Our Top 15 Favorite New Style Rules!

	1. Let Your Roots Show A dark part used to mean you missed a salon visit. But imperfection can be cool, provided roots are only a few shades away from your highlights.
	2. Go Short for Black Tie Yes, you can wear an LBD in a formal setting, but choose one with a beautiful detail such as a giant satin bow or a graceful tulip hem.
	3. Stay in Sandals No need to retire them yet. Strappy footwear looks great for fall with dark stockings (as do peep-toe pumps).
	4. Grow Out Your Hair at 40 Buck the trend to trim your tresses. But condition so your locks are as lush as Halle Berry's (at left). We like Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths conditioner, $4; at drugstores.
	5. Don't Match Your Stockings to Your Shoes Last year: matching tights and ankle boots. This season: different hues for your heels, tights and—per Proenza Schouler—your gem-tone shift.
	6. Step Out in Colorful Lace Fashion insiders normally find it tacky, but on the fall runways of Prada and Jean Paul Gaultier, the styles looked chic in orange, teal and chocolate hues.
	7. Mix Your Metals That old adage of wearing only silver or gold is gone: An armful of bangles in both—the shinier the ores the better—suddenly feels right.
	8. Fret No More About Hemlines Mom always said a coat should hit right at a dress’s hem, but for once she’s wrong. Designers have been flouting the rule with renewed vigor this season—and you should too.
	9. Let Your Brows Go Natural Overly arched is out: The look is thicker but well groomed.
	10. Marry Prints and Tweeds Think Edwardian heroine meets British schoolboy and wear chiffon ruffles alongside gray glen plaid with abandon.
	11. Line Your Lower Lash Line But not in black: Go for a charcoal, taupe or even a mossy green.
	12. Tease Your Hair Tall Smooth, flat-ironed hair has been the rule for years, but big hair looked fab on the runways at Christian Dior, where John Galliano orchestrated back-combed 'dos, and at Moschino, where curls were teased into beehives. So grab your fine-toothed comb: You want the lift at the top and back of the head, teasing roots outward several inches. The look is sixties retro, so modernize it with soft curls below the uplift.
	13. Swap Your Skinny Jeans for Pleated Trousers Try on a pair of fall's tailored pants and notice how the lower waist and trim legs are more flattering than you would think.
	14. Belt Everything But Your Pants Cinch a narrow belt over an evening jacket (as seen on fall runways).
	15. Wear Horizontal Stripes on Top Release them from their bad rap as figure detractors: In a fitted top, with leggings and heels, they do good things for your curves (and have classic cool too).