Your morning fashion and beauty report: Donna Karan celebrates inspirational women. We notice Jimmy McMillan’s style.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

To celebrate 25 years of Donna Karan New York, Donna Karan is celebrating inspirational women and the causes that mean something to them. On the Donna Karan website, you can find mini-bios of a universe of women including the ultra well-known -- Brooke Shields, Demi Moore, Susan Sarandon, Maria Shriver -- as well as the lesser-known -- such as Francine LeFrak, founder of Same Sky, which helps AIDS-positive women who survived the Rwandan genocide. From the bios, you can link to their causes, find out more and, if the spirit moves you, donate. [People]

Karan was making political news too, with a visit on Monday from Michelle Obama, who is on a Democratic campaign tour. [WWD] (Subscription required.)

And speaking of politics (yes, it’s relevant in a fashion blog sometimes, witness Obama and her influence in the design world) how about that Jimmy McMillan? Because we’re writing from the left coast, we can view with amused detachment the New York gubernatorial race and admit that the guy we’re most interested in watching is the fringe candidate from the Rent Is 2 Damn High Party, who appeared in Monday night’s debate splendidly dressed in suit, tie and black gloves. It was, of course, the gloves that caught All the Rage’s eye, though we’re sure our ‘Bearded and Tschorn’ columnist Adam Tschorn will be intrigued by McMillan’s Civil War-style beard and mustache. [New York Daily News]

Men tend to notice two or three things when they first meet a woman (as you can well imagine). But women can be assessing anything from how a man’s clothes fit, to his smile, to whether he is carrying a messenger bag, to what kind of shoes he’s wearing and whether he has cuff links -- the list goes on and on, though jeans seem to be a kind of universal turn-on. [WWD]

Following a lead from Nordstrom, other luxury retailers (Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and soon Saks, among others) are inviting customer reviews online, something Target and other lower-priced merchants have been doing for a while. [Wall Street Journal]

Nike’s collaboration with Japanese brand Undercover will bow in Tokyo on Wednesday. [WWD]

Harriet Winter, designer of the Mrs. H. Winter collection, has died at age 83. [WWD]

-- Susan Denley