Hoda Kotb pays stylish homage to the jacket that led to her big break

When Hoda Kotb closes a week today called “Hoda-bration!” Honoring the longtime host’s final day on Friday, January 10, she dressed the part in a signature white Veronica Beard blazer suit, which, charmingly speaking, felt like a moment with about complete honoring her legendary career.

While Kotb, 60, has been part of the structure at NBC News for nearly 30 years (she announced she would be leaving in September 2024), it’s hard to believe she faced as many rejections. She was turned down 27 times for a TV job before someone said yes, and she said her big break was all because of a jacket.

On her first day, an anchor got sick so she filled in on the evening news show. “The litmus test of who makes the news at Greenville, Mississippi’s WXVT News Center 15, is who shows up to work in a blazer,” Kotb said in an interview with PR for Anyone.

“I remember (Stan Sandronithe late news director,) bumped in and he says, ‘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 well, you have to anchor the news, because Ann (Martin) she is sick”, she remembers. “I was like, ‘OK!’

She often looks back on that moment and says it only takes one person (and a blazer) to change your life, which made her smart farewell outfit feel all the more appropriate. A proud outfit replicator, Kotb has always kept her work uniform plain and simple.

“I have worn the same dress, I don’t know how many times. I wear everything again,” Kotb said in an interview with 2020 glamor. “One lady tweeted me: ‘I’ve seen that dress 57 times’ and she was right!

Kotb continued: “Our staff even put up pictures of how many times I wore the dress. I thought that was funny… There are people who are way cooler than me, who have way cooler fashion sense than I will ever have. It’s not my job.”

Her pragmatic sensibility was echoed by Savannah Guthrie in a video shared on YouTube on Friday, January 10. “She’s about what matters,” Guthrie, 53, said. She then jokingly carried Kotb’s “red carpet bag,” which was a Ziplock bag of lip gloss, a compact, cash, and a banana for a snack. Guthrie ended on a more serious note: “I love you deeply, whether you’re sitting next to me or not, whether we wake up at 4 a.m. together or not, I’ll always be there for you.”

Indeed, Kotb took a similarly sentimental approach with her accessories: stacks of bracelets, rings and necklaces for her latest episode, which she said she holds near and dear to her heart.

She noted, “This towering bracelet that says ‘With you,’ a gift she got from Guthrie, before showing off a ring Guthrie gave her that said ‘Love.’

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