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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Robert Verdi, Greg Williams

Aired July 27, 2003 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CHUCK ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Facials, pedicures, hairstyling, clothes, shopping and cooking, that's liable to be on a guy's to-do list these days. There's a new man in town, a metrosexual, a guy who says he likes to be nurtured.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I know what a metrosexual is? Just what I read in the paper, it's men who are concerned about how they look and their health and being nurtured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do get facials every month. And also massages and haircuts, of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do have to have it styled a certain way. The messier the better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think women like men, whether you want to call them metrosexual or whatever, men who take care of themselves. I don't think it has to mean that you're any less masculine, or any less macho, or anything else.

You're just concerned about how you look, and how you feel, and concerned about your health and you love being nurtured.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Who could argue with that? Joining us from New York to explain it all for us are Robert Verdi, he's in the tangerine shirt, co-host of "Surprise By Design" of the Discovery Channel, and Greg Williams, editor of "Maxine" magazine.

Guys, welcome. How you doing?

ROBERT VERDI, "SURPRISE BY DESIGN", DISCOVERY CHANNEL: How you doing, Chuck? How are you, Greg?

GREG WILLIAMS, EDITOR, "MAXINE": Good, how are you?

ROBERTS: How was this trend born, do you think? Was it, like, a "GQ" craze gone wild?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think it's in the broader culture, it's not just about men, it's about the entire culture. People are starting to want to take care of themselves and wanting to, you know, think about the way they appear to others. So it's a cold, hard world out there, so every advantage you need, you need to take is it.

ROBERTS: Anti-wrinkle cream, botox eyelids, are we going too far, Robert?

VERDI: I think a lot of things straight men like to do, the grooming techniques, are really things that are not super noticeable when they're in public. I don't think you'll ever see a guy whip out tube of mascara. I think that the moisturizers, the hair care products, those things are sort of innocent and they can do in the privacy of their own homes and won't be judged by their male peers, by their friends.

ROBERTS: Check out this: We have the -- "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution" polled a bunch of men in Atlanta, and found these are the items, this is the priority to most men would look better if they got a sharper haircut, 23 percent, hipper clothes, 9 percent, stylish shoes, 22 percent, a facial or pedicure 5 percent, good grooming products, 3 percent and a buffer body, 38 percent. How come shoes are so big, guys?

VERDI: Because women judge you by the shoes you're wearing.

ROBERTS: Really? Shoes are a mirror to the soul?

VERDI: Well, no, if you have scuffed up, bad, cheap shoes, women look down and think you're a scuffed-up, bad, cheap guy.

COLLINS: Wow.

VERDI: I think that it's just one of the things that you sort of pay attention to. It's attention to detail. It's something subtle. I don't think it's exactly, you know, the most serious thing to take into consideration, but a guy who doesn't tie his shoes and has a scuffed pair of haggard shoes is somebody who isn't taking pride in how he presents himself, and cares about how -- you know, how he takes care of himself.

ROBERTS: Yeah. What else is coming back? Are people wearing hats at all these days?

Greg, you'd know that more than I do. I mean, I wear hats, and I'm not a metrosexual. Actually, I thought a metrosexual was someone having sex with an entire city.

(LAUGHTER)

Clearly, I'm wrong.

ROBERTS: Greg, what do I do with my ACDC T-shirt? Do I throw it out? Is grunge gone forever?

WILLIAMS: No, they're back, just put it under a very nice jacket or blazer, something like that. Certainly something you want to hold on to.

ROBERTS: Who created the term "metrosexual"? Did you guys do it? WILLIAMS: No, it was a writer back in the U.K., a guy called Mark Simpson, and he was using a very different context when he first used it, but it's been picked up more and used a lot more in the past few years, since there was a piece in "The New York Times" quite recently.

ROBERTS: But these guys are decided heterosexual, right. So, they're doing it to impress women?

WILLIAMS: Right, absolutely. They're doing it to impress women. And I imagine they're also doing it because it helps them in the workplace. It's something that every guy needs to take care of himself these days, because, you know, everyone needs to get ahead.

ROBERTS: How about botox? What do you guys think of that?

VERDI: I think it hurts. It reduces -- you know, one of the greatest things that could be said about a man is that he has a lot of character in his face, and I think that botox reduces the chances of you developing any character by reducing, you know, the natural laugh lines -- and the characteristics on your face that have -- that will represent your entire life. I don't think that botox is necessarily beneficial.

It could be beneficial in terms of staying in the workforce for a longer period of time because, you know, there is some age discrimination that exists for both men and women. So if it helps you look younger in your later years, you might consider doing it. But I still think that the most magnificent men and women are those who maintain their -- stayed closest to the line of natural beauty.

ROBERTS: Costs a lot of money, though, doesn't it?

VERDI: To stay closest to their natural beauty? It costs nothing.

ROBERTS: Well...

VERDI: You just evolve and you grow and, you know, you stay exactly totally whole in your natural development rather than try and alter it or modify it or change it with some, you know, ulterior method.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, Robert and Greg, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

VERDI: Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 27, 2003 - 09:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHUCK ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Facials, pedicures, hairstyling, clothes, shopping and cooking, that's liable to be on a guy's to-do list these days. There's a new man in town, a metrosexual, a guy who says he likes to be nurtured.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I know what a metrosexual is? Just what I read in the paper, it's men who are concerned about how they look and their health and being nurtured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do get facials every month. And also massages and haircuts, of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do have to have it styled a certain way. The messier the better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think women like men, whether you want to call them metrosexual or whatever, men who take care of themselves. I don't think it has to mean that you're any less masculine, or any less macho, or anything else.

You're just concerned about how you look, and how you feel, and concerned about your health and you love being nurtured.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Who could argue with that? Joining us from New York to explain it all for us are Robert Verdi, he's in the tangerine shirt, co-host of "Surprise By Design" of the Discovery Channel, and Greg Williams, editor of "Maxine" magazine.

Guys, welcome. How you doing?

ROBERT VERDI, "SURPRISE BY DESIGN", DISCOVERY CHANNEL: How you doing, Chuck? How are you, Greg?

GREG WILLIAMS, EDITOR, "MAXINE": Good, how are you?

ROBERTS: How was this trend born, do you think? Was it, like, a "GQ" craze gone wild?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think it's in the broader culture, it's not just about men, it's about the entire culture. People are starting to want to take care of themselves and wanting to, you know, think about the way they appear to others. So it's a cold, hard world out there, so every advantage you need, you need to take is it.

ROBERTS: Anti-wrinkle cream, botox eyelids, are we going too far, Robert?

VERDI: I think a lot of things straight men like to do, the grooming techniques, are really things that are not super noticeable when they're in public. I don't think you'll ever see a guy whip out tube of mascara. I think that the moisturizers, the hair care products, those things are sort of innocent and they can do in the privacy of their own homes and won't be judged by their male peers, by their friends.

ROBERTS: Check out this: We have the -- "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution" polled a bunch of men in Atlanta, and found these are the items, this is the priority to most men would look better if they got a sharper haircut, 23 percent, hipper clothes, 9 percent, stylish shoes, 22 percent, a facial or pedicure 5 percent, good grooming products, 3 percent and a buffer body, 38 percent. How come shoes are so big, guys?

VERDI: Because women judge you by the shoes you're wearing.

ROBERTS: Really? Shoes are a mirror to the soul?

VERDI: Well, no, if you have scuffed up, bad, cheap shoes, women look down and think you're a scuffed-up, bad, cheap guy.

COLLINS: Wow.

VERDI: I think that it's just one of the things that you sort of pay attention to. It's attention to detail. It's something subtle. I don't think it's exactly, you know, the most serious thing to take into consideration, but a guy who doesn't tie his shoes and has a scuffed pair of haggard shoes is somebody who isn't taking pride in how he presents himself, and cares about how -- you know, how he takes care of himself.

ROBERTS: Yeah. What else is coming back? Are people wearing hats at all these days?

Greg, you'd know that more than I do. I mean, I wear hats, and I'm not a metrosexual. Actually, I thought a metrosexual was someone having sex with an entire city.

(LAUGHTER)

Clearly, I'm wrong.

ROBERTS: Greg, what do I do with my ACDC T-shirt? Do I throw it out? Is grunge gone forever?

WILLIAMS: No, they're back, just put it under a very nice jacket or blazer, something like that. Certainly something you want to hold on to.

ROBERTS: Who created the term "metrosexual"? Did you guys do it? WILLIAMS: No, it was a writer back in the U.K., a guy called Mark Simpson, and he was using a very different context when he first used it, but it's been picked up more and used a lot more in the past few years, since there was a piece in "The New York Times" quite recently.

ROBERTS: But these guys are decided heterosexual, right. So, they're doing it to impress women?

WILLIAMS: Right, absolutely. They're doing it to impress women. And I imagine they're also doing it because it helps them in the workplace. It's something that every guy needs to take care of himself these days, because, you know, everyone needs to get ahead.

ROBERTS: How about botox? What do you guys think of that?

VERDI: I think it hurts. It reduces -- you know, one of the greatest things that could be said about a man is that he has a lot of character in his face, and I think that botox reduces the chances of you developing any character by reducing, you know, the natural laugh lines -- and the characteristics on your face that have -- that will represent your entire life. I don't think that botox is necessarily beneficial.

It could be beneficial in terms of staying in the workforce for a longer period of time because, you know, there is some age discrimination that exists for both men and women. So if it helps you look younger in your later years, you might consider doing it. But I still think that the most magnificent men and women are those who maintain their -- stayed closest to the line of natural beauty.

ROBERTS: Costs a lot of money, though, doesn't it?

VERDI: To stay closest to their natural beauty? It costs nothing.

ROBERTS: Well...

VERDI: You just evolve and you grow and, you know, you stay exactly totally whole in your natural development rather than try and alter it or modify it or change it with some, you know, ulterior method.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, Robert and Greg, thanks very much. Appreciate it.

VERDI: Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com