Featured J!Buzz

Jeopardy! and fashion commentary are not often mentioned in the same breath, but the two go hand in hand for one of the show’s longtime fans: Lilly Nelson.

Since last fall, Lilly, a fabric business owner and school cafeteria worker based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been serving up daily Jeopardy! fashion commentary, reviews, and analysis to her Twitter followers using the handle @OneEclecticMom.

As a fabric fanatic and lover of learning, Lilly has always been fascinated with unique prints and textiles, especially those that incorporate science and nature. For years, the mom of two said she would notice if a Jeopardy! contestant wore “a space print or something” during their game.

“Every once in a while somebody would wear a galaxy print shirt,” Lilly said. “I would go online to see if I could find their Twitter, to see where they got that shirt from.”

During Matt Amodio’s epic run, Lilly came across a video compilation that inspired her to create her first Jeopardy! fashion review Twitter thread.

“Glad somebody made this video of @AmodioMatt’s first 28 #Jeopardy appearances because I’ve been dying to analyze his capsule wardrobe,” Lilly tweeted.

“I had noticed he was kind of wearing a lot of the same shirts but doing it in different patterns,” Lilly explained. “So, I made a spreadsheet and a column for each shirt. I figured out how many times he wore each shirt, and I posted this on Twitter.”

At the time, Lilly did not have many followers on the social media platform, so she didn’t think much of the thread. Little did she know her tweets and posts on a popular Jeopardy! subreddit had caught the attention of several fans, contestants and Matt himself.

“Matt saw it,” Lilly recalled. “I was like ‘this is so weird, I’m paying so much attention to your clothes.’ And he was like ‘no, it’s not weird. It’s flattering.’”

While fashion commentary is often subjective, Lilly incorporates data analysis from the games into her reviews.

“It was less about how much I liked the outfit and more about how many times he had worn this outfit,” Lilly explained. “Like did he win a lot of money when he wore this outfit last time?”

On weeknights, Lilly spends about an hour taking screen grabs from the show and writing her tweets. She then compiles all the data she has gathered throughout the week and works up collages of the contestants and hosts on the weekends.

“Apparently this is a thing that people like,” Lilly said. “So, I just started doing it every day, doing the host and all three contestants. Being able to say something nice about them and what they decided to wear, and getting to know their personality by what they wore, it’s just really kind of a fun way of engaging with Jeopardy!”

Among the many player outfits she’s reviewed, there is one past contestant whose wardrobe Lilly is eager to do a deep dive in: Jeopardy! G.O.A.T. Ken Jennings.

“I’m dying to do Ken,” Lilly said. “I mean 74 straight games, there’s so much data there.”

When it comes to her favorite best dressed contestant, the title goes to 9-time winner, 2017 Tournament of Champions victor, and former guest host Buzzy Cohen.

"If we’re doing all-time, I’d have to put Buzzy Cohen at the top of my list," Lilly said. “I love when contestants make a splash with something out of the ordinary.”

As a fan of the show who has admittedly taken the Anytime Test almost every year since it became available online, Lilly has put a great deal of thought into what she would wear if she ever made it on as a contestant.

“My first outfit would probably be a galaxy print if they let me get away with it,” Lilly said. “I [also] have a really cool fabric that is a reproduction of an actual map from like the 1500s… I’d find some way to wear that, maybe under a sweater because I’m obsessed with it.”

But for now, Lilly’s Twitter account is keeping her busy. Previous contestants have even slid into Lilly’s DMs to request retroactive reviews of their outfit selections — a request that the self-proclaimed Jeopardy! fashion connoisseur is always happy to oblige.

“I did not know I was at this level of fame, but apparently I am,” Lilly jokingly said.