A male colleague of mine is taking a certain amount of heat (some of it less than serious) about having asked Katie Couric about her fall wardrobe, in light of the fuss that was made some years ago when her "CBS Evening News" predecessor briefly tried to warm his anchor image with sweater vests.

Couric, who's no doubt heard it all in her years on NBC's "Today" show, seemed unperturbed, but the reporter's now promised to ask ABC News' Charles Gibson, who's due here later in the week, about his on-air clothing choices.

Meanwhile, I'll cop to having written "gold hoop earrings, beige pantsuit, high heels" at the top of my notes on Couric's appearance this morning.

Didn't use it in my column for Monday -- since once she'd started talking, her clothing ceased to matter, as one hopes it will when she starts delivering the news Sept. 5 -- but it's silly to pretend that there's no one at CBS thinking hard about what the first woman hired to anchor the network news solo should be wearing.

At least until women get what men have long enjoyed -- a uniform so, well, uniform that the only way they can stand out from one another is by donning a sweater vest.