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March 1, 1999
Web posted at: 11:38 p.m. EST (0438 GMT)

From Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The soft spring of '99 for Bill Blass is a collection filled with subtle colors and fluid shapes.

Daytime is simple with pretty sweaters teamed with well-proportioned skirts. But evening is turned topsy-turvy with drawstrings on chic dresses.

It's a sporty approach that he says plays to a youthful spirit of women at any age.

"It's a different attitude about clothes," Blass says. "People say suits are dead. Women still want suits, and why not give the customer what she wants.

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"I'm so bored with making clothes or having clothes just for the sake of being cool or with it or in. You have to have clothes that women understand and wear."

Blass says his suits are lightweight with cashmeres that are as thin as any chiffon.

"Skirts are various lengths -- covering the knee -- and then there's some mid-calf or longer," he says. "For evening, I particularly like the great, great big bag pant that's full on the bottom."

The designer plays down prints this season. Instead, he plays up colors, particularly pastels.

"They're not pretty prom dresses," he says. "Even occasionally when there's a big tulle skirt, there's a tough jacket that goes over it to keep it from being too saccharin or too sweet."