Liz here,
Kicking off 2013 with a quick review of some French/fashion vocabulary:
OMBRÉ adjective \ˈäm-ˌbrā\
Definition: having colors or tones that shade into each other —used especially of fabrics in which the color is graduated from light to dark
Origin: French, past participle of ombrer to shade, from Italianombrare, from ombra shade, from Latin umbra — more at umbrage
First Known Use: 1893
Ombre fabric was huge in ’70s fashion, like this Bill Blass caftan, and t’s still popular (lot more images at this blog):
It’s also become a big trend in hair:
In fact, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) was even sporting the ombre bangs at the start of the 2013 congressional session (she also has exceptional taste in boots!)
To start off the year, my hairdresser/stylist/partner-in-hair-crimes-for-2013, Maggie at Double Dutch suggested that we start out with something subtle, to ease into the project. Before I went in for my appointment, one of my co-workers enthusiastically said “ombre!”, so when Maggie brought it up, I was already primed.
(I’m having some issues with editing and uploading pics, but I’ll try to do a post about the process later this month.)
And here’s a few shots of the finished product:
Changing the Locks 
Viva la ombre!