Since the Emmys are right around the corner (one week!), I figured I could squeeze in this five-part miniseries, Halston, about fashion designer, Halston, who’s star Ewan McGregor is nominated for the role. I love seeing Ewan on TV, but unlike his time on Fargo, this series seemed to drag quite a bit, despite its short episode order.
We briefly meet Halston as a small child who made hats to cheer his mother up from her abusive husband. From there we’re whisked almost immediately to his first success, which was the hat Jackie Kennedy wore for the inauguration. His hats were all the rage until hats weren’t in anymore. It seems to me that from there, Halston really struggled to pivot to something else. Even when his name was everywhere for a time, it still didn’t really feel like he had a signature like the pill box hat. But obviously I don’t know what I’m talking about, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have made a series on him.
It’s clear that Halston had ambition, as well as a tight-knit group of friends and co-workers who shared in his vision. They all struggled together for quite some time until and investor came along. As far as investors go, this one sort of kept to himself for the most part, which is a creative person’s dream! Halston was also helped out by the fact that he was best friends with Liza Minilli! She was a fun part of the miniseries, for sure. Liza was there for Halston all his life, through thick and thin. In fact, she might have been the only one who stayed by his side to the end. Everyone else fell off eventually.
That’s also Halston’s fault. You know, for giving a young Joel Schumacher such a hard time about doing drugs, his cocaine use really came to bite him in the ass in the end. There was a large chunk of time where Halston partied hard and didn’t really seem to prioritize work. This is when JCPenney bought his name from him. Remember kids, don’t do drugs. I mean yes, he didn’t have his brand anymore, but I do think it was the swift kick in the ass he needed to turn his life around. At least, what was left of it. Halston was quite promiscuous, and this was during the height of the AIDS epidemic, so it should really come as no surprise that this is what cut this creative’s life short.
I think, had Halston lived on, he would have rebranded himself into something just as huge as he was in his prime, but I think Halston got to live a life most people only dream of. Like I said at the start, this series felt a bit slow for having so few episodes. Also, neither his personal life or professional life were portrayed all that interestingly. I wish they would have delved a little deeper into one side or the other. Perhaps it also would have been more interesting to see how he got to the first major milestone in his career with the pill box hat. Regardless, I like McGregor in most everything, so I was happy to see his name crop up on the Emmy ballot. He certainly won’t win, but his name is a welcome treat for sure.