The Dress Details

After several of you contacted me yesterday about my dress from the "Get Red Carpet Ready!" panel, I decided to reveal all of the details here:

Dress:  $65-Aryeh
Purple Suede Shoes:  Approximately $80-BCBG--Seen in this post.
Sun Dance Stretch Ring:  $10-Shop The Look-Seen in this post.

The dress was purchased at one of my favorite local stores, Roni B where I get a lot of my red carpet wardrobe.  If you are interested in checking out some of the fashions from Roni B, I am hosting a party on Tuesday, November 30th.  Contact me with your email address and I will add you to the list.  It will be a fun night of wine, cheese, and shopping!

The pleating and asymmetrical bow on the neckline is one of the best details on the dress.

It's All About the Shoes

It's no secret that I am a shoe aficionado and for some reason I have been taking lots of pictures of my shoes when I am bored. Well, now that I am in Texas for the next month, I am trading in my typical footwear for a more casual shoe that I normally reserve for workouts only.  Yep, my wardrobe involves a sneaker.  While I die a little inside each time I lace up my Nikes, I know that back in my hotel I have a closetful of cute shoes just dying to be worn for an après-work cocktail.  See the evolution of my footwear this week.  From chic to geek........

My new favorite shoe by BCBG and yes, I bought both colors.  I am wearing the gray ones on the left in this photo, but I brought the plum pair to Texas.  I thought it would add a little color to my limited wardrobe while I am here.  It is really hard to pack for a month when the weather fluctuates wildly and you never know whether you will be wearing a tank top or a a puffy coat from one day to the next.  So, maybe my next post should be about how to pack for a month, try to be chic, and scam the airlines when your bag is over 50 pounds?

I had a little sojourn to downtown LA for some civic duties earlier this week and I was going a bit stir crazy waiting for my turn.  What's a girl to do? Take a picture of her favorite BCBG platforms against a background of government-issued speckled tile.   The story of why I was there is WAY more interesting than this photo, but I have to wait until the situation is resolved to write the book.

Ah, my Kelsi Dagger sandals that I bought on a whim from an Moxsie ad on Perez Hilton's site, talk about an impulse purchase!  However, these sandals were worth it.  They are comfortable and they even inspired a guy to chase me down in the airport to find out the designer's name for his wife who coveted my Daggers.  The lovely tile background this time?  Starbucks.

So, the chic footwear ends here as I am digging a pair of Nikes now through October 17th.  Sadly, my Nikes aren't that comfortable and require squishy insoles plus a few Band-Aids to make it through the day.  While I prefer a heel, I don't think anything but a sneaker would make it through a wet day at the State Fair of Texas.  So, Nikes it is against a background of linoleum in my suite's kitchen.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  Please stop by on Monday here at Red Carpet Closet for a look at the opening weekend at The State Fair of Texas.  Yee Haw!

PaleyFest: Fall TV Preview Parties: ABC

Last night, I made it out the Paley Center for Media for the preview showings of ABC's new fall slate.  New shows like No Ordinary Family, Better with You, and My Generation plus the season premiere of The Middle were shown along with several cast members of each show participating in a Q & A session throughout the evening.  While the evening was filled with free drinks, popchips, and TV Guide, it really was a mixed bag on the boob tube.

The red carpet from up above.  I had the night off!

First up, was the highlight and the surprise of the evening, the sitcom, Better with You.  The show stars Debra Jo Rupp from That 70's Show, Kurt Fuller of every show of the last 25 years, and Joanna Garcia of Reba.  I am not a huge fan of the sitcom.  In general, I find it a tired format that suffers from the formulaic plot and a laugh track.  However, this show took off right out of the gate and the always amazing, Debra, knocked it out of the park.  This show is definitely worth a look on your DVR.

I was dying to see No Ordinary Family as I went to NYU with Julie Benz and I performed way back in the day with Michael Chiklis in a local production of The Nutcracker. (Yes, I just said The Nutcracker and Michael Chiklis in the same sentence.) The piece de resistance for me was the addition of Stephen Collins, the hot reverend from 7th Heaven.  Sigh.  It wasn't the show I wanted it to be.  Honestly, it is hard to imagine a guy like Mike married to a hottie like Julie.  It just doesn't exist in our world, even in LA.  It's basically The Incredibles brought to life, but without the Pixar heart.

My customized photo.  DJR=Debra Jo Rupp, KF=Kurt Fuller, AS=Atticus Shaffer of The Middle, HOT!=Stephen Collins, ?=Some guy from one of the new shows, but he wasn't very memorable.  Anyone know who he is?

The other two shows are barely worth a mention:  The Middle, a second season show with few laughs and My Generation, a new show this year that is a better idea as true life documentary versus a fictional documentary.  The show follows a whole generation of kids to adulthood from 2000-2010. Surely a busy decade with 9/11, Katrina, Enron, a rigged election, a war, and a recession, but the John Hughes stereotypes prevail:  the jock, the princess, the misfit, the nerd, and the criminal. Watch at your own risk, but you've been warned.

Parting shot of my BCBG suede ankle boots in eggplant and grey.  Yes, I bought both colors.  Yes, my friend, Maria, did too.  Yes, we both wore then on the same night.  Yes, we called to make sure we didn't wear the same color.  The End.

P.S. I might have a mini-crush on Stephen Collins, but it goes a long way back. Check out my interview with him for Focus Hollywood and a little behind the scenes scoop from our time on the red carpet. 

   

 

Mad Men Monday

I know, I know, Mondays are not usually anyone's favorite day of the week, but I have a full week of excitement planned.  First of all, it's Emmys Week here in LA.  This weekend, I will be covering some of the gifting suites and Emmys festivities with Mingle Media TV.  I haven't been to a gifting suite before, so I want to see how elaborate these events are.  Can you imagine being a celebrity who just has to walk in and pick out whatever they want?  Free vacation to Cabo?  Okay, it's yours.  Free Ray-Bans?  If I must.  New Marc Jacobs boots for free?  Sign me up!  So, look for that video footage after the Emmys as we go behind the scenes of what they are really like.  I received my tip sheet for one of them (Tip Sheet:  A list of celeb faces/quick bio for media so they know who is attending the event.) and I was thrilled to see that Bryan Batt from Mad Men is on the list.  If you are a fan of the show, you know that he played Salvatore Romano for the first three seasons.  I really don't understand why they didn't continue with his storyline since I consider it to be an important one.  Being gay in the early 60's was a huge taboo and I wanted to see how that issue played out in his marriage and at work.  So, I am officially starting my campaign to bring Sal back to the show and I just might let Mr. Batt know on Saturday.

Bryan Batt AKA Salvatore Romano on Mad Men

If you are watching Mad Men, you know this season has been a big one for Kiernan Shipka who plays Sally Draper.  I was fortunate enough to have interviewed her at the Saturn Awards earlier this summer.  She is just as amazing in person as she is onscreen.   Since I work the red carpet often, it's nice to see kids be able to speak without having memorized lines about their show, role, and what they like to do. Sometimes the publicists give them little "speeches" and they sound like robots (I'm talking to you, Disney!).

For those of you in LA, be sure to see the FREE exhibit at FIDM where they are honoring some of the best in costume design from the shows Glee, The Tudors, and Mad Men.  You will be able to see a retrospective of the Emmy-nominated costumes through September 4th.  It is a stop you must make if you are interested in the incredible work that is being done with wardrobe on screen these days.  The exhibit is open from 10AM-4PM, Tuesday-Saturday.

Mad Men Collection by Janie Bryant on QVC , September 29th.

Finally, if you want to take Mad Men to a whole other level and wear those fashions, Mad Men designs are coming to QVC in September. Emmy-nominated costume designer, Katherine Jane Bryant AKA Janie Bryant, will bring viewers her inspirations from the show to the home retailing giant on September 29th.  It should be a great way to style up your fall wardrobe with a vintage look derived from the show.  According to InStyle Magazine, you will find "The 20-piece collection, which reflects the 1960s era, includes a reversible coat, leopard-print purse and faux fur boleros and capelets. Prices range from $26 for jewelry to $138 for coats."  I don't know about you, but I am anxious to take a closer look at the collection.  If you think home shopping channels aren't for you, then you might want to head on over to QVC.com  and see what they are offering these days.  I think you might recognize a few designers......Isaac Mizrahi, BCBG, Jessica Simpson (Her shoe line is to die for lately!), Marc Bouwer, and Erica Davies (I wore her dress to the Oscars in 2007.)  Maybe I am biased, but QVC isn't such a bad place to shop.


Have a great week, everyone.  Let me know what questions you have about gifting suites in the comment section below.  I will try and get those questions answered for you this weekend.

Miss Behave Premiere

It's been awhile since I have covered a teen premiere, so I felt like the old lady on the red carpet.  It was a fun night though at the premiere of Miss Behave, a new web series on Koldcast TV.  The series follows the duplicitous life of Tori, a 16-year-old, and her older brother, Billy, who is dealing with sexual identity issues.  The unique twist to this series is that it is produced by its 17-year-old star, Jillian Clare.  She helps bring a young and truthful voice to the issues facing teens today.  Check out all of the fun on the red carpet with Mingle Media TV.

The star on her big night, Jillian Clare:

Adorable Bianca Magick in her beautiful yellow BCBG frock:

And the funniest interview of the night, Kyle Kaplan, who is a fan of cougars because he started the interview right off by asking me to be his date.  If he looks familiar, then you must be a fan of 10 Things I Hate About You on ABC Family.....sshhhh, I won't tell anyone.


To see all of the interviews from the evening: Mingle Media TV.
To see all of the photos from the red carpet:  Flickr