How I Get Dressed: Jenna Bush Hager

The way we get dressed every morning is as personal as it gets. There are outfit repeaters, vintage treasure hunters, and even emotional dressers. But while everyone loves a good fashion trend, here at InStyle, we're interested in the deeper stuff, too: the way jewelry makes us feel, the way a beloved coat can spark joy on a cold day, the way a pair of shoes can pull a whole look together. How I Get Dressed unpacks fashion routines, rituals, and go-tos — straight from the fashion tastemakers we love.

One thing the Today show's Jenna Bush Hager would like you to know about her on-air style: "This is all me."

Hager, who along with her cohost, Hoda Kotb, appears on televisions across America every weekday morning during the fourth hour of Today, says she gets notes all the time asking or commenting on what she's wearing. "It's hilarious because sometimes people will say, 'Fire your stylists,'" she shares. "I think people think because we work on television that I have a stylist and I have to say, 'I would be firing myself.' Or if they're like, 'We love your look. Can you send us where you got it from? Can you ask your stylist?'" Sorry folks, it's all Jenna Bush Hager.

Yet another thing that might surprise you about someone who starts her day so early (and we're talking early early — she also has three young children and still hits the gym before heading to Today. "Around 11, it does feel like afternoon," she laughs. "Everybody's still kind of in their morning routine and I'm like, my day is over."): Hager doesn't exactly plan her outfits for work. The only time she really plans what she's going to wear in advance is if she's getting dressed for something special, and while she still doesn't use a stylist, she does tap someone close to her for fashion advice: her twin sister, Barbara Bush. But, Hager says, instead of stressing her out, that last-minute approach to getting dressed actually serves her well. "I feel like the mornings when I have put things together quickly and feel like myself are the mornings I feel best," she says.

This year, Hager, who first joined Today in 2009 as a correspondent and contributor, is celebrating five years as coanchor of Today with Hoda & Jenna as well as five years of #ReadWith Jenna, Today's book club. Here, Hager shares the item in her closet she'll never wear again but never throw out, the three words that describe her style, and why she'll be forever grateful that her parents, former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush gave her the "grace" to be (and dress) herself.

How do you plan your outfits?

I hate this about myself, but [I plan my outfits] last-minute, especially with the show, because it's my every day. I just got dressed, for example, and I'm like, "Huh, would this shirt work with this skirt? I want to wear this at some point."

I definitely lay out clothes that I haven't worn or that I want to wear over the couple weeks and then I kind of play within it. But I am not one who puts a ton of thought into it. And sometimes in fact, they're like, "10 minutes to air," and I'm still wearing my jeans and T-shirt that I came in in.

And I feel like that is reflective in my style that I want things to look effortless, because typically they are. I feel like if I want look to put together, which happens if I'm on Ellen or something like that that feels special, I'll really think about my outfit. I'll ask my sister for advice. I have friends that are designers and I'll borrow things. And then sometimes I look at myself and I'm like, "Who is she?" And I feel like the mornings when I have put things together quickly and feel like myself are the mornings I feel best.

Do you have designers that are your go-to? Brands that fit you or make you feel good or feel your best?

Veronica Beard, I love. I love a blazer — and their jeans I'm obsessed with. I love to wear a structured jean and a blazer on the show because we have fun. It doesn't need to be anchor woman 1990s, although I also like that look, it's come back. And I like their suits. I'm obsessed with different suiting that isn't so traditional. I also am friends with one of the designers, which helps because I love her. So it's part of fashion to me is also friendship, luckily. People that you admire and you love their sense of style.

Because we buy our own clothes and I don't want to own so much that it feels crazy and I can't, one of the things I do too to get dressed is Rent the Runway, which I used to feel kind of weird about. I don't really know why, but it's so great. I mean, there's no way if you're on television every single day that you can own enough clothes to wear something different every single day, which we don't even try to as you may know, if you've seen our show, especially Hoda loves a re-wear. But it's just such a interesting thing to think about.

What is the one thing you would save in your closet in an emergency?

My wedding dress just because it means so much. I couldn't fit my left knee into it now — and in fact, I tried at seven years. I've been married for 15 now, but on the seventh anniversary, I wanted to have a Seven-Year Itch party where everybody wore their wedding dresses.

I loved that dress and Oscar de la Renta designed it for me when he was still alive and he actually walked me down the aisle when I tried it on. He pretended to be my dad. He was such a gentleman. So more than even the dress itself, even though of course the memories of it were beautiful and it was one of the best nights of my life, I want to be able to save it for my kids. And also just, I loved him so much that it's almost like a relic. I can never wear it again, sadly. But I love having it.

How would you describe your own style in three words?

Classic. laid-back, and bohemian.

What is a trend that you're loving right now and a trend that you want to leave behind?

We really need to let the low rise jeans go where they belong, which is far, far away. They don't look good on anybody. I mean, even this morning when I was running on the treadmill and my leggings were falling down, I was irritated. Nobody wants pants that are falling off. So that's something I'd like to leave behind.

And a trend I'm loving right now, I think it's the denim, the denim everywhere.

What is one outfit you'll never forget?

I still have it. It's one of those things where it's like, I would not wear it again, but I still have it because it was the first outfit that I wore on the Today show. It was this Lela Rose gray sweater with some kind of rhinestone embroidery on the neck and then a skirt.

And my first appearance was in Dallas at the new Cowboys Stadium. I have the picture of it, and I have it in my closet. And every time I go to clean it out, there's a sentimental, "Does this bring you joy?" conversation I have with myself, which it does. And yet I know I'll never wear it again.

How has your style changed over time?

Well, I went to college at the University of Texas, and Austin has changed quite a bit, as I have. But Austin in the late '90s, early 2000s, was a really laid-back town. Everybody wore tank tops and jeans and flip-flops. So that was definitely my look, which was very laid-back. I think I appreciate more polish than I did when I was really, really young.

And I like to think, will this stand? And it doesn't always, I have definitely worn outfits that are trendy or look a certain way and I think like, "Ugh, why did I wear that?" But I try to think overall, "Will I think that this looks good in five years, in 10 years?" I think I have more of a classic look. I think I also was a college student, so it was pretty relaxed.

My parents [George W. Bush and Laura Bush] were really lovely about not putting pressure on us to be anything but us. So I definitely wore different outfits to school than I would wear to Inauguration, for example. But I was allowed to be me, and they never were like, "Oh, you should..." I mean, I never ever have had a stylist, for example, and I'm sure other First Children did. So I think that that also is just such a wonderful blessing that they gave us or they trusted us to be ourselves. When you're 18, had your parents said you need to look a certain way, it just wouldn't have worked out. I feel like we wouldn't be as happy as humans if our parents didn't give us the grace just to be us.

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