Grow Up, Katie

The Show: “Today,� NBC, weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m.

The Setup: Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel (both pictured) co-host the morning news/chat show that recently passed ABC’s “Good Morning America� in the morning ratings sweepstakes.

The Costume Designer: None.

The Look: There’s no accounting for the ratings where fashion is concerned. Any advantage gained by the undeniably spiffy Gumbel is lost by the other regulars. Couric’s just-out-of-college look has traveled with her, unfortunately, to a new stint on the prime-time news magazine “Now, With Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric.� Film critic Gene Shalit’s big hair and enormous (verging on floppy) bow ties are almost as distracting as Willard Scott’s never-ending parade of fashion curveballs--from baseball caps to sport shirts.

Miss: With her little dangling earrings in perpetual motion, Couric appears stuck in youth mode that’s inappropriate for her position. Her trousers, T-shirts and blazers look too frivolous next to her co-hosts’ serious suits or jackets and ties. For her introduction on “Now,� Couric tried a V-neck blouse under a well-fitting red blazer. But the T-shirt--beneath a vest and worn with a short flaired skirt and sandals--was back for her segment with Bette Midler. (To be fair, Brokaw’s two-sizes-too-small safari jacket, worn during another interview, is a tired in-the-trenches look.)

Money Matters: Couric confesses in this month’s People magazine that her motto is “Never buy retail unless it’s on sale.� But, considering that Couric earns almost $2 million a year, perhaps it’s time that she invest in grown-up work clothes. As the most-watched of the morning trio--which also includes Paula Zahn (“CBS This Morning�) and Joan Lunden (“Good Morning America�), Couric has a responsibility when it comes to sophistication and credibility on the fashion meter.

Hit: Gumbel, from his head (tortoise-shell horn rims) to his toes (low-vamp moccasins and colored socks), is in a different league than his bland-looking competitors, Charlie Gibson (ABC) and Harry Smith (CBS). One caveat: Gumbel’s dress occasionally borders on flashy.

Try This at Work: Gumbel pulls off daring combinations of prints and patterns (pin-striped and windowpane-plaid suits, striped shirts and medium-print, statement-making ties) and is never without a precision-peaked pocket square. A look clearly rooted in the ‘80s “Wall Street� vein, it still works.