Tan? Really?

I think it happened overnight. The temperatures dropped. The humidity (almost) broke. The air smelled differently. And the leaves began to change color.

I don't know if I was too distracted to notice, or if summer snuck out stealthily, but it seems as if fall is here to stay.

I'd like to say that the red and yellow leaves are what got my attention, but I'd be lying. The colors that got my attention were those that are MIA.

It seems that this fall, aside from plaid (yaay), nude is very popular. Not in the way that will leave exhibitionists rejoicing in their birthday suits, but in the way that will bring my mom, the Queen of Bright Colors, to tears.

Fashion Week proved it, tan is the trend.

It's somewhat ironic, though, that you can say it a number of ways: tan, beige, nude, camel, khaki, ecru...

And yet, it almost always looks the same. While I have sworn off khakis since my days working at a golf course, I admit that wearing tan well can be a triumph. However, in the darkest days of February (ah!), paired with the whitest days of skin color, very few look their best in beige. I can only hope that the trend will have run its course by then.

I'll let it slide for fall, but if Michael Kors and Patrik Rzepski try to tell me that tan (or even ecru) is in for the holiday season, I'm going to have to ask my mom to give them a call. I mean, there is only so much neutrality I can take before I am forced to go on the offensive.