DECADES OF HOLIDAY POP AND CIRCUMSTANCE: ANDY WARHOL

Andy Warhol’s influence on culture and art clearly is not diminishing after his death. People of all ages still tend to romanticize not just his art but also his social life. So how did he spend his Christmas and New Year holidays? Let’s check in his infamous diaries for the year 1978, the height of everything socially Warhol, including Studio 54 and best friend the designer Halston.

Sunday, December 24, 1978: “Up early…decided to do prints of the Ali paintings…Truman called and said he was alone because Bob MacBride had to spend Christmas with his kids. I worked all afternoon…Tom Cashin came over to the house for a fast turkey dinner before we went to Diane Von Furstenberg’s…it was a horrible Christmas party with horrible people—about fifty of them…Then we left for Halston’s. Catherine [Milinaire, we assume] was there and I gave her a painting with some of my come on it, but then Victor [Hugo] said it was his come, and then we had a fight about that, but now that I think about it, it could have been Victor’s...Halston had a big fish. I had red wine and was getting so tired…”

Monday, December 25, 1978: “The turkey at Halston’s was ready at 9 p.m. It was really good. We reviewed the night before…At Studio 54 the IRS found a room full of cash….”

Sunday, December 31, 1978: “I didn’t know the evening at Halston’s was going to be so chic, my dear…Bianca Jagger was in Dior…Diana Ross looked beautiful. And she had asked Halston over the phone if he was going to serve black-eyed peas at midnight because it was good luck….And when she got there Halston was cooking ham hocks and ribs. A few people said to her, ‘Don’t you want to check on the black-eyed peas?’ They knew the peas were her idea, and they were just trying to be nice. I guess she took it as an insult, though, because she said, ‘No, thank you, darling, I think I’ve checked them enough’…Then we all did go to Studio 54. They had decorated it great, put silver glitter on the floor, and they had someone on a trapeze, and white balloons….The whole night was spent losing and finding and looking and finding and looking. John Fairchild, Jr. has a crush on Bianca so we were looking for her, and then losing her, and then losing him and finding her, and then losing me, and looking for me, and losing him…”

Here’s something very festive the ladies at studio 54 would have been partying in. This 60's chiffon and silk gown from Desses feels like something that would have inspired Halston is his designs in the 70's. With this dress you will not go unnoticed. That's what Andy Warhol would have loved.

-William

Jean Desses pink silk chiffon gown, c. 1960's. Modern size 4 to 6.

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