Morley Safer's Fashion Tips For Fall

The style bar is set pretty low for men of Morley Safer‘s age. As long as you remember two things — shave, and wear clean clothes — you’ll at least look dignified.

That low barrier to entry might just be what left the septuagenarian Canadian Vietnam war correspondent feeling entitled to come to some very definite opinions about other sartorial matters during the course of his reporting on Anna Wintour for last night’s 60 Minutes. I edited the juiciest examples of Safer’s judgments on his newfound area of expertise into the clip at left.

Exposure to the month-long rigmarole of the international ready-to-wear season made Safer so cranky he seems to have forgotten the London shows even existed, as he blithely elides them from his list of fashion weeks. But seated there in the front row, with Wintour as his guide, Safer at least learned enough to confidently diss Karl Lagerfeld‘s “Dracula” look, and accuse Italian Vogue‘s legendary Anna Piaggi of being “campy.” He calls models “as angry as they are emaciated” while footage of Alyona Osmanova in the fall/winter Prada show rolls. Then his camera zooms in on the straining sleevecap of John Galliano‘s suit as Safer, in perfect underminey ladymagspeak, intones that “some might say” the designer would benefit from “a better tailor.” Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy chief executive Bernard Arnault, whom Safer later interviewed, definitely had that tailor, so the journalist gives him props. But wait! As we find out in this clip, when Safer gets a tour of the Vogue accessories closet, there’s a whole lot more to style than just picking the right suit.

“I guess all of this constitutes accessories,” says Safer warily, peering at rows of hats and bags. “Right!” explains a Vogue worker bee, helpfully. “Everything that is not a piece of clothing is an accessory.” So much to learn, and so little time. Keep working on it, Morley!

Anna Wintour, Behind The Shades [CBS News]
More Anna Wintour Clips And Outtakes [CBS News]