If personality really is the gateway to success, Dennis Basso proved why he has such staying power in the field of fashion, during a 92NY appearance in Manhattan Wednesday night.

Reflexively funny about life, marriage, career choices and celebrities, the designer kept the crowd laughing with his candor in a Q&A with Fern Mallis . “What I loved at 7, I still like at 71. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” he said. “If I like you, I love you from the beginning to the end. Whether it’s a sandwich or a person, I love you.”

Here, some of Basso’s reminiscences and observations.

Fashion Institute of Technology

“This was 1973 — there were clubs, discotheques. I had a Bloomingdale’s credit card and I bought this cream plaid suit with an Eisenhower jacket for the first day o

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