2016 Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge

It's that time of year again and YEAR 6 with this contest! I need help finding a dress for Oscar Nominations morning on January 14, 2016.  It's early again this year and we are going to have to do this over the Christmas break. Remember though, the winner gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. For those of you that are new to this challenge, YOU get to chose the dress that I wear for a one of Hollywood's biggest events. 

Here are some guidelines:

1.  It is not a red carpet event: I am looking for a dress that is simple, classic and understated.  Think of a DVF wrap dress or a Jackie O. sheath.  I am short (5' 3"), so I want to show off my legs versus lots of cleavage (which I don't have anyway) to give the illusion of height.  I love shoes, so I want to pick something hot and sassy from my shoe wardrobe.  One note:  Even though I want a dress to show off my legs, please no so-short-I-can-see-your-hoo-ha dresses.  The Oscar Nominations are a very conservative event, so I'd like to keep it that way.

2.  I will be working at 5AM PT that day: I want a dress that is easy, comfortable and not fussy.  I hate pulling and tugging at my dress while I am working. Also, I LOVE pockets!

3.  I like color: It looks great on camera and adds brightness to my face.  Please avoid red or crazy patterns because they have a tendency to moray on camera. I've done two blues, two purples and a hot pink, so maybe a green, orange or yellow this year?

4.  The budget is important.  Let's keep the dress under $250 and it has to be available online in sizes 0 or 2. 

Here are the winners from 2011-2015 to give you an idea of what has won in the past:

For more information on the winning dresses from 2011-2015 click here, here, here, here and here.


2015:  Dress by Eliza J


2014: Dress by Eliza J.


2013: Dress by ModCloth


2012:  Dress by Aqua


2011: Dress by Banana Republic


Are you up for the challenge? 

The Rules:

1. Find me a dress by Monday, January 4 at 11:59 p.m. PST. It must be available online. So post the link in the comments below with your contact info.

2.  The dress must be available in the U.S., but international contestants are welcome to join us for this contest. 

3.  Two finalists will be announced on Tuesday, January 5 and the winner will be announced on Thursday, January 14.

4.  Winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice.


If you have any questions, post in the comments below.  Ready, get set, shop!

Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge 2015

It's that time of year again! I need help finding a dress for Oscar Nominations morning on January 15, 2014.  It's early again this year and we are going to have to do this over the Christmas break. Remember though, the winner gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. For those of you that are new to this challenge, YOU get to chose the dress that I wear for a one of Hollywood's biggest events. 

Here are some guidelines:

1.  It is not a red carpet event: I am looking for a dress that is simple, classic and understated.  Think of a DVF wrap dress or a Jackie O. sheath.  I am short (5' 3"), so I want to show off my legs versus lots of cleavage (which I don't have anyway) to give the illusion of height.  I love shoes, so I want to pick something hot and sassy from my shoe wardrobe.  One note:  Even though I want a dress to show off my legs, please no so-short-I-can-see-your-hoo-ha dresses.  The Oscar Nominations are a very conservative event, so I'd like to keep it that way.

2.  I will be working at 5AM PT that day: I want a dress that is easy, comfortable and not fussy.  I hate pulling and tugging at my dress while I am working. Also, I LOVE pockets!

3.  I like color: It looks great on camera and adds brightness to my face.  Please avoid red or crazy patterns because they have a tendency to moray on camera. I've done blue, two purples, and a hot pink, so maybe a green or yellow this year?

4.  The budget is important.  Let's keep the dress under $250 and it has to be available online in sizes 0 or 2. 

Here are the winners from 2011-2014 to give you an idea of what has won in the past:

For more information on the winning dresses from 2011-2013, click here, here, here and here.

2011:  Dress by Banana Republic

2012:  Dress by Aqua

2013: Dress by ModCloth

2014: Dress by Eliza J.

Are you up for the challenge? 

The Rules:

1. Find me a dress by Monday, January 5 at 11:59 p.m. PST. It must be available online. So post the link in the comments below with your contact info.

2.  The dress must be available in the U.S., but international contestants are welcome to join us for this contest. 

3.  Two finalists will be announced on Thursday, January 8 and the winner will be announced on Thursday, January 15.

4.  Winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice.


If you have any questions, post in the comments below.  Ready, get set, shop!

Who Are You Wearing?: 2014 WGA Awards Edition

My dress for the Writers Guild Awards was so incredibly comfortable. Yes, I do wear this silhouette a lot, but it works for my body type. If you were paying attention, you might know that it was the runner-up dress in the Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge. This was the one picked from Donette! What I love about the dress is that it has embroidery near the chest. It's hard to see in the top photo, but in the photo below, it's a little more visible.

Here are the details on the dress:

Dress: ModCloth: Grape Kelly Dress in Black: $79.99

Shoes: Sole Society (No longer available, but from the Julianne Hough Collection)

Bracelet: Marshalls

Earrings: New York City Jewelry District (Meaning super cheap! Look around 6th Avenue and 38th Street.)

 With my AfterBuzz TV SYTYCD co-host AJ Gibson

Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge: The Finalists!

I'm so sorry…I am a day late announcing the finalists. It's been a busy week with my trip to Vegas and I've been reeling from the news about my friend in New York.

However, it's time to announce the finalists. I couldn't decide on two, so I have three finalists to show you. There were so many great choices and Laura even created a Pinterest board for me! There were a few other dresses that I loved, but some were no longer available or sold out in my size. I wound up picking two dresses from the same designer and one dress from a online store that I absolutely love.

Which dress will I pick? Find out next Thursday on Oscar Nominations morning!
What dress should I wear? Let me know what dress you love the best in the comments below.

Submitted by Kristin Hope:
This Eliza J dress is so feminine. The color will look great on camera and it is a great silhouette for my petite frame.

Submitted by Lisa Kay:
I love this Eliza J dress because of the print. It has a splash of color and it is fitted at the waist.

Submitted by Donette:
I had no plans to pick a dress in black, but this ModCloth dress is adorable. Other buyers even posted photos of themselves in the dress and I think this is a great contender. Last year's winner also came from ModCloth.

Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge 2014

Red Carpet Closet because it is so much fun! I need help finding a dress for Oscar Nominations morning on January 16, 2014.  It's early again this year and we are going to have to do this over the Christmas break. Remember though, the winner gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. For those of you that are new to this challenge, YOU get to chose the dress that I wear for a one of Hollywood's biggest events. 

Can you believe it's that time of year again?  This is one of my favorite events that I run over here on

Here are some guidelines:

1.  It is not a red carpet event.  So, I am looking for a dress that is simple, classic and understated.  Think of a DVF wrap dress or a Jackie O. sheath.  I am short (5'3"), so I want to show off my legs versus lots of cleavage (which I don't have anyway) to give the illusion of height.  I love shoes, so I want to pick something hot and sassy from my shoe wardrobe.  One note:  Even though I want a dress to show off my legs, please no so-short-I-can-see-your-hoo-ha dresses.  The Oscar Nominations are a very conservative event, so I'd like to keep it that way.

2.  I will be working at 5AM PT that day.  I want a dress that is easy, comfortable, and not fussy.  I hate pulling and tugging at my dress while I am working.

3.  I like color.  It looks great on camera and adds brightness to my face.  Please avoid red or crazy patterns because they have a tendency to moray on camera. I've done blue and two purples, so maybe a green, pink or yellow this year?

4.  The budget is important.  Let's keep the dress under $250 and it has to be available online in sizes  2 or 4.

Here are the winners from 2011-2013 to give you an idea of what has won in the past:

For more information on the winning dresses from 2011-2013, click here, here and here.

2011:  Dress by Banana Republic

2012:  Dress by Aqua

2013: Dress by ModCloth

Are you up for the challenge?

The Rules:

1. Find me a dress by Monday, January 6 at 11:59 p.m. PST. It must be available online. So post the link in the comments below with your contact info.

2.  The dress must be available in the U.S., but international contestants are welcome to join us for this contest.

3.  Two finalists will be announced on Thursday, January 9 and the winner will be announced on Thursday, January 16.

4.  Winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice.


If you have any questions, post in the comments below.  Ready, get set, shop!

My 2013 Oscar Nominations Coverage

Well, the longest day of the year has officially come and gone.  Yep, Oscar Nominations Day is always   a fun, but tough day to get through. This year, I woke up at 1:30am so I could get to the theatre in time to set up at 3am.  By 4am, I was happily eating bacon and a Jamba Juice in preparation for the big announcements. (By the way, Jamba Juice and Coffee Bean sponsored the beverages this morning.  That's a first and it was totally appreciated.)

No heels until showtime.  A girl has to be comfy at 4am.

As always, the nominations came at a fast and furious pace for a total of 8 minutes.  Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone were completely charming and I am excited for Seth's hosting gig.  Then the nominations came and wow!..... there some major snubs.

Here's my article on the Snubs and Surprises for SheKnows.

It's great catching up with old friends.  Megan Telles from ABC Las Vegas.

This year, after giving my video assessment with The Academy's nominations, I was lucky enough to interview legendary film critic Leonard Maltin and the executive producers for this year's show, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.  The producing duo gave me some great inside scoop on what to expect for this year's show.

Here's my video coverage for Starpulse.

And my pal Luz Peña from MundoFOX

Finally, my favorite thing to write is the behind the scenes scoop that you miss while watching the nominations on TV.

So, here's what you missed this morning with my Top 5 for SheKnows.

The dress was $74.99 retail, but I used Ebates to get additional money off.

The Dress:

This was the winning dress! Congrats to Robin who picked this "Luck Be a Lady" dress from Modcloth.  It fit like a glove and the PR team from Modcloth agreed after they saw my photo on Twitter.  Robin gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice. (By the way, I added a thicker belt versus the skinny belt the dress came with to slim down my waistline on camera.)

As for the Shabby Apple dress, Jennifer picked a beautiful dress for me.  However, the one that was sent to me was not the champagne color, it was gray.  The lining of the dress didn't match up with the lace, so it was poorly constructed.  I was pretty disappointed in the overall quality.  So, Jennifer has great taste, I just wish the Shabby Apple dress was exactly the same as what we saw online. The good news is that Jennifer can relish in the fact that she won the popular vote.  Her pick received 58% of the vote.


Finally, I had fun with James Molnar of Gold Knight Blog who assessed the Oscar Nominations in a fan chat for Spreecast.  Do you agree with our picks?

 My awesome cameraman, AJ, who did a great job shooting all of the videos today.

Hanging with Oscar

The Finalists: Oscar Nominations Dress

It's year 3 of my Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge! Is your dress among the finalists?  Here are this year's two finalists chosen for very different reasons:

1.  Dress 1:  Shabby Apple
     This is a shape that I don't normally choose, but I like the elegance of it.  It's simple yet perfect for the tradition of the Oscar nominations.  My only concern is if this color will wash me out on camera, but like Jennifer said when she submitted this dress, "I know you want bright colors, but I love the lightness and texture on this- maybe have some deep red lipstick in hand? A la old Hollywood."

2.  Dress 2:  ModCloth

ModCloth was a runner-up in 2011, but the fit was a bit off.  Let's hope this year I got it right.  The color is great for camera and it has a bit of Mad Men glamour that is perfect for the sophistication of the event that morning.  As Robin also mentioned when she submitted this dress on Facebook, "They have wonderful good looks - really affordable too!"

Both dresses should arrive next week just in time for the Oscar Nominations.  Which one is your favorite?  

Vote below and be sure to see the dress I choose on Thursday, January 10! Winner receives a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. Good luck!

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The Dress Challenge: The Finalists

After much deliberation and searching at the dresses you picked, we have two finalists!  I think you might be surprised at one of the choices because it doesn't exactly fit all of the criteria, but I think it could be a perfect choice with a cute little jacket or sweater. There would have been three finalists, but we can thank Bloomingdale's for running out of inventory.  The winner will be announced on Oscar Nomination Day:  Tuesday, January 25th.  In the meantime, take a look at the two finalists:

From Andrea:   Dress by ModCloth (a favorite of mine), $162.99
I know there isn't a lot of color here, but the possibilities for accessorizing are endless all the way down to my shoes. It's a blank slate, so I think it makes the outfit a bit playful and fun. 

From Lula:  Banana Republic, $150
I think this cut and color are terrific for camera and I cannot wait to try it on.  I am hoping the ruffles add the touch of drama that I want to this dress without being overwhelming.  

The Runner-Up:

From Krystyn AND Kimberly:  Cynthia Steffe, Bloomingdale's, $110.25

This would have been a finalist, however, the dress is out of stock at Bloomingdale's. Boo! This would have been a strong contender. 

The Dress Challenge: A First Look

Thank you for rising to The Dress Challenge.  I am so happy that many of you are excited and shopping online for my big event.  I want to show you some of the entries that I have so far. It is not all of them, but it certainly gives you an idea of what is catching my eye. I will showcase a few dresses the next couple of days to show off what great taste in fashion you all have. Keep them coming, I am having a blast with your choices.

Take a look at some of my virtual wardrobe:

From Andrea:   Dress by ModCloth (a favorite of mine), $162.99
Not a ton of color for camera, but this is so feminine.  I would get a lot of wear out of this. 

From Robin:  Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, $124.
Love this color, classic design, might want to shorten to show a little more leg.

From Lula:  Banana Republic, $150

This one hits almost everything I am looking for: color, a little leg, yet classic.  

If you want to enter your choice for my on-camera wardrobe for Nominations Day, here are the rules.  Remember, there is a $25 gift certificate at the store of your choice at stake!