2016 Grammys Red Carpet: All Black Everything, Slits & Lesser Known Designers

Posted on February 16, 2016

Ok. This 2016 Red Carpet report is very late because this year, instead of just covering the Red Carpet, I actually took the time I usually spend to assemble my red carpet coverage to instead actually watch the show. Wrong move.

sigh *

Besides a few highlights, the 58th annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California was very underwhelming. Even the fashion on the Red Carpet was * meh * .

One of the best parts wasn’t even in the show, but our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Gwen Stefani doing the first ever Live Music Video of her latest single “Make Me Love You” in a Target sponsored spot.

I kept wanting the award show broadcast to get better but it didn’t really rise the level of awesomeness I’m used to. Anyway, so enough of my excuses. Back to the Red Carpet coverage.

This year, the theme I saw woven in many of the looks was Black. Also there were plenty deep Slits in the leg and I saw several lesser-known designers shine.

As usual, while many people stood out, we focused on the celebrity moms we’ve featured on the blog before.

Alessandra Ambrosio stayed true to Versace and her ring game was on fire!

TV host and former reality TV star Vanessa Simmons looked quite regal in yellow.

Ciara bared leg and then some in a sexy Alexandre Vauthier Haute Couture gown. I dare say she won the battle of whose slit could go up the farthest.

And Carrie Underwood looked stunning in a Nicolas Jebran satin ball gown also with a deep side slit.

Adele stuck to her signature black in a sequinned Givenchy dress accented with Lorraine Schwartz jewels.

Mom-to-be Chrissy Teigen looked quite royal in Yousef Al-Jasmi with Stuart Weitzman heels and Lorraine Schwartz jewels. Between the heels and the long cape, I admit I was biting my nails in hoping she didn’t trip given she’s in her third trimester of her pregnancy.

Vanessa Lachey went for the vixen look in her Michael Cinco butterfly overlay sequined dress with a very sheer bottom.

Adele did deviate from black and went with Givenchy again for her stage performance of her latest single “All I Ask”.

.@Adele performing “All I Ask” at @TheGRAMMYs! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/T33VuYOBmX
— Columbia Records (@ColumbiaRecords) February 16, 2016

She had a slight glitch in the beginning when the mics for the piano apparently fell off and landed on the baby grande’s strings. It made her sound off pitch or key at times. Apparently, those in the Staples Center couldn’t tell as they heard a near flawless version of the song.

I’m seeing a lot of Twitter complaints about Adele’s performance. That’s too bad, because sounded great live in Staples Center! ? — Carly Mallenbaum (@ThatGirlCarly) February 16, 2016

Underwood also rocked out with Sam Hunt on stage

And finally, Queen Bey made an appearance to announce Record of the Year in slick back hair, natural make up and a organza, lace and embroidered gown.

photos: Getty

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Our Faves Looked Hawt Rocking the NAACP Image Awards Red Carpet

Posted on February 5, 2016

I am not gonna lie, I love awards shows for honoring talent, and the contributions of masters in their craft. But I do love the red carpet as well.

And tonight’s NAACP Image awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on Friday, February 5th did not disappoint.

In addition for mom-to-be Chrissy Teigen, and other Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums like Eva Marcille, Kerry Washington and Cree Summer, there were other fabulously styled moms we’ve covered in the past.

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Taraji P. Henson were knockouts!

So pretty was Jada Pinkett-Smith in this blue belle gown.

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Celebrity

VH1’s Reality TV Stars are Having a Baby Boom, but Each is Drama-Filled…READ THIS!

Posted on January 22, 2016

I do not keep up with VH1’s Love and Hip Hop or its Basketball Wives franchises at all, but I did notice that those shows are having a little collective baby boom. (and there’s plenty of drama behind each, apparently).

Draya Michele

One of the original cast members Draya Michele, who is still on the show after 5 years since it launched in 2010, is expecting her first child with her fiance NFL’s Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick but sadly the two have broken up. The former model announced the news in a recent Instagram post that also featured a nude maternity portrait with her body covered in what looks like body cast plaster.

“I am a woman….. I’m creating life…. I’m proud and I’m happy,” she captioned the photo. “I don’t need materialistic things or the love and acceptance from anyone, now that I have you. I love you son.” Michele later edited the post to reflect both of her kids, Black Celeb Kids noted. Michele has an 11-year old son Kniko from a previous relationship with Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas.

“I’ve been hurt, abandoned, lied on, and disrespected,” the swimsuit designer wrote. “I’ve realized you can’t change people.. And the thing about rough times is, I’ve survived every single one.”

She finished off the announcement, “Today is a celebration for me …. I’ve made 6 months…. And I’m ok rejoicing alone. I have a son and another on the way, soon to be surrounded by 2 kings. Protectors.”

Michele is 6 months pregnant. Scandrick is dad to twins 5-year old Tatiana and Taylor from a previous relationship, thus, this will be his third child, and first son.

Masika Kalysha

Congratulations is also due to Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood star Masika Kalysha who is expecting a baby girl this year. The baby’s father is rapper Fetty Wap (Real name Willie Maxwell) who has refused to take a paternity test to confirm that he is indeed the dad.

“I tried to demand him taking a paternity test,” Kalysha told Us Weekly. “He doesn’t want to take one. I asked him seven times, ‘Will you just volunteer and do it?’ He refuses.”

However, Wap has told TMZ he wants a paternity test.

The break out rapper, famously know for his summer hit and having one working eye, is dad to son Zoovier and daughter Zaviera.

Due to the estranged nature of the couple’s relationship, Kalysha complained on social media that she had struggled with harassment from Fetty’s fans.

“Ever since I made my announcement, the idiot corner (including petty wap) has been in their deepest of feelings running a muck all over the internet with their key board thuggery,” she wrote on her blog. “I was in a committed relationship, with a man who initially got me pregnant.”

Tara Wallace

Wallace is a cast member of Love & Hip Hop New York who has been in an on-again-off-again 13-year relationship with cast mate, rapper Peter Gunz (real name Peter Pankey). She announced her pregnancy on a recent episode of the show.

She then took to Instagram to share a artistic nude maternity portrait which included an Elizabeth Stone quote: “Making the decision to have a baby is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

Wallace has a Bachelor’s degree in theater and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from New York’s Actors Studio Drama School.

Gunz is currently married to fellow show cast member and our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Amina Buddafly. The two have a child together; and he has several children from previous relationships. Buddafly welcomed daughter on July 29, 2014.

The love triangle is pretty messy and hard to keep up with but the drama is somewhat addressed at The YBF HERE!

Wow! Congrats for all the upcoming new arrivals and we’re wishing a safe labor and delivery to all the expecting moms.

h/t BlackCelebKids.com

Love & Hip Hop star and singer Amina Buddafly when pregnant in 2014

Side note: I wanted to add, all in this group make up a virtual United Nations of nationalities. Buddafly is German with a Senegalese father, Michele is half Italian, Wap’s kids mom, Reese, is half Guatemalan. Wap’s grandmom is Haitian. Kalysha claims French Creole heritage. “We are the world” indeed, but only to clean up some of this messy drama now….oy!

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7 Last Minute Ways You and Your Kids Can Celebrate the #MLKDay of Service

Posted on January 18, 2016

MLK Day 1.18.2016 Corporation for National and Community Service

Today, Monday, January 18, 2016, is the MLK Day of Service.

A few Hollywood celebrities including our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Kerry Washington took the time today to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr and the service holiday today in his honor.

As the award-winning actress suggest, take some time off today to get the kids the listen to at least one or a snippet of the Civil Rights hero’s famous speeches.

He had more than a just dream. #MLKDay Wanted to share 1 of his speeches that moves me most…Find 20min. Listen. ?? https://t.co/0fkpv7YgWp
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 18, 2016

If you didn’t enroll you or your children to participate in one of the many service activities organized around the nation, there is still time for you and the children to do something kind on their own for their neighbors or fellow man.

Here are a 6 other suggestions besides watching a speech and reflecting on its meaning:

Take garbage bags down to the town creek or some other littered area near your home and clean it up.
Make sandwiches and pack fruit and a snack into about a few dozen brown bags and pass them to homeless people in the closest town or city to you.
Gather old toys and bag them up to donate to Goodwill or a local family shelter.
Call a local home for the elderly and ask if you can come by and play cards and/or board games with the residents.
Make Homemade colorful Get Well Greetings cards to send to a local children’s hospital/
Make Festive Thank You Cards to send to the local USO to ship off to military serving abroad.

Good luck and Happy MLK Day of Service!

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If Hillary Wins, We Expect Her Right-Hand Aide Huma Abedin to Bring it…Fashion Wise, that is ( LOOK!)

Posted on January 15, 2016

Thursday night was the 6th Republican Presidential Debate. I couldn’t watch it because I was working, but while doing some preliminary reading about it, I did notice that Vanity Fair did a piece on a political Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum recently. No, not currently preggers Chelsea Clinton, but her mom Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide, Huma Abedin.

In his piece writer William Cohan asks whether Abedin, who is married to former New York rep Anthony Weiner, will be an asset or hindrance to the former Secretary of State’s campaign to become the next president of the United States.

Cohan explores how Abedin is so good at her job that she is indispensable and was able to survive the scandal of her husband being disgraced after revelation about inappropriate social media exchanges with young women. She is the ultimate DC VIP.

I’m not sure Hillary could walk out the door without Huma,” Cohan quotes Clinton adviser Mandy Grunwald, who told Vogue’s Rebecca Johnson eight years ago that Abedin is “a little like Radar on MASH. If the air-conditioning is too cold, Huma is there with the shawl. She’s always thinking three steps ahead of Hillary.”

It was an interesting piece that you can read HERE if you want to learn more.

Abedin is featured in a Glamour feature on the women behind the 2016 Presidential campaigns

I’m just using the opportunity to revisit the statuesque and very fashionable Washington insider for the sole purpose of showcasing again that fab spread Vogue did on her back in 2007 before giving birth to her first and only child, a son, 4-years ago. Remember this:

Fab!

If Clinton does in fact win, Abedin may also survive the extra scrutiny that comes with being the right hand to a party nominee. (She had to testify in the Benghazi hearings last fall and was previously accused as having ties to the controversial Muslim Brotherhood).

She’s set to become the second most important woman in the world. She would be like Valerie Jarrett to President Barack Obama.

Anyway, fashion-wise, we expect her to bring it. We’re here for it. All of it!

photos: Getty, Vogue, Facebook

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2016 Golden Globes: What they Wore; Who Won (PHOTOS)

Posted on January 11, 2016

The 2016 Golden Globes brought out the glamour and glitz as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association set out to honor the top talent in film and television at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on Sunday, January 10.

As usual, we highlight the celeb moms we’ve covered in the past who we spotted receiving and presenting awards and shining on the red carpet during arrivals.

A fave of ours, Tarji P. Henson, won her first Golden Globes for her supporting role as Cookie Lyons in the hit FOX drama Empire and another past feature Kate Winslet took home the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the movie Steve Jobs.

Viola Davis presented and was up for a win for Best Actress in a TV drama as was Regina King who had a nod for her role in American Crime. Davis lost to Henson and King lost to the upset of the night, Lady Gaga for her role in American Horror Story: Hotel.

Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Wilde, Bryce Dallas Howard, Kate Hudson and Maggie Gyllenhaal presented awards.

Here’s what (and who) everyone wore starting with bold colors worn by (above) Olivia Wilde in form fitting sequinned wine-colored custom Michael Kors Collection with quaint and cute vintage Bulgari jewels and clutch with custom dyed Aldo shoes; Jennifer Lopez in a caped and draped mustard-colored Giambattista Valli accented with Harry Winston jewelry, Jimmy Choo shoes, and a sizzling silver Judith Leiber clutch; Taraji P. Henson in white, wearing a Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum, Stella McCartney, with Kimberly McDonald emeralds and diamonds; and Giuliana Rancic in a gorgeous bright orange Alex Perry gown.

Painting the town BLUE was Jenna Dewan-Tatum in gorgeous deep cut organza and embellished Zuhair Murad and Lorraine Schwartz jewels; Kate Winslet in a Ralph Lauren halter neckline dress with Neil Lane Jewels; Viola Davis in another one of our Bellyitch alums designer ( Georgina Chapman) Marchesa with Jacob & Co. jewels, Stuart Weitzman shoes, and a Judith Leiber clutch; and

Bryce Dallas Howard in Jenny Packham , Irene Neuwirth jewels, Miu Miu shoes, and a Kotur clutch.

In muted tones but wearing knock out and stand out dresses: Pretty in Pink Kate Hudson in a shimmery crop top and skirt by Michael Kors Collection, a Jimmy Choo box clutch, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, and Forevermark Diamonds jewelry; Heidi Klum also in Marchesa with Stuart Weitzman shoes and Lorraine Schwartz earrings; Regina King stunning in a gold caped Krikor Jabotian gown paired with Rene Caovilla shoes, Coomi earrings and Alan Friedman ring; Maggie Gyllenhaal in a black and gold floral print Marc Jacobs dress with Monolo Blahnik shoes, and Forevermark jewels; and Malin Akerman in a lace Reem Acra peplum bodice gown.

Beautiful all around!!

photos: Getty

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The 2016 People’s Choice Awards Fashion, Stage Crashers and Sheryl Underwood Oh My!

Posted on January 7, 2016

Yesterday was the People’s Choice Award and we were excited to learn that many of the celebrity moms we’ve covered in the past win! Kristen Bell won for Favorite Female Cable Actress. Sandra Bullock won for Favorite Movie Actress. Ellen Pompeo and the Grey’s Anatomy cast won for Favorite Network TV Drama while Sara Gilbert‘s The Talk walked away with the Favorite Daytime Talk Hosting Team. Britney Spears won for favorite female Social Media celebrity. Hillary Scott and her Lady Antebellum won for Favorite Country group and finally Carrie Underwood won for Favorite Country Female Singer.

While Gilbert was giving her speech after being presented by Long and others, she was interrupted by a random dude who crashed the stage to promote his album.

“Wow. Thank you so much! This is amazing,” the new mom started. “I think we think of ourselves as kind of the oddballs of TV or we’re like a motley crew…” She stopped short before the stage crasher grabbed the mic.

The guy, Zicario Nicasio, was charged with a misdemeanor, E! reports.

On the red carpet, other of our past Bellyitch Bumpwatch moms sizzled. Christina Milian wore a floor length low cut sequinned dress. Kate Hudson looked sharp in a White with Jimmy Choo clutch, Brian Atwood shoes and Jorge Adeler earrings. Sequins was the thing and I loved Nia Long‘s black sequinned Tom Ford dress. Claire Danes looked dainty in a Burberry dress, Jimmy Choo, Kwiat jewelry and Tyler Alexander clutch.

My fave look was Ellen Pompeo in Michael Kors Collection blouse and skirt with Kwiat jewelry, Christian Louboutin shoes, and a Tyler Alexandra clutch!

Fun Times!

Can’t really go wrong… ? #peopleschoice #pca
A photo posted by Christina Milian (@christinamilian) on Jan 6, 2016 at 7:56pm PST

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Celebrity

Kelly Clarkson v. Carrie Underwood; Ryan Secrest on Most Successful American Idol Star (VIDEO)

Posted on January 5, 2016

Woop! The TODAY show put Ryan Secrest on the spot on Tuesday when one host in a panel asked him to pick which of the American Idol winners of all seasons is the most successful. He picked Carrie Underwood!

When another chimed in and mentioned Clarkson, the radio and 13-year host of the top rated TV singing competition since 2002 replied, “Kelly too, but, you know, I was just on New Year’s with Carrie, and she’s just a superstar. She really is. So I take Carrie.”

The show is in its final season and Secrest is making the rounds promoting AI’s end.

At the start of 2015, Underwood was ahead of Clarkson having sold 15 million to Clarkson’s 13 million. That is impressive given Clarkson has had a longer time to make money given she was the first AI winner while Underwood was the Season 4 winner and has released 5 albums total to Clarkson’s 7 albums.

It’s still all relative and Secrest is entitled to his opinion. The two women are both amazing, are both our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alums, are both friends with one another and we love them!

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Fashion

The Denim Maternity Dress has Been Reinvented

Posted on January 4, 2016

This is not your mom’s maternity dress. Since more designers and labels finally started making chic, stylish and fashion-forward clothing for pregnant women in over the last decade or s, the maternity wear scene has never been the same. Women who are expecting now have a wide array of options from every price point that can be purchased at specialty boutiques like A Pea in the Pod, Motherhood Maternity and Japanese Weekend or in big box stores like Target.

The mini maternity dress has seen its reinvention into something spectacular as well. With denim always in trend, a cute denim maternity dress is a must have for any mom-to-bes wardrobe.

I like the shirt wrap dress that our Bellyitch Bumpwatch alum Jaime King designed for A Pea in the Pod’s luxe essentials line. The long sleeve dress comes with a removable neck tie and is made of a soft cotton. It retails for $148.

In the lower price range, ASOS has some pretty cute pieces including a fab denim A-line shirt dress for $76. I love a shirt dress because it is a classic and effortlessly chic piece. The dark denim is perfect as it can be dressed up if worn with kitten heels or wedges or dressed down with ballet flats, canvas shoes or boots.

Finally, I had my eye on ASOS’ denim western shirt dress which is made of 100% cotton and designed to fit through all stages of pregnancy. At $76, that is a worthy investment considering it can be rocked all 40 weeks and after!

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Celebrity

Hold Up! What Does Zoe Saldana Know about the Upcoming Avatar 2 movie?

Posted on December 29, 2015

As a mega fan of the 2009 blockbuster James Cameron hit film Avatar, I was mega geeked to see the movie’s star and our Bellyitch bumpwatch alum Zoe Saldana pose with a life-sized bust of her character in that film, today.

“Discussing new @officialavatar details… shhh ;),” the actress captioned the photo posted on Twitter of herself whispering into the ear of the Na’Vi “Neytiri“.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star and mom to twin boys, Cy and Bowie, has already confirmed since last year that she will be returning to all of the three-planned sequels, as will her co-star Australian Sam Worthington, the Human-turned-Na’Vi, Jake Sully.

According to IMD, the movie is scheduled to be released Christmas 2017. (sigh) Such a long wait, but it should be worth it!

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