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 of school. Mind you, I was never the skinniest person at the dance. I walk into the Feldman building and there is another fellow in the same suit — taller and slimmer. We became friends immediately. Every four or five days, I would say, ‘We only have one class after lunch. Let’s go uptown to have lunch and go to Bloomingdale’s.’ And we did. But FIT was the greatest thing, and it still is. It’s the Harvard of fashion.”

Receiving an Honorary Doctorate From FIT

“It was for time served, as opposed to ‘I’ll give the school the tennis court, and you give me the doctorate.’ It was such an unbelievable moment. There were 6,000 people at the ceremony at the Javits Center. Dr. [Joyce] Brown said you walk in right behind me. I had the beret and the gown on, and thought to myself, ‘This doesn’t get any better.’”

Getting a Red Herring Offer to Vacate His First Apartment

“My landlord said, ‘Yes, we’ll give you $30,000.’ I said, ‘When do you get paid?’ She said, ‘Three days after you vacate.’ I said, ‘I’ll be out Friday.’”

Finding Work on Fire Island

“I couldn’t find a job. I had a little bit of a cushion from the homestead. Some guys were talking on the beach about how Pierre Michel was opening beauty salons in Bloomingdale’s. They were looking for someone who was creative with a college education. I went for an interview and — boom — they hired me. I thought I’d be working in New York. They put me in Paramus [N.J.]. But they took us back and forth by a big stretch limousine from 59th Street with Bob Chavez, who became a close friend of mine. [He was also former president and chief executive officer of Hermès Americas.] Do you know how many times I asked him over the past 40 years? No discount.”

How a WWD Ad Led to Fashion

“The owner of a fur company offered a salary of $400, I said $450. I suggested I work for a month and if he wasn’t happy, we would part ways. I was designing, selling on the sales floor, arriving early each day — I couldn’t do enough. Being involved with items that were $3,000 to $10,000 was a crazy thing. The bookkeeper told me the owner loved me. At the end of the month, I said I was going to leave and the owner said, ‘What do you mean. I’m going to give you 450.’ I said, ‘If you want me to stay, I want 500.’”

Losing His Job After Buying Coats at Wholesale for At-home Fur Parties

“He said I was fired for stealing potential customers. I said, ‘I told you two years ago to do this and you didn’t want to.’ I was freaked out. I’m a worker. I have a very high work ethic. I said to myself, ‘Calm down. You have a fur party tonight.’ I walked into Jimmy’s office [the wholesaler] and he asked if I knew anyone, who would want to a little showroom in his office for $300 a month. The guy I was with said we were going to take it to go into business. That was in June, the worst time to go into the fur business. My father agreed to give us something in dribs and drabs. He knew that I could use it to go on the QE2.”

Seating His First Fashion Show

“I was in a liquor store in The Pines, and this woman said to me, ‘Hi cutie, what’s your name?’ She said, ‘I’m Nikki Haskell. I have a cable TV show.’ I said I was in the fur business and she said she could use a furrier. She said, ‘Come with me.’ I said, ‘But I’m going to a dinner party.’ She said, ‘Trust me. Where I’m going is better than where you’re going. You come with me.’ It was a part of The Pines I never knew existed. We walked up to this gorgeous house with yellow and white striped awnings. There was Aldo Cipullo, who designed the Love bracelet for Cartier, and Egon von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein and all of these people. Nikki put me on TV for my first fashion show. She delivered Neil Sedaka, Egon and Diane von Furstenberg, Joan Collins and Ivana and Donald Trump. They had just opened Trump Tower. The next day I had half a page of editorial in The New York Times. I’d like to have that again. Ivana Trump was sitting in my office, when I got there the next morning. She bought seven fur coats. That was a defining moment in my career.”

Dressing Celebrities Like Meryl Streep, Patti LaBelle, Nicole Kidman

“Early on a friend introduced me to Ava Gabor, who introduced me to [her sister] Zsa Zsa, and through Zsa Zsa I met Liz Taylor. They wanted everything. There was no holding back. Then there was Joan Collins, who played Alexis Carrington. But the nicest one was Meryl Streep. Correct, polite, thank you note. Everybody else was rough. That was when you worked directly with the celebrity. Now you never see the celebrity.”

Meeting His Husband

“We’ve been together for 33 years but we met five years prior to that. My whole life revolved around the world of Dennis Basso, the client and dinners at Le Cirque, Lutece, Grenouille and Hotel Du Cap. But on the weekend. I’d go to Fire Island and all of that was left behind. He had a real boyfriend that summer. I had a boyfriend, who was an exchange student. He broke up [with his boyfriend]. My friend’s visa was up. We started by going out in a group. [After they started hanging out together, on their own] I called a very good friend to say, ‘I think Michael really likes me.’ He said, “Absolutely not. You’re everything he doesn’t like.’”

How a Summer Vacation Led to QVC

That was a time when editors accepted really expensive gifts. [Laughs.] It’s true — real gifts, not like a little trinket. My friend invited me to come with him on this 150-foot yacht for two weeks in Greece. After two days Ronnie [Rothstein, co-owner of Kleinfeld Bridal] asked me if I ever thought of going on TV. I said, ‘Yeah, why?’ ‘I have a friend, who runs QVC. You’re already dressing famous people. You’re a perfect match.’ I said, ‘QVC? I don’t know.’ He said, ‘Trust me. You’ll like it. And in the end, you’ll make plenty of dough.’”

A Debut Record on QVC

“Thirty-two years ago it was the highest-grossing show that QVC had had at that time — $357,000, and 11 sellouts. Now if you don’t do $357,000, you worry you’ll get the pink slip. I love it. I’ve been on TV longer than Johnny Carson or any of those [late night talk show] people. The hardest part is when you’re not in the mood and you’re trying to put the clothes together to get in the car to go. And it’s damp and drizzling out. Then once you get there, it’s [smiles broadly, widens his eyes and outstretches his arms]. I think we’ve sold more than a million and half of that [faux] fur blanket. We figured it out that if you lined them up, it would go past California. It’s 60 by 90, machine washable, double dry.” [Laughs.]

Considering His Legacy

“I would like to think that people thought of me as fun, generous, happy, caring and someone, who likes to have a good time. Over the years we’ve collected, and I say this in the kindest and nicest way, all kinds of people from all walks of life. I would like people to think of me as someone who loves life.”