This spring's nautical trend is less pirate, more yacht club. Where those "skull and crossbones" symbols were on everything from thermal shirts to earrings to ballet flats before, now anchors and sailboats are appearing in all those same places.

It's not just accessories making the switch. Instead of the billowy shirts and buckled pirate boots we're seeing tailored shirts, cuffed shorts, linens and other clean looks that would be at home on a yacht with big sunglasses and a glass of ice tea as accessories.

It's a more flattering look than the "pirate wannabe," and the anchors and sailboats are less creepy icons than the poison-warning "skull and crossbones," so spring 2007 may be the season I finally jump on board the nautical trend.