris’s work archiving Halston’s legacy and garments

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Conclusion

The episode offers a rare, intimate window into the glittering world of 1970s fashion through Chris Royer’s firsthand stories—from freezing in a New York bathhouse to being sketched by Salvador Dalí, from pioneering international runway tours to meticulously archiving the work of Halston. Royer’s accounts provide invaluable context for the era’s creative vibrancy, Halston’s trailblazing vision, and why the legacy of these fashion moments still resonates today.

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For further visuals and behind-the-scenes content connected to this episode, check #dressed301 on Instagram.

Transcript

[April Callahan]

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[April Callahan]

Enjoy one of our favorite episodes from the Dressed archive of over 500 plus shows the history of Fashion as a production of Dressed Media. With over 8 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast that explores the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts, April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary.

[April Callahan]

April, I'm going to wager that you and many of our listeners will instantly have an image come to mind when I say Fashion, Vogue and Bathhouse.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Well, I have so many gay friends that might conjure an entirely different image in my mind. And Happy Pride. Everyone, we must say this is juice Happy Pride. Yes, yes, yes. But I do know the editorial spread of which you speak.

[April Callahan]

Yes, of course I am Speaking about Deborah Turbeville's multi page bathhouse spread for the May 1975 issue of American Vogue magazine which is comprised of some of the most iconic Florida photographs in the history of fashion, capturing an intimate sensual portrait of women, notably taken by a woman, which is really a powerful counterbalance to the in your face sexuality that defined Turbeville's contemporaries such as Helmut Newton. Front and center of that spread, April is today's guest, Chris Royer.

[Cassidy Zachary]

And if you joined us Tuesday, you know that Chris was an in house model and muse for famed designer Halston. She was also part of his in house creative design team that included Elsa Peretti and Joe Yule. She was also one of his dearest friends and today we'll learn more about her time as a top model at Vogue, her life as a Halstonnette and her instrumental role in creating the Holston archive and preserving his life and legacy for future generations to come. Chris, welcome back to Dressed.

[April Callahan]

And you mentioned Deborah Turbeville's famous bathing suit shots.

[Chris Royer]

The bathhouse scene.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, the bathhouse scene. And you are front and center in that spread. Can you talk to us a little bit about that? Because that's a very iconic fashion history spread.

[Chris Royer]

Yes. What's funny is that the actual layout was supposed to be done by Hellman Newton in Monte Carlo and then it was cancelled and switched to Florida with, I think it was Arthur Elgort. And then it was switched out and then Vogue said, no, we're shooting it. We're going to shoot it with Debbie in New York. These. It was like an old swimming park on the west side on the 20s. And we're like, what? What? Wait a minute. You know, I was like, okay. So it was basically a lot of. They said, it's. It's with Debbie. It was like, okay, I'll do everything for Debbie. And Halsen was also friends with Debbie because there's a great picture that Debbie did when Halston in 74, when Halston got his townhouse. It's a fabulous picture. If you haven't found, we can send it to you of Halston in the living room with Betsy Theokopoulos Kaiser and Elsa Peretti. It's a beautiful picture. But getting back to the bathhouse scene, the bathhouse scene was. It's iconic. When we first got into the actual place, it was. I believe it was February. It was very cold and no heating because it was. It needed repairs. It was like swimming pools outside. And it was for the community. It was like a community bathhouse. We had Polly Mellon, we had Francis Stein. We had all the editors on different days coming to the shoot and revising the pieces. They had Sarah Cap, they had Yasmine and as he and myself and Sunny Redmond, the gorgeous redhead. And we were all friends with Debbie. So it was sort of interesting to say, okay, we're going to do the shooting with the bathing suits. And Sandy Lintner did the makeup on. On the shooting. And working with Debbie was always something. She let you do things. She would say, stand over there. That would be it. Or, you know, maybe she'd say, okay, now you can look. But she would basically like to move herself. So it was. It was funny to see her moving around you or you be moving around her. But in the bathhouse scene, it was so cold that we're like, okay, when are we going to shoot? When are we going to shoot you. And you got doused with water to make the suits cling to you. And it was like we just all sat there and went, this is something that's going to be an iconic picture. And we just knew it. And it was like when I was standing there, Sunny was next to me and I said, what are you doing? You know, she decided to sort of stretch out and move her hands upwards. So I decided to become more straight and pulled in and just extend my hand out a little to make the contrast between Sunny and. I think Yasmine just decided to sit down. It all came together with Sarah in the background. We didn't even know what Sarah was doing. So everybody was just doing their own thing. But it's series. It's not just one. It's a series of them in there where they dressed as one. Where have a. A beautiful black shirt, dress on and there's a cap on me. And I forget what Sarah is wearing. And some of the other girls in there had different. Different outfits in. In the series. But we shot it when we did the actual bathing suit one, which is the. The most iconic, everybody was holding their breath. They were like going, this is. So the lighting, everything in the place was just absolutely perfect. And it was like we just moved just very quietly and it was very serene. And Debbie just kept shooting. And when you worked with Debbie, it was always this, like, understanding that you just relaxed enough and then you just fell into this mood, what we call it our Debbie moods. And that's how the bathhouse scenes were created. And each day, because they had to put a lot of setup and stuff in the place each day we shot part of the series. It was amazing.

[April Callahan]

I'm curious if you've seen this. Bella's on account that has a couple pages, like, they've done a. Pulled a bunch of your photo shoots. Let me see if I can share my screen with you, because you also. You also worked a lot with. Were photographed by Arthur.

[Chris Royer]

Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. I'd see Arthur every day.

[April Callahan]

Arthur, Al Gore. And there's this fabulous. But there's this fabulous spread with you. It's 10 pages, I think, and with photograph with illustrations by Antonio.

[Chris Royer]

Yeah.

[April Callahan]

That is so wonderful. I don't know if you remember that spread or what it was like working with Arthur.

[Chris Royer]

Arthur, actually, I don't know if that has that there's a color page because we would do the New York collections. I think that's one of them that you're talking about. That we would get to Vogue and You would be just. It was just before the collections, after the collections were shown, they would photograph them again for Vogue. And you would meet, like, at 8 o' clock in the morning, and you'd be in for hair and makeup for hours. And with Arthur's makeup, he liked it a little more lighter than Debbie. Debbie liked more dramatic makeup. Arthur liked a little more cleaner, fresher makeup. And one of the shootings, we were shooting, like, during the day, and it was so hot. We were doing winter clothes. And then during the evening, we were shooting, like, on the streets on Fifth Avenue. We were shooting near the Met with the water fountain and everything. And then we did one shot. I think it was like a Calvin Klein and a beautiful gold necklace. And we had shot it. And then what happened was we were coming back in and it was something like four in the morning. And those vans were very. They were traditional camping vans. And we knew the people that handled it. And I just sat down and it was in what was called the little nook where you would eat your food. It was pretty tiring. And it was like Arthur and I sat there with, God, it's four o', clock, Arthur. Why do we even bother going home just to come back? Why don't we just lie down here? Now we're going to start anyway. So Arthur and I were laughing, and then all of a sudden, Arthur took the picture and he goes, we have the beauty shot. I'm going, the beauty shot. And he was right. It was like the beauty shot that he did, which was amazing. It got a full page in Vogue. And it was like, oh, my God. And I said, no one, no one would ever think this shot was done in a camping van in New York at 4 in the morning. It's amazing. It was amazing. But we do, like, lots of things. Yes, it was fashion. And there was one picture Arthur did that we loved also that we were shooting near a Central park, because that particular thing, Grace thought it was very important to show women as they would be looking chic, but that was their daily look. And to show them in what, like, walking the dog. So I had a dog with me on a leash, and I was dressed in this beautiful coat with fur and walking down and the dog all of a sudden got me confused and started going around in circles around me. So I was standing there with this chain, you know, with the dog walking around and then just standing there. An author took the picture. It's a great picture. It's so funny. But it's so iconic in that only in New York you know, grappling on the street, that we were able to do these spontaneous pictures because Arthur was very much about spontaneous shootings. He loved his models and. But he always liked to keep them very relaxed and not too fussy and just do it in relaxed poses or do it in a walking on the street environment or just very relaxed situation. So a lot of those things with Arthur just happened magically at that moment in time. Debbie, she would do very interesting things where she. Her locations were very, very unique. A lot of them were in New York, but they were very. They tend to be a little more gothic. We did a shooting with Patti. What happened was that Patty Hansen, we did like a whole gold series. And it was in this beautiful, huge house on 72nd, right off the park. And Debbie found this room that was very sort of deserted. And she had the two of us in poses and in thought. And the lighting was just amazing. And those pictures are just incredible, the way she got us, but very removed. With Arthur's pictures, you could relate to the girls. There was more of a. An eye contact. With Debbie's pictures, there was less of an eye contact and more of a very, very romantic process in it.

[April Callahan]

Absolutely. And of course, I think you still have your hair like this, but you have this beautiful blonde bob and all of these. And a lot of these images, that photograph you're talking about with Arthur and the dog, there's wonderful images close ups of you with these, like, wonderful gold cuffs.

[Chris Royer]

Oh, yeah. That was at the Met. We shot the Met with Lisa Taylor. Because I think it was three in the morning that particular day. And it was like, we have the gold cuffs and Lisa and I are gone. Just tell his word of God. We just tell us. And it was all of a sudden, Arthur says, stand against the doors, girls. You know, so we did it. That's. And then the other one is funny because they put so many bracelets on me and Arthur. We were waiting to see where we could shoot. And I'm standing next to the telephone booth and Arthur goes, hold that pose. Shot it. Then he goes, pretend you're talking to someone on the phone. I'm going, I am talking to someone.

[April Callahan]

Yeah. That's the first image of the spread which is dressing today. The new E's, right. Yeah. And you have these wonderful brown and black bracelets.

[Chris Royer]

Yeah.

[Cassidy Zachary]

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[April Callahan]

I mean, so many stunning images one after the other. I'm also curious because you're this busy working model during one of the most exciting periods. And not just like American fashion, but American pop culture. Because you're living during the era of Studio 50. Halston was friends with so many celebrities, like Andy Warhol, of course, famously Liza Minnelli. But I'd love to hear just a little bit more from you about what your life was like living and working in 1970s New York.

[Chris Royer]

Well, the 1970s, I had a very insular lifestyle. My whole life was basically working with Halston Vogue. The people that I knew, we'd all interrelate because we'd always be seeing Andy Warhol and the models that I knew, we were all friends, so we'd be socializing all at the same time. So it would be the fashion circle, the circle for sort of like entertainment, meaning like Liza Minnelli, Laura McCall and People. And then you had the art circle, which was Andy Warhol and that group. And Andy was close friends with Halston and Joe Gula. And there are many times that Andy would come up and see the collection of clothes and see what's going on. So very insulated you. You. There was no time, really, because you would be working very early in the morning. And then when you had time before collections, you'd go out, there would be all these great social dinners. And then down the road you would have. When Studio 4 started in the late 70s, then there was dancing. So it was really a very long day, you might say, in regards to my New York lifestyle. And it was outside of that, the community, it was dangerous. It was not like you could walk any place around on your own. Quite the opposite. You had to be very careful. And I think by doing that, that's why people, especially in the mid-70s, they had a lot of dinner parties and events just to keep it within their group. Once things started to get a little better, safety wise, then people started having more events. And there was always like great art shows and things that you would go down to and you would go with in a group, let's say, with Andy and some of his people. And then also a lot of times I would go to, because I loved art. I would go with Victor Hugo, who is Halston's partner. And we would go to all these incredible art galleries. And I got to meet Louise Nevelson. It was like, I just couldn't believe it, you know, when I met her. But she was such an icon at that point, you know, one of the great American women artists at that time. And she was friends with Victor Hugo. And they. Victor would help her on certain mountings and things of her artwork and stuff. So I got to meet her at that time as well. So every day was like, just. I met Salvador Dali.

[April Callahan]

Wow.

[Chris Royer]

Dolly is another one that. We would get lots of invitations up at Halston events and things like that. And what happened was, again, sort of mid-70s, we got the invitation. And Halson knew Dolly and Gala for years. He's doing a press conference. You and Stephen and Dennis, you figure it out. You go, I don't need to go. So we would go. And a lot of times we would go to these events representing Halston. Anyway, so we went to the St. Regis where Salvador Dala lived for about six months every year with Gala, his wife. We went to the event, we sat in the back and he was there. And he would sit on. In the napkin co room, which was very rococo. And he sat in this chair that looked like a huge chair for a king. And he would have his cane and he had his mustache that would twirl upward. And so he gave this, this PR presentation in candlelight. And then he said, okay, finished, enough. And so we're like looking around and Juan knew him. And all of a sudden we turn around and say, okay, let's go. And Salvador Dali is on his knee and extending his hand to me and saying, I would like to have tea with you. And I'm going, I'm looking at Juan, I'm looking at Stephen does what? Yeah. And they're going, no, no, no, I. I don't have tea alone. I have to have it with all three. And he goes, but of course. Oh, my God. So that's how I met Salvador Dolly.

[April Callahan]

Wow.

[Chris Royer]

And I ended up having tea at 4 o' clock because he would have tea every day. Tea at 4 o'. Clock. And then he would sketch you and he would. He would give you. If he decided to sketch you, you would go into his. Because he had rooms in the St. Regis where, where specifically where he would sketch and draw and paint and everything. So he would sketch you. And then he decided. He called me the angel. He says, no, no, we're not going to just sit here. I want you to go. And he chose these mirrors in the same Regis. He says, I want you to gaze in the mirror and I'm going to sketch you that way. And I'm like going, okay. And so he says, I'm going to call you the angel. And I said, why? And he says, because your blue eyes are casting. You're looking into the blue heavens. So that's how I became the angels. So I went back to Halston. He says, well, how was it? How was your sketching portrait with Salvador Dali? I said, well, about the angel. And he goes, okay. And he knew it because he knew he gave names to his models because Elsa was also also modeled for Salvador Dali was a friend. And. And so it was like, oh, everybody knows everybody. And Carla Rocki was also a Halsted at model was sketched by Salvador Dali. But I didn't know that at that moment. That's how we would meet. And Salvador Dali would invite me every Sunday to dinners at trader Bix with 13 people. And it was like the idea of the Last supper. And I was the angel overseeing the event. And every time he would have Andy Warhol there, he would have the Dupont, he would have all these people from New York on a Sunday dinner with Gala, his wife.

[April Callahan]

That is an amazing story. I mean, what a life you were living at this time. I can only imagine. All of us can only imagine.

[Chris Royer]

It was. It was like, oh, yeah, okay. It was New York at that point. It was a true New York lifestyle. And it was that inner circle of Halston and Andy Warhol that everybody that we're all together there was selected grouping of people in there from the Halston models, you know, and then you had like, Bianca Jagger, you had Mick Jagger, you had Jerry hall, you had Andy Warhol. But we all knew each other and we'd all see each other really almost every other day.

[Cassidy Zachary]

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[Chris Royer]

Sure. The Halstonant term, that was a term that Andre was working for Women's Wear Daily at that point. And they coined this term Halstanets, because we were on, we were launching the big, what was called the global trip, which really was also known as the China trip. So we had. The Halstanets consisted of that point, nine female models and three male models. The female models were Nancy North, Pat Cleveland, Karen Bjornson, Alva Chin, Carla Araki, myself and Shirley Farrow. I think I got them all. And. And then there was Pat Anderson, Tony Spinelli and Martin Sarna, who were the male models in the group. And we were, we became, we went to Japan, which was amazing. It was amazing because that's the master licensee, the Japanese master licensee for Halston. And we were introducing the fragrance, Halston fragrances as well as a new line for Halston apparel for Japanese women because it had to be scaled down to the Japanese sizing and everything. And they spent. The Japanese were incredible. They built the stage. They. It was something like $2 million put into the whole event, which lasted for about two weeks. We were treated like royalty. We got to, we did the show in a fabius Hotel, the iconic Imperial Hotel. And they built the sets with like mirrors to represent the actual screens and everything. And each one of the girls and everything. We went to the Geisha House for dinner and we got to see what was called the Mica Maiko, which was a younger Geish girl. And she. Halston fell in love with her and she had him get up and dance with her. It was amazing. It was amazing. And Bianca Jagger was on the trip as a guest hero. Watanabe, the famous photographer and very good friend of Austin. And then the rest of the executive staff, which was Michael Pellegrino and Faye Robeson, the staff, Bill Dugan and Mike Lichtenstein, who was the head of it. And we were invited to numerous events in Japan. And then also we went to the old city, Tokyo, and we got to see numerous temples, Nara, for the Deers, which was an event. And also you get to see Kabuki. It was amazing. And you get to see the old city and get to see how it was done versus the new city. So then we moved to China. And China was completely different. The whole trip was based on having the doors open. The Chinese want to open the doors for commerce and to let people know that let the rest of the world come to China because they could produce and develop things for the world under licensee and everything else. Now that. That's when you say everything's made in China. That trip was the one that opened the doors, right? For everything.

[April Callahan]

I mean, FIT wrote a blog about this trip which is just epic. I mean, they say in 1979, Halston and a 28 person entourage, including the Halstanettes, assistants, executives and friends, embarked on an international tour to promote American fashion, visiting six cities on three continents over a span of 24 days. And Halston has been quoted as saying, the only thing I didn't furnish was their underwear and something to sleep in.

[Chris Royer]

Right. Well, he did give us jogging outfits, red jogging outfits, so which we wore on the plane. They were all. Everybody wore red so we could get lost. So it was. They were great because there were. I think there were Russell Sport, very soft and comfortable. So we would all wear that on the plane going over. And then in between, when you're going to the fashion show, you didn't want to get dressed up in your wardrobe. Paulson's design for each model, a very specific individual wardrobe for all events, where for the girls he designed each one a different suit shape, jacket and skirt, and then a pair of pants to go with it. And then you would have like Two what is called silk shirts and a Dolman cut that would go under the jacket and you would have it in white and red, so you can have one cleaned because you'll be using them all the time. And those were for the more of the day events. And then you would be given like a black leather obi and a red obi to tie around your waist. And you would wear the iconic heart shape compact with the silk Accord across your body. And you were designated over what shoes you could wear, high heels or flats. And I have the complete set. I'm the only one that kept mine. The casual look was a silk jacket, almost like a loose fitting jacket with elastic pants on top. And you'd wear it with either a knit white shirt or a red or a silk shirt to go with it. And that was more of a casual look because when we went on the wall, you were told that you had to get shoes that were rubber soled. So I got these Ferrangamo shoes that had this rubber cording so it. You wouldn't slip. Because when you went on the wall in China, it was very, very slippery and it was very. And during that time that we went there, it was extraordinarily hot. It went up to 110during the day. So you'd get really. Your hair would just bleach out from the sun. And we would do that and then we would. In. In China, we stayed at a compound. And the compound was built approximately early 1940s. So the furniture, they didn't change anything. The furniture was as is. It was done all in this sage green color. The chairs and things in the actual compound, because they had dignitaries, they apparently had Richard Nixon stay there for a while. And because they couldn't accommodate us, because they didn't have hotels to accommodate the amount of people that were part of our entourage, they put us in this compound. So we had our rooms which were all. They were amazing. I mean, you felt like you were in like this movie from 1940s because it was luxurious, but it was like all vintage. And they had a great big dining room that you would eat like your breakfast and things. And then you were taken around China to see all the different sites. And one of them was to see the Silk City. So we had to take the train out there to see such a. To see the, how they make the silk from the silkworms. It was extraordinary. Now, when we did the show in China, it was done in a very, very old theater, very old, and it was very dark and we had to do it across not there was no platform to lead you out. So the show went on and some of the press was shocked because of transparency of some of the clothes because they were sheer. But when you put that line on, it made it sheer. When we went, we finished the show, we had a press conference with the Chinese and Halson turned around and they were very quiet because in, in China they did not clap for the event because that's. They don't clap or they didn't at that point. And then when we had the press conference, they're all very shy. They were all in their Mao outfits because that's all they wore. Men and women wore Mao outfits. You have to be very careful in talking to the interpreter because certain things were recognized and other things were not. So when we went into the actual interview, Paulson realized like, you know, they want to know what this is about. So he encouraged the models to say here, show it, show it to them, show it to let them touch it. So all of a sudden the whole mood swings changed completely and they all started trying on some of the clothes. The women were delighted in trying some of the dresses. They've never seen seen things like that because they were under MA rule and they were just looking and seeing on how it was sewn and stitched and what ultra suede was and what chiffon was and what was. It was amazing, it was wonderful. But he knew he had to get them to that point to be aware that we truly are trying to communicate with them. They should not be shy. And they loved it. They absolutely loved it.

[April Callahan]

And was he selling Halston designs after that trip in China?

[Chris Royer]

No, we never sold in China. It was only a mission of inter, of opening the doors and showing what American design was about. And they were showing. They had actually given Halston one of the. One of the outfits that was part of the models wardrobe was silk pajamas. But they were cocktail pajamas that you wore to cocktail parties when we were there. And it was magnificent silk. And he made them like an adornment sleeve top with a obi belt and then a great vise cut pants that tie on it. They were fabulous. And he loved the silk, the quality of the silk and everything. But we never distributed anything there because you see that was also the beginning, you know, a lot of times of licensing and licensing is not really understood correctly and what licensing can do and help a company develop into a bigger company. And well, you see now a lot of things, whether it's Calvin or Ralph or numerous other designers, the gap a lot of Them have been made in China or they have specific lines that sell in there now. But not at that moment in time. It was too early. It was something where they just opened the doors that was just starting to come in, I think, with the China trip. It was iconic, and it wasn't really recognized in the way it should have been. It was supposed to be. I don't remember one of the American TV companies was supposed to record it, and I don't know whether they did or they lost the film, but it was really an iconic moment that American, An American designer was coming there and doing the bridge, right to. To create what developed that we know now as so much business between China and the US Market, from clothing to all types of apparel and other products that are made in China. But that was the beginning of it all. And Halston knew it.

[April Callahan]

Yeah, and Halston was groundbreaking in so many ways. And not all of those ways were recognized, obviously, during his lifetime. And you and I have already decided you were gonna come back to talk specifically about Halston because you yourself have been instrumental in preserving and promot his legacy since his passing in 1990. Thank you so much for coming on the show and being so generous with your memories and providing all of these insights into this time that, like I said, so many of us can only imagine. And I can't let you go today without talking about your instrumental role in preserving Halston's legacy, specifically the role you've played in the creation of his archive and the maintenance of his archive today. You are one of the definitive Halston experts, and you also have this singular archive of his work that you worked with him to create. Can you tell us about that?

[Chris Royer]

Yes, I'd love to. We started this because after Versailles, what was customary is that you do a collection and then the model can choose one of the pieces in it for herself. And I wanted the fairy princess dress. It was featured in the second segment. And it's beautiful paillette. It was a pale mint green, and I don't know how to put it other than it disappeared. And when we got to New York, we couldn't find it. But we're used to this because during that time period, clothes would just disappear. If it was sent out to magazines or other institutions, sometimes it would be lost. The messenger lost it. These were very, very common things. So my next choice was the white and black dress, toga dress, that I wore with Elsa Peretti in the beginning segment of Versailles. And that, too, disappeared. So he said, okay, that's it. You know, that's it. What we're going to do is you and I, because he knew I like to collect things. I used to collect jewelry, vintage jewelry and stuff. He said, what we're going to do is we're going to work on certain selected pieces and you're going to start collecting the clothing and your mother, because your mother also buys from me as well. And then you wear them lightly and then you donate them to the museum, which made great sense because it cemented the history of it in a museum. So that's how we initially started to do it. And the pieces. Mine is more of a legacy collection because these pieces were done on me or in or actually some of the first beginning samples as well. So it really came from the designer. It was not restructured or revised for the production. Some of the pieces that you see will have the name of Saxon Avenue, Bertoff Goodman. Those were slightly revised for production purposes. They always are. So the original samples are the ones that are truly. They were made on the model's body. So that's. That's the final piece that, you know, the designer put together. So that's a very important sort of part of the design because you see why he did it in that way. Now, a lot of these pieces have very specific pattern shapes in it, as well as treatments and sewing and how he created gourds and things like that on certain pieces. How he created what is called, people know, the infinity scarf. But he really created this infinity scarf years back to go with one of my evening burgundy dress with a in file. I also have the infinity scarf in silk shamoose, which is. Looks totally different than the one made in this file. I have the cashmeres, I have the cashmere jumpsuits, and I have the jumpsuits with the V neck to be able to see how he thought in that modern, like look of putting jumpsuits together with tall boots and a great jacket. I also have, which is very rare, selected pieces from the Holston, what was called sportswear line. It was expensive and was sold next to Donna Karan and Calvin Klein because they had separates. And he had this idea that he could make beautiful clothes and he could do like a suit combination. But his women for them, unless they did make to order, they would have to order, let's say, if they bought the ensemble and they needed a pair of pants that would have to be ordered and made to order. So it would take a lot of time, he thought, if he could do, let's say, a beautiful collection of a suit outfit with pants and Coordinated, what is called the overcoat and. Or the raincoat. And then the different assortments, if it was winter, a beautiful, different type of sweaters and cardigans that would go with the outfit and interchange. So it was very, very special. It was fabulous. He used, like, mink and cashmere together in some of the pieces, and they're extraordinary. And he used his classic colors, and he used a lot of his signature shapes that could be used in different variables. And he did it for fall, winter, and then he did a spring summer line using rayon, because he was famous for introducing rayon. That's another piece where he was known for introducing fabrics of that quality. But rayon was one of them, as well as ultra suede. And he would use rayon to have the look of linen without getting all the wrinkle and crinkle in there. And so there's all these stories that are linked into each and every one of these outfits that I have that they relate to Halston's design concept. It's a design concept, and it's the story and behind them that makes them very, very interesting. It's not just a. Which is beautiful to have a patron's dress like they do in the museums. This particular collection has the beautiful clothing, but it also has stories attached to each one. I have a beautiful selection of what he called Teela dirndl skirts. And what's funny is that the dirndl was a very important skirt for a lot of Park Avenue ladies. It was considered the best look for them with a beautiful blouse, and that was initiated by Jackie Kennedy Onassis when she developed into publishing. She had come and she told Tulsa, I want something simple but chic. It was amazing how he orchestrated these things. But there's all these different patterns in what I have, and I have samples of the tie dyes and everything else he incorporated.

[April Callahan]

Well, you are such an incredible storyteller, Chris, thank you so much for being so generous with your time.

[Chris Royer]

Thank you. I look forward to expanding on it.

[April Callahan]

Dress listeners, if it feels like Chris and I only skimmed the surface of Halston's life and legacy, you are not wrong. She really is a Halston expert. She has an incredible collection of Halston garments in addition to all her firsthand experience and knowledge. And her and I honestly could have talked for hours. She was so incredibly generous with her time. So do not be surprised, actually, if you hear from her again in the future. There's so much more to say that.

[Cassidy Zachary]

Does it for us today. Dressed Listeners, until Tuesday, may you consider the legacy of Halston designs that might reside in your closet next time you get dressed. We love hearing from you, so if you'd like to write to us at our new email address, you can do so at hello@dressed history.com that's helloressed history.com and you can sign up there for our newsletter if you would like to send us your email. And you can check out our new [e-mail] as well.

[April Callahan]

You can also DM us@instagram restorepodcast, where we post images and reels to accompany each week's episode. And if you want to find the Instagram content specifically connected to to this episode, check out the hashtag dressed301. That's dressed and the numbers 301. And of course, you can also find us on Facebook Dressed Podcast without the underscore More Dressed coming your way. Thursday Dress the History of Fashion is a production of Dressed Media.