The First Lady has consistently dropped mics throughout her eight-year term in the East Wing, from getting kids active to making education for girls an international priority. However her fashion choices were also master classes in diplomacy, none more so than for her and Barack's last State Dinner at the White House where she wore a rose-gold Versace dress while breaking ciabatta with the Italian Prime Minister. Vogue called it "A Goddess Fashion Moment", everyone with eyes agreed.

This was the year of the youngest Hadid sister. After Bella graced the catwalk at Fashion Week in Sydney, and before she made her Victoria's Secret catwalk debut, she took out the (unofficial) award for Sexiest Dress of the Year after showing up at the Cannes Film Festival in a ruby red Alexandre Vauthier Couture gown with sky-high slits that left little to the imagination. While the world waited for a wardrobe malfunction, her stylist reassured us: "The dress has a built-in silk bodysuit. Top-stick [tape] is always a good idea."

She's the WAG who broke all the rules of what it means to be an athlete's partner in Australia, so it came as no surprise when Judd walked the red carpet at the Logies in 2016 wearing flat shoes (the same shoes she wore to her wedding reception three years ago to Carlton great Chris Judd) and what looked like the entire contents of a fairy floss van in a J'Aton Couture bright blue gown. Oh, she was also pregnant with twins too and dominated the best dressed lists like it was no big deal.

With one single tweet, comedian Leslie Jones called out the fashion industry for its weight problem, aka, its problem with women who are larger than the size 0-esque sample sizes whom some fashion houses refuse, or are unable, to dress.

Jones was gearing up for the debut of the all-female cast Ghostbusters film when Project Runway alum Christian Siriano replied to her social media call out with a wave emoji and designed her a one-of-a-kind, bright red, off-the-shoulder number that commentators said "straight up slayed".

When the leader of the free world pops in to gift you a rocking horse after hours, you stay up past your bedtime to say thanks, right? Consider that a resounding "hell yeah" according to Prince George. The royal toddler hosted a private audience with Barack and Michelle Obama on their last visit as POTUS and FLOTUS to Britain earlier this year IN HIS PYJAMAS. Not just any PJs, the third in line to the throne held court in a monogrammed robe and was, according to White House pool reporters, "smartly attired for bedtime in a light-colored robe and pyjama pants." The $45 personalised ensemble from My1stYears.com sold out, coincidently, pyjama dressing then became the hottest trend of the year.

Melania Trump wore a shirt with a big, floppy bow in public, a style that is more commonly known as a pussy bow blouse, just days after footage emerged of her husband describing his mating rituals that involve grabbing women by the "pussy". It was a move which could was interpreted as a fashion statement in solidarity with feminists, an act of silent rebellion and one of the best sartorial sledges ever witnessed against her beleaguered Donald. Either way, her $1065 pussy-bow silk crepe de chine shirt from Gucci's pre-fall 2016 collection was the biggest fashion-related story to come out of the drawn out, soul destroying campaign.

For a film festival surrounded by water, it's not surprising that red carpet dressing officially jumped the shark in Venice. Just when we thought it was safe to look at an arrivals rug without copping an eyeful of mons pubis, butt cleavage and side-boob, the Venice Film Festival happened, as did local models, Giulia Salemi and Dayane Mello, who wore neon dresses with more severe cuts than the CSIRO after Malcolm Turnbull took to it. Despite their daring dresses, the pair were wearing a modest strip of fabric underneath the billowing creations, protecting their modesty.

The most impressive aspect of the video clip is not Beyonce smashing windows like Shane Warne used to smash wickets, it's the mustard, off-the-shoulder Roberto Cavalli dress, designed by outgoing creative director Peter Dundas for the house's fall-winter 2016 collection. Speculation surfaced that the ruffled, tiered number was meant to channel African goddess Oshun -– the Yoruba deity of love – who was a victim of abuse, neglect and loss who sought revenge on those who crossed her. Sounds eerily similar to the vibe of the opening tracks of Lemonade, Beyonce's album that charts her self discovery and healing.

Hillary Clinton was accused of many things during the arduous presidential election campaign, having an unpatriotic wardrobe cannot be one of them. For the three biggest (and most scrutinised) public engagements on the road to the White House, the Democrat nominee mimicked the American flag via her outfits. Opting to forgo the "Democrat blue" uniform she instead wore red, white and blue suits all by American designer Ralph Lauren.

The Swedish singer's "uterus dress" by her friend, fashion designer Crap Diem, was the highlight of Australian music's night of nights. Asked if she was trying to make a statement, she told Fairfax Media: "I guess it's all about trying to embrace female sexuality, which is something I like to promote."