Hoda Kotb Pays Stylish Tribute To The Blazer That Led To Her Big Watch

When Hoda Kotb end of week Today dubbed the “Hoda-bration!” honor the last day of a longtime host on Friday, January 10, she dressed the part in a white Veronica Beard blazer suit that, sartorially, felt like a full-circle moment honoring her storied career.

While Kotb, 60, has been part of the fabric of NBC News for nearly 30 years (he announced that he would is leaving in September 2024), it’s hard to believe she faced nearly as much rejection. She was turned down 27 times for a TV job before someone finally said “yes,” and she said the big break was all because of a jacket.

On her first day, an anchor fell ill so she filled in on the evening newscast. “The litmus test for who anchors the news at Greenville, Mississippi’s WXVT News Center 15, is who shows up to work with a blazer,” Kotb said in an interview with Public Relations for Anyone.

“I remember (Stan Sandronithe late news director,) busted in, and he goes, ‘Okay, who’s got a blazer?’ I go, ‘What?’ ‘ A jacket. Who has a jacket?’ I go, ‘A jacket? I have a jacket. It’s hanging on the hanger.’ ‘Oh good, you need to anchor the news, because Ann (Martin) sick,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘okay!’”

She often looks back on that moment and says that it only takes one person (and one blazer) to change your life, which makes her smart suiting for her farewell feel all the more appropriate never. A proud wardrobe repeater, Kotb has always kept her work attire simple and streamlined.

“I’ve worn the same dress I don’t know how many times. I re-wear everything,” Kotb said in a 2020 interview with Glamour. “A woman tweeted me, ‘I’ve seen that dress 57 times,’ and she was right!”

Kotb continued: “Our staff even took pictures of the number of times I wore the dress. I thought it was funny … There are people who are much cooler than me, who have a much cooler fashion sense than I will ever have. This is not my thing.”

His pragmatic sensibility was complemented by Savannah Guthrie in a video shared via YouTube on Friday, January 10. “She’s about what’s important,” Guthrie, 53, said. Then, she held up Kotb’s “red carpet purse,” a Ziplock bag with lip gloss, a compact, cash and a banana for a snack. Guthrie ended on a more serious note: “I love you very much, whether you sit next to me or not whether we get up at 4 o’clock in the morning with each other or not, I’ll always be by your side.”

Indeed, Kotb took a similarly sentimental approach with her accessories: stacks of bracelets, rings and necklaces for her final chapter that she said was near and dear to her heart.

She said, “This top bracelet that says, ‘With You,'” a gift she got from Guthrie, before showing a ring Guthrie gave her that said, “Love.”

For her part, Guthrie chose a black dress for the farewell show, because she was in “mourning” on the last day of her beloved colleague. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve – or jacket.