To be sure, pants not only showed up on the runway at the Hotel Pierre - they showed up in the audience as well.
Ivana Trump, newly appointed president of the Plaza Hotel, which her husband, Donald, just bought, wore a navy Chanel pantsuit, and her socialite sister-in-law Blaine Trump chose a sedate checked trouser suit by Blass.
"Pants are fantastic," said Ivana Trump, who also runs Trump's Castle Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. "They're very easy for travel, especially when you commute in a helicopter every day (to Atlantic City) like I do."
Blass, who is one of Seventh Avenue's best tailors, showed that he hadn't lost his touch in a collection that focused on slender, beautifully cut clothes in sober colors, such as beige, brown and black.
The key to the collection was a little cropped jacket worn over straight, classic trousers that showed up in plaid or houndstooth check for day and velvet and embroidered lace for evening.
For fans, such as Nancy Reagan, who won't wear pants except for casual, at- home weekends, Blass pairs his short, snug jackets with skinny skirts that rise a demure inch or two above the knee.
A cashmere sweater is worn in lieu of a blouse for a sporty, English country touch.
Although Blass' clothes follow the less-is-more dictum, they are not without their luxurious touches. Coats banded in sable and short fur jackets - in sheared beaver or Persian lamb - are the rich alternative to wool.
There is an English-dandy look to a series of long velvet-collared jackets worn with vests and ascot ties tacked with a pearl. They are snazzy but a touch too costumelike for the ladies who lunch.
The evening versions - satin ascots embellishing camel-wool jackets and slinky brown-crepe skirts - are more successful.
Alas, Blass-ettes who invested heavily last season in the designer's Lacroix-inspired frills and flounces are in for a big loss.
