There were safe sartorial choices all around at the first presidential debate in Denver on Wednesday night. President Barack Obama and his opponent Mitt Romney both picked black suits, predictably, with each candidate wearing a tie in his respective party’s color.
Meanwhile, their spouses, who have much higher fashion profiles, also chose similar looks. Ann Romney wore a suit set and accessorized the cream outfit with classic pearls. She avoided the flash factor of her vibrant red convention dress—and rightly so. Debates are ideally places for serious policy talk between candidates, and a bold outfit could have taken the attention off her husband.
Michelle Obama went for a Preen three-peat, opting for a blue cropped jacket and dress by designer couple Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi. She previously wore the ensemble during a May 2011 trip to London (where the label was founded), and again this January for a speech at the Department of Labor. Many critics said the First Lady chose a repeat outfit in order to appear thrifty and conscientious of a still-recovering economy.