Retta's Most Iconic House-Matching Outfit Moments

Avid fans of Retta’s nation-spanning, ongoing tour of our country’s aesthetic agonies have noted that the comedian and HGTV host is often wearing flawless fits that rhyme with the homes she tours on Ugliest House in America and Scariest House in America. That style synchronization — as in the case of Season 6's "Great Lakes, Great Ugly" episode, masterfully matched here — has got to be planned, right?

Au contraire! “[Costume designer Jaime Elyse and I] have no idea what the houses look like beforehand,” Retta tells HGTV. “We decide on the season’s looks based on what I’m feeling and then ‘assign’ looks to regions based on what the expected weather is going to be … and as the kids say, ‘vibes.’ Any perceived outfit-to-house correlation is happenstance. 'Tis fate!” Ahead, Retta gives HGTV the inside scoop on some of her most unforgettable on-screen fashion moments.

Retta's fondness for bold outfits — here she goes toe-to-toe with an over-the-top Colorado home featuring vivid retro textiles and a bowling alley — isn’t an aesthetic she carries into her own place. Not yet, anyway.

“I love to wear bright colors, but for my home I prefer neutral, soothing vibes with a few bright accents,” she says. “I am inching towards going bolder in my home decor[.] Thinking about color-drenching my living room and bedroom. I’m nervous, though!” But what could go wrong?

So, synchronicity between Retta and the rooms she sees is kismet rather than coordination, but what about when she and Windy City Rehab host Alison Victoria (who spearheads the $150,000 reno for each season’s winning home) twin for finales? As Retta told us, they do compare notes on occasion.

“So the fact that I chose pink for this house [at the end of Ugliest Season 6], which turned out to be a love letter to the color pink, was again happenstance,” she says. “Alison has, of late, been [asking] me what I’m wearing for the finale, and I describe it to her (because most of the time the look isn’t even made yet). She then looks to match it either color-wise or theme-wise. That’s how we both ended up wearing pink in the house of pink.”

The way Retta’s monochromatic look complements this home in West Richland, Washington, might be the only coordinated thing about it. As its owners observed in Ugliest Season 5, “It’s like somebody went to the waste bin … took everything somebody had thrown away from old homes and … put it together in this house.” Shag-carpeted walls for a spiral staircase with brick red steps that lead up to a disco print? Why not! An actual stage and dance floor, speaking of discos? That, too!

The mystery of those details might never be solved, though Retta’s deal, by contrast, is easy to explain. “My style is based on what I find aesthetically pleasing,” she says. “I look on Instagram and Pinterest, and if there’s a color scheme or an outfit or a vibe that I find appealing, I send it to Jaime and tell her what I like about it and she designs from there.”

As Retta demonstrated in Season 3 of Ugliest, romance isn’t dead — it just can’t layer itself over and over like a Victorian scrapbook. Her dress’ sweetheart neckline and dimensional floral sleeves echoed this home with admirable restraint. Fans on social media are fond of saying they tune in specifically to see Retta's outfits — so, what’s her take on developing one’s unique aesthetic when it comes to fashion?

“My advice is: Decide what you like, try it, and if it feels good and you think you look good, you’re done. That’s it. That’s your style,” she says.

With a perfectly peaked collar and patent-leather Mary Janes, Retta fits right in at home with the decor in this 19th-century Monmouth, Illinois, home (the Scariest House team called it the Dead Kitty Condo) from Season 2. Featuring curios like a child’s viewing casket, a snake preserved in a jar and any number of porcelain dolls with just-so looks of their own, this place houses — no surprise here — a couple of ghost hunters.

Can it be a coincidence that the Rhode Island property dubbed Season 1’s Scariest House in America features a spooky elevator that only visits two of three floors and Retta toured it in a fantastic fashion homage to The Shining’s Grady twins? OK, it was, but we’re still impressed. This home also boasted six death traps (Retta counted), a blood-red heart-shaped tub and a resident ghost (obviously).

Retta didn’t mince words when she laid eyes on this place in Season 2 of Scariest House: “People shouldn’t own jails as homes.” Ah, but they do, and Retta might as well complement the rusted-out cellblock and exposed brick. No sense getting locked up in a single style, no? When it comes to fashion, “every person is different, so I don’t think there is one rule that you can apply in general,” Retta says. “For some, minimal is best, but for others, too much is just not enough. You have to know what you like, and if you’re not sure? Experiment. So maybe that’s my rule for fashion and home design. Experiment until you find what you like.” Just don’t own a jail as a home.

Built nearly a century ago in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, this home got an aggressive midcentury renovation that pitted plaid against florals and linoleum against paneling. Retta’s visit in Ugliest Season 5 featured this embroidered dress with just the one motif, happily. “I find my style is mostly based on my mood at the moment,” she explains. “I can color-block. I can go monochromatic or I can do floral prints. Depends on how I slept the night before.”

With a commitment to scrollwork, saturated color and interior gingerbread that gave California’s Madonna Inn a run for its money, this Season 6 contender was a lot of look. Retta’s sapphire blue jumpsuit with more of the floral embroidery she favors, by contrast? Just enough.

Asking Retta to single out a most-cherished on-screen look is a tall order: “I have so many favorites,” she confesses. “But for Scariest House, I think the Season 2 finale [above, and we’re loving Alison’s accompaniment as well] was my fave because it felt super campy. It made us laugh.

“For Ugliest, my favorite would be the upcoming Season 7 finale look I wore on staging day … I think it’s gonna be controversial, but I’m obsessed with it. It’s all I can do to keep from wearing it out in the world before the episode airs.” We’ll be taking screengrabs for our own mood boards, please and thank you.