What’s in Her Closet? Gayle King

GAYLE KING is co-anchor of  the news show “CBS This Morning.”  Just as famously, if not more, the 64-year-old is Oprah Winfrey’s best pal and an editor-at-large for Winfrey’s magazine. In sync with the Time’s Up movement, King wore a Marc Bouwer black ombré sequin gown to the Golden Globes, but her preference is for bold color. Think a fuchsia sheath and crimson-framed oversize eyeglasses.

Gayle King arrives at Elton John Aids Foundation Fall Gala in New York, November 2017. / Photo by MediaPunch / REX / Shutterstock.

JANET: Most people would be tempted to keep their shoe color in the same family as their dress. But King says no to convention with bright shoes that don’t jolt quite as much because of the matching yellow in her clutch. The expanse of skin at the neckline is flattering, but it could have been used to showcase a more substantial necklace than the delicate piece she’s wearing. She could have even lost the necklace and stuck with the earrings. But this particular pairing doesn’t work—the pieces of jewelry don’t relate to one another.

NANCY: It’s true we tend to look like a bunch of Portuguese widows when we go out all in black or its close relatives. That’s what makes this such a sly little number. It’s all dark and demure and drapey, and then: yellow! —in the clutch bag and the shoes peeking out from beneath her gown. Something to think about: You get the slimming effect of the dark color but still get to have some fun. I see what Janet is saying about the jewelry. I should have noticed but didn’t. (See? That’s what yellow shoes and bag can do!)

KATHY: See, this is why we need Janet. Had it been me getting dressed I could easily have made the same mistake as Gayle with the jewelry. But Janet is so right. The necklace and earrings, while both pretty, don’t work together. But I’m thinking that necklace must have special meaning since she’s wearing it in each of the photos we show here. I do love velvet. It’s so lush and rich and touchable and in this case sexy the way it hugs her figure and bares some skin. Kudos for the shoe and purse pairing. They lift the mood from somber to sublime.

King at the 2017 gala for the US Open in New York in August 2017. / Photo by Jon Buckle / SilverHub / REX / Shutterstock.

NANCY: I think of this as King’s watercolor dress. It’s charming, and she looks delightful in it. I don’t find the pink clutch and shoes too matchy-matchy—but man, this woman likes clutch bags a lot! Unless there’s a body man nearby, I don’t find them terribly convenient myself. But they look crisp and polished.

JANET: A watercolor print makes the traditional sleeveless sheath a whole lot more fun. Add the hot-pink clutch and the pumps in the same color range, and it all comes together. It does look as if she’s wearing the same necklace in all these photos. A good luck charm?

KATHY: Love this dress. It looks like she’s wearing summer. Not everyone (meaning moi) could handle all that color. My pale, freckled skin would suck all the life out of it, but not Gayle’s glorious skin tone.

Gayle King at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, in Idaho, July 2017. She moderated a talk about the US opiate epidemic in this country. / Photo by Rob Latour / REX / Shutterstock.

KATHY: Not crazy about this look. It’s perfectly respectable, but meh to my eye. It’s the blouse I object to most. It looks like polyester from Dress Barn. However, her legs look swell in those handsome sandals.

JANET: In this candid shot, King waves happily, as if she’s off on vacation and enjoying the freedom to wear this casual summer outfit of ruffled tank, floral denim skirt and sandals. A switch from her usual, more buttoned-up look.

NANCY: Oh, c’mon, Kathy. She looks like a normal person for once, not all dolled up for TV or some charity event. The blouse isn’t something I’d choose, but I think it looks okay, feminine and flattering. And I bet that blouse ain’t from Dress Barn, either!

Gayle King attends Rihanna’s 3rd annual Diamond Ball in New York in September 2017. / Photo by JStone / Shutterstock.

JANET: King has worn several color-block dresses on morning TV. According to People Magazine, she has worn the same mustard-and-white-paneled dress for five years in a row to celebrate the show’s anniversary. For a festive occasion, this chartreuse, pink and marine blue asymmetrical-hem dress by Prabal Gurung is elegant, and I love the way these strappy sandals flatter her lower leg. I can’t say the same for her bracelet stack, which doesn’t rise to the level of the occasion. Is that a FitBit I see?

KATHY: Oh, she looks so pretty in this wonderful gown (or is it a dress?). The skirt hangs so beautifully. I admire her penchant for bright colors. Not so crazy about the clutch she chose this time. I’d have thought she’d go for chartreuse.

NANCY: Okay, minority opinion here. Yes, yes, the lady likes color, and wears it well. I don’t think most of us would try to pull off this number, though, lest it wear us instead of the other way around. But the color-blocking does a nifty thing: By virtue of the tapered color on the bodice, King’s waist looks even trimmer than ever. Even with her recently slimmed figure, who wouldn’t like that? King does the color-blocking thing a lot, with results we should all consider. (Put color blocking on the shopping list.)

—MyLittleBird staff