Jessica Simpson, Deborah Norville get into dressing drama at ACE Awards

Jessica Simpson and Deborah Norville show up to the Accessories Council Eleventh Annual ACE Awards wearing the same Michael Kors leopard-print frock, and everything goes haywire.

Jessica, who is sniffly and coughing, receives a glass of water from an assistant mid-TV interview. She poses for photos and gives a wave sprinkled with a cutesy “thank you.” She has a huge cut on her left leg, and her rep cancels print interviews because her “feet hurt.” Ouch!

Thank goodness Deborah is set apart by her Thank You Power purse, which is the title of her New York Times best-seller about “the science behind counting your blessings.”

“I love Michael Kors,” the Inside Edition host tells me. “Michael just gets it right. You could probably buy it sight unseen and know that it’s going to work for you because the sizes are right.”

What would Heidi Klum do if she were a dress double? The Project Runway star wouldn’t sweat it. “It hasn’t happened yet,” the glam-and-fun mom of three says. “Nothing. What can you do?” She says her favorite accessories run the gamut. “I have the biggest names to little things from the flea market. I love shoes, and I love belts.” Designer Marc Jacobs hams it up with her, and says he was inspired by blogger Perez Hilton to dye his hair blue.

Here comes Kerry Washington, who is wearing (and walking with) designer Tory Burch. “Accessories are the things that most set the tone for who you are that day and who you want to be that day,” she says. Kerry isn’t so keen on men who like to bauble it up. “Men need to be even more careful than women do, but even women can overaccessorize. It really is an art form.”

Now it’s time to accessorize – with food. Tonight we have an appetizer of sea scallops with artichoke; dinner of beef with black truffle sauce, leak wrapped bundle of baby string beans and stuffed red peppers; and for dessert, raspberry, lemon and peach sorbet with fresh raspberries, strawberries and blackberries in a chocolate shell and assorted mini pastries. Delish!