"Gentlemen prefer blonds" may very well be one of the oldest clichés in the fashion and entertainment business - and despite the fact that it so obviously (and shamelessly) wipes brunettes off the map, this year it's once again more of a fact than a myth or a cliché. Blond hair is once again taking over the celebrity world, the catwalks and the streets - not that it was ever gone, of course. However, we're not talking about any kind of blond, and it looks like the 2007 rage for the "blond hair / dark roots" combination is out of the picture as well. This year, it's all about not being an average blond and going for more extreme shades of dirty blond or platinum.

Fashion gurus tell us that the dirty blond variety really is the IT trans-seasonal color for 2008/2009, seeing how we can find it in both the Spring-Summer and Fall-Winter runway collections, such as for example Tommy Hilfiger's Fall-Winter 2008/2009 collection, where the blond 'dos were coupled with soft, feminine hair styles, such as gentle waves or tousled-up tresses, matched with soft makeup in pastel shades and colors. The platinum blond mania was started by Kate Moss (no surprise there), who debuted her platinum blonde, shoulder-length bob and dark smoky eyes on the cover of i-D magazine at the and of last year - and the rest of the world followed.

For the ladies who don't fancy changing their hair color or who simply don't think they look good in any shade of blond, the only way out of the platinum maze is - surprisingly - auburn. Not fiery red, but rather a mixture of red and brown with a natural finish. You're safe with maroon or burgundy, too. Auburn will of course be a better choice for the Fall-Winter 2008/2009 season, but you can give it a shot over the summer too, provided you can resist the temptation of going dirty blond or platinum instead. Stay tuned for more news on the newest, trendiest color trends out there.