Trends for October 8, 2001

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Oct. 8, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Back on the farm

Finally, summer's scorching temperatures have given way to the hint of fall in the air.

But if you had read the Old Farmer's Almanac last year, you knew that would happen you probably even knew when it would happen.

The latest edition of the age-old guide recently hit store shelves, and it's chock-full of quirky predictions for the coming year.

Let's start with fashion: In 2002 look for a return to the '60s as bell-bottom jeans and flower appliques will be must-haves, while tapered pants (including Capri pants) and anything sporting a butterfly design goes the way of the dinosaurs.

What will be big in food? A bunch of unhealthy stuff, including steak and butter. Chicken entrees and low-fat foods will take a hike.

Other interesting information offered in the almanac includes a look back at life exactly as it was 100 years ago, in 1901.

Back then only 14 percent of U.S. homes boasted a bathtub; marijuana, heroin and morphine were available over the counter at drug stores; and pneumonia and influenza were the leading causes of death in the United States.

Let it go

Did you know we're in the middle of the fifth annual National Get Organized Week? We didn't think so.

The, um, celebration is sponsored by the nonprofit National Association of Professional Organizers (we're betting they're a neurotic bunch). The group has a few tidy tips the great unorganized can put into use at the office:

Or, you can save loads of time and simply file everything under the heading "Life's too short."

Sorry, ma'am

For some women, being called "ma'am" makes the hair on the back of their necks stand up.

And speaking of hair, the St. Ives company, makers of hair- and skin-care products, have adopted that notion in an attempt to market its new Coenzyme Q10 Wrinkle Corrector Lotion.

The company conducted a "mall intercept survey" (whatever that is) of women ages 21-60 about which celebrities they consider "ma'ams."

The winners (or losers, depending on how easily your ego is damaged): Britain's Queen Elizabeth, but not rapper Queen Latifah; talk-show goddess Oprah Winfrey garnered twice as many votes as her morning-show counterpart, Katie Couric; similarly the queen of pop, Madonna, got fewer votes than the former Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson.

Meanwhile most women surveyed counted their own mothers and mothers-in-law as ma'ams, but surprise would not consider themselves ma'ams.