The Today Show on NBC had an interesting piece the morning of June 18 – on the fabulous subject of ties. “How appropriate!” you must be thinking, seeing how it was three days away from Father’s day and ties are the paragon of male-holiday gift giving. And yes, that was the reason for the bit, but they had a unique angle to the piece as they focused on the reemergence of the tie as well as the tie collections and tie thoughts of two of the network’s most familiar faces: Matt Lauer and Brian Williams.
Both did a little ribbing of the other and of Al Roker, the host of the piece, and they posted extended video of the interviews online, breaking it up into specific pieces for Williams and Lauer. The piece that aired on TV is found here:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/31423437#31423437
While the full video for Lauer can be found here:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/31423437#31413418
All joking aside, Matt Lauer has become a fashion icon of sorts for many men in this country. Personally, I sport a similar hairstyle and quite enjoy his daily sartorial choices. I, however, never did pick up on the fact that his ties “always have some blue” in them.
Another interesting tidbit from the first piece is the interview with Adam Rappaport of GQ. When discussing Lauer, he comments that the Today Show host is neither fashion-forward or conservative, but rather covers himself like a “well-dressed European businessman.”
So at the urging of my wife and mother, and to satisfy my own curiosity, let’s dissect Lauer’s style at work and outside the office. Is he not fashion forward? Is he not conservative? Is he a European businessman? We’ll see.
Let’s start with his typical office wear – the suits. Suits are his uniform and it’s only on rare occasions that he has to dress like this:
I have been doing some research lately (i.e. watching some TV in the morning) and have discovered that Lauer is predominantly going to wear a suit that is a shade of grey. They trend darker in the NYC fall and winter and much lighter in the summer, but grey with some blue in the shirt and/or tie is a safe bet. Let’s start with this one:
Classic – that’s the word to describe this picture. A medium-shade of grey that truly could be worn year-round with the trendy and popular light blue shirt and solid navy tie. This is a suit/shirt combo you will see Lauer wearing on air as the light blue is best for TV lights instead of a white shirt.
But in this picture, Rappaport nails the description of being neither fashion forward or conservative. He is not wearing your traditional navy suit-white shirt-red tie presidential attire, but he is also not attempting the super-skinny tie or spread Windsor collar either. Notice the detail of the tie and lapel of the jacket being about the same width; that’s the sign you are dealing with someone savvy and sartorial.
This suit will work in 1959 and 2059 as well as it does in 2009.
Here is a suit for the colder months – a darker grey pinstripe, with an off-white or possibly very light blue shirt. A sign that the suit fits well is that one can tell that Lauer still can be comfortable despite sitting down, cross-legged, and arms stretched out.
Details are important here as well. The perfect dimple in the tie, just enough sleeve poking out from the jacket, and also displaying what is slowly become his trademark; the JFK-style white pocket square with only the simple, straight line of linen showing.
The tie gives this suit a modern look, but tell me you can’t see this same suit on Cary Grant circa 1950.
Again, the grey suit – but clearly wearing it out of the office this time. You can learn a lot from the little piece of this ensemble we can see. What can seem to be a very straight-laced, basic suit – the grey suit with white shirt – can always be dapper-ed up a little bit with some original flair or design in the tie, a man’s one true blank canvas with which to work.
Nothing surprising or revolutionary here – the straight point collar, the exaggerated pin-dot look – all modern in style, but classic enough to pass the test of time.
In the Today Show and in the interviews above with Lauer, it becomes clear that suits are not jut a necessity for him, but rather a comfort zone. He has to know he looks good in them, so in turn, he takes pride in creating and refining his look in suits. And don’t be fooled, his look is not all the work of one of the show’s producers or designers – it’s his own.
Now for some more casual wear, here are some examples:
Interesting outfit here in what is obviously a candid photo of Lauer. I am amazed at all the different shades that are in play here, yet they all seem to work, drawn together by an unconventional yet stylish pair of light brown cap-toes.
This does remind me of Europe what with the thick scarf, slim pants and sweater. On what is probably a cold spring night, Lauer certainly realizes bundling up doesn’t mean dressing down.
In what was probably not his proudest moment, Lauer was injured a few months ago, separating his shoulder swerving to avoid a deer on his bike in Central Park. But despite donning a sling for a weeks, he manages to still define casual-cool.
I have seen Lauer in this double-zip cardigan on multiple occasions. He always seems to match it with a dress shirt and jeans – all very clean colors and straight lines that carry a French/Italian feel to it as well. You can tell the jeans are well-fitting and not baggy or sagging – an important lesson for today’s man.
For what looks like a night out, Lauer chooses the dressier casual approach, with basic sport coat, crisp white shirt and flat-front dress pants. Again, muted colors, nothing flashy, clothes that fit appropriately, and making simple things work to look classic – notice a pattern here?
It’s funny how Lauer uses the white pocket square in this outfit. Where we discussed above how he chooses almost daily to show the small, straight line with his suits on the air, he decides in this picture to go with the more laissez-faire approach, with the “give it a tuck and go” toss into the pocket. It’s almost like he uses the white pocket square to help define what he is doing – saying I know how to separate work and play.
Other things I like here: the matching of the belt and shoes – always a subtle detail, the open jacket – gives off an air of casualness, and the orange cell phone cover – just for it being a little funky.
So the final verdict? Simple colors, clothes that fit to the body, attention to details, and a touch of modernity? All these things shout out European everyday couture, so I can’t help but agree with Adam Rappaport.
Lauer has style worth emulating, style that is admittedly his own.
