Halston is elegance in a bottle, effortlessly chic and impossibly gorgeous. It’s the beautiful people that went to Studio54, not to show off like everyone does today, but to have fun, do drugs, dance till early morning and go home with a stranger or not. What turns me on about Halston is how perfect the melon/mint freshness is achieved. It smells like fresh breath. Like a rush of air. Wearing it I’m transported to a mid 70’s apartment, complete with shag carpet, palm trees and mirrored walls. Oh, and track lighting. Disco music is playing, people are gettin ready for a night out, the clothes are laid on the bed, and there’s a window open, letting in some cool breeze. Cristal (both Chanel and champagne), Azzaro, Opium, Michelle, Fidji, Paco Rabanne pour Homme, Pierre Cardin...that’s the kind of fragrances you find on the vanity table. But it could very well be Jean Naté or Jovan musk. Beautiful people, beautiful fragrances, a party ahead and some fun. That’s what Halston feels to me. Halston is mossy, woody, soapy. Soapy as in the smell of a fresh bar of soap. Fresh, like kissing someone that’s been chewing mint gum. Fresh like the new melon cocktail that’s all the rage and that you’re going to indulge yourself with. On me, the flowers take a back, unidentifiable seat. It’s all about the herbal marigold, inky oakmoss and woody cedar and sandalwood. Sometimes I get incense and amber, bringing it closer to a dark corner where everyone fabulously reeks of Opium. The richer crowd. But most times it’s about the green tapestry. Every time though it’s all about class and elegance. The kind of expensive perfume you use on special occasions. Like making a line outside Studio54, hoping that tonight you’re the lucky one. The one that Steve (Rubell) will pick to come inside and dance the night away with Bianca Jagger, and Elizabeth Taylor, and Jerry Hall, and Andy Warhol. But even if you don’t get chosen, the night is young and your friends will take you somewhere else. You’re in Manhattan, it’s the 70’s, you can do anything and go anywhere! Well, maybe not Studio54! Halston has little to no similarities to other fragrances. It could be, maybe, Ivoire, if Ivoire wears Ultrasuede and smokes menthol cigarettes. Halston, just like the fashion of Roy and the magic of decadent New York nights, is unique. It took something familiar, modernized it, and made it new again, complete with a sculptural bottle that fits it to a T. It screams optimism, elegance, all while shining like a disco ball. It’s not just about the beautiful people that made it famous, it’s about the feeling of letting go, having the time of your life and mixing with the crowd. Famous or not. Although it might appear as a nighttime scent, Halston, like most chypres, can be worn in any occasion. The vintage, mid 80’s bottle I own has intense sillage and longevity that lasts the night. I don’t know how the current formula fares but looking at what chypres have become, I have little faith. I think modern Halston wouldn’t be taken by the hand of Steve Rubell to go into Studio54. Adding: the vintage extrait (now own a 70’s bottle) has the same formula, amped up in a luscious animalic green. That night out at Studio54; well, it just moved to a dark corner. 🔥🔥