If I were in the stage I am now in 2003 when Sotheby's was auctioning off pieces from the home of Bill Blass, I would have placed bids on some items. I wouldn't have walked home with a single item because according to the New York Times report of the auction, pieces went for five times the high estimates. But how thrilling it must have been to witness and to see the fabulous things Blass surrounded himself with.

No other fashion designer has had such a stronghold in the aesthetics of the interior design community than Blass. His...