Ann Romney

Simon Doonan is never one to fear going against the grain. He was certainly going against the grain when, a few months ago, he said he didn't think Michelle Obama's style was "chic." Cue the audible gasps! But, Michelle seems to have won him over, after all. In a recent interview with New Republic about his forthcoming book Asylum, Doonan explained his previous comment:

Alfred Fiandaca, known for dressing Ann Romney for much of the Presidential race, has passed away at age 72.

President Obama may have won the election--and his wife and girls won our never-ending admiration--but we have to give a shout out to Ann Romney and her Election Night style.

From Michelle Obama's flawless style and support of young designers to the fashion industry's fundraising efforts, this has easily been the most fashiony election season of all time. In fact, the fashion industry is seen as playing a vital role in this election. But, we're not just talking about designers' hefty donations and Anna Wintour-hosted dinners. For instance, there was that time Ann Romney wore a $900 Reed Krakoff shirt and who could forget Cathy Horyn attacking Paul Ryan for wearing an ill-fitted jacket? As ballots continue to be cast and counted, let us take a look back at the biggest fashion stories to come out of the 2012 presidential election, which will soon, finally, come to an end.

It's election day! So get out of that Alexander Wang sample sale line and vote. Michelle Obama and Ann Romney already did.

Oscar de la Renta, who's no stranger to dressing political wives and First Ladies, just landed himself a nice little fashion retrospective exhibition...at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum of all places. The timing of this announcement, which we read about in our just-delivered November Vogue, is interesting considering de la Renta recently dressed Ann Romney for several high profile appearances. De la Renta has found himself at the center of some political dressing dramas over the last few years--sometimes of his own making and sometimes not.

That's it. Last night marked the third and final presidential debate. Which, for us, means it's our last chance to compare and analyze Michelle Obama and Ann Romney's outfits as if they were in a show down. But if the President won last night's debate it's harder to declare a sartorial winner between the wives.

Ann Romney has all the makings of a political wife fashion icon: She's pretty, she's blonde and, unlike past aspiring first ladies, she has at least a passing interesting in fashion. She's worn new and established designers (Reed Krakoff, Oscar de la Renta, respectively) as well as contemporary cool brand J.Brand, and we think she always manages to look pretty great (if conservative). But despite all this, the fashion industry is noticeably cooler towards Romney. We receive press release upon press release about Michelle's campaign wardrobe. It's become a major coup for a designer to dress Michelle Obama. But we've yet to receive one--one--about Ann Romney's.

Last night's presidential debate was memorable for a lot of reasons--Mitt Romney's "Binder Full of Women" will be forever immortalized on the internet, Barack Obama came out with his proverbial guns blazing...and the candidates' wives wore shocking Schiaparelli pink.

Don't expect a press release from Diane von Furstenberg proclaiming that Ann Romney wore one of her dresses. "We're actually not quite sure how Ann obtained the dress," a DVF spokesperson said to BuzzFeed Shift, declining to comment further.

For most of the campaign trail, Ann Romney has worn designs by a little-known (until now) Boston-based designer named Alfred Fiandaca. While most designers would jump at the chance to make the most of the publicity, Fiandaca wasn't really known as the man behind Romney's frocks until recently, and has only just granted his first interview to WWD. Fiandaca seems like a really nice, refreshingly un-media-trained guy, and the interview sheds light on Romney's style philosophy, her preference for American designers (something she has in common with Michelle Obama), and how, um, Mitt Romney sometimes picks out Ann's outfits. Here's what we learned:

Last night at the first presidential debate, we got to see the candidates--and their wives--in the same room at the same time for the first time ever. While we will leave the discussion of who "won" the debate to the pundits, we think we're more than qualified to weigh in on some of the fashion choices happening last night.

Mainly just to have an excuse to post this amazing photo, we've confirmed with the label's PR that radiant-as-ever Beyonce was wearing Oscar de la Renta to meet the POTUS earlier this week. But was it the right choice?

Mary Katrantzou is collaborating with Current/Elliot on a an amazing-looking line hitting stores next February. Yes, February. It just seems a bit cruel, no? {SheFinds} FLOTUS hopeful Ann Romney dressed like a blinding tropical flower patch on Live with Kelly and Michael--which WWD called "more Lisa Frank than First Lady." Since when is that a bad thing? {HuffPost} Didn't quite get your shoe porn fix during fashion week? Lucky's got you covered with it's comprehensive 'Shoes of NYFW' vid! Should do the trick. {LuckyMag} The Feds? The mob? Private investigators? FASHION?! Looks like Calvin Klein’s split from ex Nick Gruber isn’t going so smoothly. As opposed to his face. Which is very, very smooth. {Page Six}

See how Michelle Obama's and Ann Romney's wardrobes differ--and what they say about their respective husband's philosophies. Romney's Oscar de la Renta apparently telegraphed "aspirational individualism" while Obama's more accessible Tracy Reese telegraphed "inspirational collectivism." Hm. {HuffPo} Hamish Bowles tells the Cut that the new Vogue documentary will be about the unsung heroes of fashion, the editors and photographers. {the Cut} Kim Kardashian is trying to start a beauty brand and is talking about the economy on CNBC. {Buzzfeed}

Meet the Man Behind the RNC Vagina Costumes: We had to know absolutely everything about these giant protest vagina costumes, so we asked Current TV ed

Where's Kate? Upton, that is. The busty blonde was not part of IMG's spring 2013 show package. Is she not walking or did she nab an exclusive? {Fashio

Ann Romney isn't the only politican's wife worth watching at the 2012 RNC--VP candidate Paul Ryan's wife Janna is turning out to be quite the fashion