The big guns of style were Calvin Klein and Bill Blass, both unaffordable to most working women.

ECONOMIST: Liz Claiborne

In 1970, after some 25 years of growing success in the rag trade, he launched himself as Bill Blass Ltd.

ECONOMIST: Bill Blass

At one point, there was even a Bill Blass Mercury sedan.

WSJ: Oscar de la Renta's Next Big Act

For young Bill Blass the local cinemas promised another world, of glamour, where people did nothing all day except wear nice clothes and have a good time.

ECONOMIST: Bill Blass

When Hobbs told him it was "the exact thing Bill Blass would have loved, " Romualdez says the deal was cinched not surprisingly: Romualdez had also acquired Blass's iconic and much-photographed Connecticut house.

WSJ: All The Pretty Houses

The designers at this week's spring 2004 Fashion Week shows under the tents in New York City's Bryant Park feature the industry's biggest names, including Kenneth Cole, Perry Ellis, Anne Klein and Bill Blass.

NPR: Fashion Week: Twinkle's First Big Show