Hoda Kotb pays tribute to the blazer that gave her her big break

when Hoda Kotb end of week today Dubbed “Hoda-bration!” To mark the longtime host’s final day on Friday, January 10, she donned a familiar Veronica Beard white suit for the role The coat, sartorially speaking, felt like a complete moment commemorating her storied career.

While Kotb, 60, has been at NBC News for nearly 30 years (she announced she will leave in September 2024), it’s hard to believe she’s faced just as much rejection. She was turned down 27 times for a TV job before someone finally said yes, and she says her big break came all because of a jacket.

On the first day, one of the anchors got sick, so she filled in for the evening newscast. “The litmus test of who is a news anchor at WXVT News Center 15 in Greenville, Mississippi is who shows up to work wearing a blazer,” Kotb told Anyone PR in an interview.

“I remember [Stan Sandroni, the late news director,] He barged in and he said, ‘Well, who has a blazer?’ I said, ‘What?’ ‘A jacket. Who has a jacket? I said, “A jacket?” I have a jacket. It hangs on a hanger. “Oh, great, you need to anchor the news because install [Martin] Sick,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Okay!'”

She often looks back on that moment and says all it takes is one person (and a blazer) to change your life, which made the beautiful suit she wore as a farewell feel all the more fitting. Kotb is a proud wardrobe repeater, keeping her work uniform simple and streamlined.

“I’ve worn the same dress I don’t know how many times. I wear everything again. charm. “One woman tweeted to me and said, ‘I’ve seen that dress 57 times,’ and she was right!”

Kotb continued, “Our staff even posted a picture of the number of times I wore this outfit. I thought it was funny… there are people who are much cooler than me and their fashion sense is cooler than mine. It’s None of my business.

Her pragmatic sensibility was echoed Savannah Guthrie Video shared via YouTube on Friday, January 10th. She then jokingly held up Kotb’s “red carpet purse,” a ziplock bag that contained lip gloss, compact, cash and a banana as a snack. Guthrie ended on a more serious note: “I love you deeply and whether you sit next to me or not, whether we wake up at 4 a.m. together, I will always be there for you.”

In fact, Kotb took a similarly sentimental approach to her accessories: In her final episode, she included a collection of bracelets, rings, and necklaces that she said she treasures close to her heart.

She noted, “This top-of-the-line bracelet that says ‘With You,'” which she received as a gift from Guthrie, before showing off a ring that Guthrie gave her that said ” like”.

Guthrie, for her part, chose a black dress for her farewell performance because she was in a state of “mourning” on her beloved colleague’s final day. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve or on your blazer.