NPR's branding isn't exactly shabby-chic. It's more snobby-chic. So maybe they don't think it's a PR blunder to play along for the Wall Street Journal in an article titled "Next Up On NPR: The Clothes Behind the Voices."
In the captions to fashion photos, we see evening anchor Audie Cornish wears a skirt by Diane Von Furstenberg. Chief marketing officer Emma Carrasco is wearing a Prada top. Weekend anchor Scott Simon has a pocket square and tie from Hermes. The Nina Totenberg caption touts the luxury Worth Collection:
“Nina Totenberg, legal affairs correspondent. Dress, Worth Collection; shoes, Bruno Magli. “I’m a person that dresses up,” she says." In a longer interview, she added “If I dress like a schlump, I think like a schlump and I work like a schlump.”
The Journal’s Robin Kawakami elaborated:
Nina Totenberg, veteran correspondent on legal affairs, requires that people working for her dress up at the Supreme Court. At minimum, they must wear presentable dark slacks and a white shirt. “My view of that is, that is so boring, why would anybody do that?” she said. “Why wouldn’t you have some fun with your clothes?”
Dressing for Radio: Visitors are often surprised by the way people at NPR look. “You have this vision in your mind of this very wise, older, bearded sage, and you can see that every time somebody comes in, they’re deflated,” said Guy Raz, host of “TED Radio Hour.”
“You kind of feel bad,” he said. “I wish there was something I could do to fulfill that.”
