Dressed: The History of Fashion · Dressed Media

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

January 16, 2026·46 min·4 clips

Salvador Dali knelt before Chris Royer, inviting her to tea and sketching her as 'the angel' in a surreal New York encounter.

The glamour had boundaries. Chris Royer describes a mid-1970s social world where people did not just wander off alone, even when the invitation was dazzling. Caution came first. Dinner parties and events kept the circle close while things still felt uncertain. Then the mood loosened a little. As safety improved, the group started going to art shows and public events with more ease. Royer remembers moving through that scene with Andy and some of his people, and often with Victor Hugo, Halston's partner. His friendships with artists put her close to figures she had once admired from a distance. Louise Nevelson is one of those moments. Royer recalls meeting her as one of the great American women artists of the time, not as a casual name to toss around. Salvador Dali enters almost like a set piece. Halston had known Dali and Gala for years, so an invitation to a press conference made its way to the Halston circle. Royer went with others, often representing Halston at events. She puts the scene in the Nat King Cole room at the St. Regis: candlelight, rococo surroundings, and Dali seated in a chair fit for a king. The memory is all image. His upward-twisting mustache, cane, chair, and abrupt PR presentation give the story its surreal snap. Still, the tone stays close and conversational. Royer is not sanding the past into legend. She is remembering how strange that kind of access could feel. The scene turns practical when Dali asks to have tea with her and she says she will not go alone. That is the texture of the episode: fashion history as something lived in rooms, through friends, with glamour and caution sharing the same table.

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