Patti Smith: Return of the Thin White Duchess

PATTI SMITH needs some new socks. I'm standing next to her in an elevator in midtown Manhattan, when she glances down at her feet, which obviously triggers something in her big brain. "Damn," she tells one of her minders, "I've been wearing the same socks for four days." I guess it isn't easy being an icon and at the same time having to look after the day-to-day minutiae of existence.