Halston and I

Hello all! Well for those of us in the know, there was yet another attempt to revive the House of Halston. A collection was presented for fall 2008 with the mission to capture the magic of this fabled American design house. Did Mr. Zanini (newest designer) meet the challenge? Well there were mixed reviews, I viewed the collection on Style.com and was somewhat impressed, but not as impressed as I was by Randolph Duke's efforts. It truly is a daunting task to take on such a legendary name. Halston stood for all that is modern, sleek and above all AMERICAN!! When Yves St. Laurent did his much heralded Russian/Cassock collection it was an exercise in fantasy. Many American designers followed his lead most notably Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta. Only Halston and Geoffrey Beene stood firm in their ideas of American modern style. There have been at least five designers who have tried to carry on the Halston label, and one wonders if anyone can? No doubt the super glamor of the man himse...

I've been so busy trying to make things to sell at the small store I do business with that I've barely taken any time to make anything for myself this year. Well I dug into my cache of fabrics and found a rayon cotton blend and decided that I would execute one of my previously posted ideas. Here is the hooded pullover in the color of the fabric that I mentioned. Just to give you an idea of my designing concepts I've posted pictures of the small paper pattern I made working out my idea.

Halston was known for his love of cashmere, and used it in many innovative ways. One of his important contributions was the use of cashmere in evening wear. his luxurious sweater dresses with matching coats and cardigan brought a new definition to casual luxury. For the first time women found out just how glamorous they could be in a cashmere gown. Here is an example of his use of cashmere for a day ensemble that could easily go out for evening. Iimeless. Pat Cleveland one of his favorite 'Halstonettes' always wore capes and a love his use of red and black, what could be more dramatic, versatile and t nything that had a lot of flow, no one could work a cae p or full skirt like Pat. Below she's strutting the runway doing what she does best!

Well it's Spring / Summer 2007 already, and I've been trying my utmost to be diligent about being more creative. I've so much going on in my personal life that it's beginning to overshadow my creative one! To get me rolling I just decided to post a couple of pictures of my latest project. I plan on submitting the working sketche later when I get a chance to sit down and draw it, so keep your eyes peeled!! As I said this is an ongoing work in progress.

This is my pullover sweatshirt cut entirely on the bias of only two main pieces of fabric the body of shirt is cut in one with the sleeves, the underarm seam begins at the cuff and continues in a spiral to the center front and back. by eliminating seams the shirt drapes and moves on the body. I show it here with contrasting trim in the waistband, cuffs and on the hood edge. It could also be one solid color. My fabrics of choice would cashmere, silk knit, or the lightest hander kerchief linen. Spiral cutting is one of Halston's greatest innovations. As I said before his pattern cutters were brilliant in their ability to bring his ideas to reality. I've studied these concepts and use them in making men's clothing. I hope to take what seem very familiar and give it a different edge by cutting in untraditional ways.

This is the working sketch for my two piece bias cut sweatshirt, shown here in two colors with a matching muffler. The sleeves and the back of the shirt are cut of one single piece of fabric, the front is in a contrasting camel colored fleece. There are only two main pieces as opposed to four. With the elimination of seams the fabric is allowed to drape over a man's body. The muffler is camel colored like the shirt front with contrasting bands of brown fleece on the ends.

Well I've finally gotten around to making a working sketch of the sweatshirt and scarf I have planned to go with the jacket. I 'm putting bands of the brown fleece on the ends of the muffler.

A work in progress, so much to be done to make that sketch into a reality, just for encouragement I went ahead and started photographing things. In the last shot I pinned the collar on to give a general idea of what the jacket will look like. I still have to cut out the sweatshirt and scarf. So much to be done in so little time!!!

Well it's back to the old drawing board, finally had a moment to sit down and make the working sketch of my current project. I believe in a pulled together casual look, but with a modern edge. This jacket is made of chocolate brown and camel colored fleece. The sweatshirt and scarf are made of the same camel color. What I strive for is warmth, comfort and an edge of casual chic or elegance. The jacket and shirt would work well over jeans or worn to the office with tailored pants or even a shirt worn under the sweatshirt. Versatility and function, throw it on and forget about it!

This is a sketch of a jumpsuit I designed for fall. Yes a jumpsuit haven't seen those since the seventies!! Well I've updated it, one suit dressing is not only warm and functional, but it gives the wearer a leaner, slimmer line. I've added military touches but still kept it classic in keeping with the philosophy of timelessness .

Here are some examples of Halston's chiffon beauties, the incredible thing about his clothes was their movement! This was due to thier construction, or lack of, the patterncutters were absolute magicians there, and they had to be to meet the demands of Halston's imagination. Many dresses were made with one continuous spiraling seam, with full bias cut 360 degree skirts. The innovation in cut is what clearly set him high above his peers. At his height, his only match in prestige and influence was the formidible Yves St. Laurent! So there were two schools of thought, American simplicity versus European extravagance!

The cool and ever elegant Halston, being congratulated by Vogue Editor-in-Chief, Grace Mirabella after one of his spectacular collections!

Here is an example of my work. This is a pullover shirt made of a soft stretch 'suede' fabric. The shirt is composed of two main pieces, the back and sleeves are one and the contrasting front. I cut it on the bias, giving that extra draped softness to it. The elimination of seams add to the relaxed ease. Again these are some of the principles I learned in studying Halston's work.

I've dedicated this blog to Halston, the first American superstar designer! Not only was he a true original but he was thoroughly American in his concept of design. He and Geoffrey Beene held to their philosophies of clothing being luxurious, but functional and above all else timeless! No matter what they were doing in Europe Halston always stayed focused with his own direction. I design clothes for men (and women) in my spare time, I will be showing and discussing my work and how Halston's influence has affected my own design concept. I, like him, believe firmly in the "less is more" minimal ideology. Please feel free to comment and interact with me!