It might have been 100 degrees today in Long Beach, but it really is fall out there. While we can’t go full-on autumn here in Southern California—hand-knit scarves, cable-knit sweaters, wool tights—we can pretend: light coats, light knits, short dresses with cotton tights, bare legs with tall boots, silk scarves.
Here are fall’s top trends . . . the ones that are actually likeable.
CAMEL COATS
Everyone seems to be obsessed with camel-colored coats for the fall, and it really is, finally, a trend everyone can partake in and look good. Phillip Lim, Donna Karan and Céline all sent camel outerwear down their autumn runways, but you can find evidence of the trend in every store. Whether knitted, wool, belted or free-flowing, remember one thing: Camel may be in the brown color family, but it looks awesome with black, so those with dark wardrobes don’t have to worry about matching. Look to perennial outerwear fave DKNY for forever pieces such as a camel double-breasted peacoat. Or for a cheaper investment, shop H&M and MNGO.
OMBRE HAIR
Ombre is just a fancy word for a design in which one color fades gradually into another. And while ombre clothing—dresses! Scarves! Tunics!—is a big trend in 2010, so is ombre hair, with everyone from Alexa Chung to Drew Barrymore sporting their own versions. There’s one problem: For celebrities, ombre hair is ombre hair. For everyone else, ombre hair just looks like you forgot to do your roots. To avoid this, it’s best to choose a more dramatic coloring, similar to Barrymore’s fade from brunette to near-platinum blond tips. Use a good, experienced colorist and bring lots of examples of what you’re looking for. This isn’t a kitchen dye job.
SHEARLING JACKETS
That’s right—take that shit off your (ugly) boots and wear it on your lapel. Okay, so being California, you’ll probably have two chances the entire next seven months to wear something as warm as a jacket lined entirely with shearling, but you can settle for a shearling collar, right? The trend was most recently set off at Burberry Prorsum’s amazing Fall 2010 show, where the coats—most notably, a $3,595 leather aviator jacket with an exaggerated shearling funnel collar—and thigh-high leather boots took center stage. Look for the H&M faux-shearling lookalike (starring in its current television and print ad campaigns) for around $60.
GRAY NAILS
Last fall’s big thing was jade and taupe, but this year, it’s all about shades of flat gray on short, manicured nails. Check out Rescue Beauty Lounge’s “Concrete” ($18), Wet N Wild’s “Sparked” ($1.99), and Essie’s “Chinchilly” or “Great Expectations” ($6.99).
