My lovely assistant Bre Baylov got me the January issue of British Vogue for Christmas and pointed out to me that matte nail polish is all the rage for Spring. Sure enough, British Vogue proved she was not lying. Shorlty after this discovery, we were romping about Ballard and popped into Blackbird only to find they are carrying KnockOut, the only brand in town currently distributing matte nail polish to the avant guard. Blackbird was gracious enough to carry the most important colors, the top selling being "Liberty". It looks like that gummy stuff you use in place of a thumb tack. It's currently sold out. We were informed that Blackbird will not be carrying the line any longer due to some kind of exclusive deal KO has with another store. For the moment I'm guessing it's a big one- Sephora or Barney's perhaps. I bought one of the last four in "Black". Needless to say I expect ALL of my friends to think it's ugly. Do I care? Nope. Yes, it looks like tar... but it's SO COOL. Besides, the Pepto Bismal color won't get the point across. I'm not exactly that kind of girl. Of course, I had to go to Nordstrom and find out whether street chic has made its way into the penthouse. The obvious place to start- the Chanel counter, because we can always count on Karl to "get it". Sure enough, Chanel's matte line of nail polish will be available for Seattle consumption in February at the Downtown Nordstrom. I could almost squeel, but chicks who wear KO in "Black" are too cool to squeel, so a smirk will have to do. "Calamine", "Powder" and "Black" by KO are available at Blackbird in limited supply. As of 2:00 p.m. yesterday there were only three bottles of "Black". The retail cost is $22.00. There's more matte nail color in the rest of the normal world of style. For example, OPI launched a line back in May. You would think we would be seeing it our nail salons already, but we are way are up here in Seattle. If I were blond, I'd be all about OPI's "Russian Navy". I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will walk into my nail place here in Belltown, and the OPI line will just be there. I had to face facts a long time ago that when I paint my own nails, it looks like a five year old did them. I'm willing to bring my own polish into a place, but it should not be this much effort with OPI being so readily available to the salon. Granted there maybe salons that already have the line and I'm unaware of them, or they have received the shipment, think it's ugly, and it sits on some shelf in the back. It's worth it to ask. One shouldn't allow the retailers to lead style, I call this the "dance of death". No, that's not overly dramatic. They will give us what we ask for, which is why sales reps love to use Seattle as their dumping ground for unsold, out of style merchandise. We should be known for better things.  Now, for the piece de resistance: Metalic Matte by Orly. Oh yes, a very glamorous gold "Glam Rock" and a too cool for school "Iron Butterfly". Where were these during gala season? I was dreaming that they were out there, I searched high and low. I guess it was the zeitgeist whispering to me. Ever notice how you catch the whiff of cutting edge style, almost like a dream, and if you're lucky, it comes to Seattle? The rest of the world got to wear this on New Years Eve. I know, it's just nail polish, but this is a big style change from the past five years where we've been wearing high gloss black and "Lincoln Park After Dark" popularized by Sienna what's-her-name. I've decided to appeal to the intellectual and practical side of the local fashionista, since it's clearly the only way to get traction in matters of style. Academic knowledge of style as an art form goes a long way, especially when the intuition is drowning "good values". The big bonus on the side of function regarding matte nail polish is that it almost refuses to chip. Let's not overlook the fact that there are PhD's in chemistry relentlessly perfecting fomulas for the latest in nail lacquer finishes.