Bill Blass was at the intersection of American fashion and society for fifty years. He was the first designer to break out of the shabby backrooms of Seventh Avenue and be welcomed into the chic drawing rooms of New York; the first to put his name on a variety of products, including automobiles, and thereby expand his influence; and the first to travel extensively across this country, meeting and dressing women who were taste-makers in their towns. All that, and his friendships with such personalities as Cary Grant, Slim Keith, Nancy Reagan, Diana Vreeland, and, of course, the socialites he famously dressed, give him a unique perspective on American life and glamour.

With refreshing, unapologetic candor, and with more than eighty rarely seen photographs, "Bare Blass" reveals a complex human being whose character was hugely shaped by his Depression-era childhood and by his riveting experiences as a member of a secret army unit during the Second World War. It is a coming-of-age story, but more than that, "Bare Blass" is the story of an American original.