NEW PRESTON, CONNECTICUT.-  Bill Blass, the American designer who built a multimillion-dollar business on understated clothes and a keen perception of the taste of upper-income American women, has just died at his home. He was just days short of his 80th birthday. The cause was cancer, said Helen O’Hagan, a longtime friend. Mr. Blass was the first to say that he was the kind of designer who was rediscovered every few years, but although his star burned more brightly in some seasons than in others, he remained in the forefront of fashion for more than three decades. His designs, blending classic and current fashions, were conservative but not dull. Ellin Saltzman, a former senior vice president and fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, said: "He made sportswear couture. He took American sportswear to its highest level and combined it with sexy menswear touches, giving it new, clean, modern, impeccable style. He, probably better than any other designer, knew his customer and understood her.

John Fairchild, the former publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, said of him: "Bill Blass was the gentleman of American fashion — the perfect gentleman. And they are few and far between these days. He had a sense of being all-American — very attractive and great fun to be with. Basically he was one of the few designers who didn’t talk about himself. What a pleasure." "Mr. Blass was widely considered one of the most charismatic and generous men in his profession, one whose social and business skills mingled so adeptly that he was once described as able to "charm the clothes right onto a woman’s back." For many years, Mr. Blass traveled thousands of miles annually, making personal appearances in stores and lending his clothes and his presence to gala benefits for charities across the country. His name was on everything from perfume to bed linens, from chocolates to the interior of Lincoln Continentals.