Marley Taylor 2.0

After Marley Taylor snagged a new boyfriend and adopted a new sound, a new hair color wasn't far behind. It's one of the fastest, most effective ways a woman can tell the world she's changed.

For Taylor, who still makes up one-half of Zowie Bowie (Chris Phillips is the other half and her ex-fiance), she's not so sure all that much has changed, though. She's just letting the true her shine through, instead of masking it under spray-on tans and what she refers to as the "bimbo look."

"With that image you get a lot of 'Oh, that's phony and fake' and that's just not how I feel on the inside," says Taylor. "You can lose sight of things in Las Vegas and in relationships. You can get caught up in the whole red carpet thing."

And caught up she got. In her Zowie Bowie billboards around town, Taylor's image is one red swimsuit shy of a "Baywatch" flashback. Her skin boasts the kind of tan that regularly stained her sheets, her hair is big and bleach blond. And, her clothes look like they belong on a hanger in a strip club dressing room.

According to her boyfriend of one year, David Perrico, that look never matched her personality. "When you get to know her she's pretty organic," he says. "We go on hikes, we shop at Whole Foods, we read books."

Together, the two perform in the David Perrico Group featuring Marley Taylor, a distinct departure from the hip-hop/Top 40 music for which Zowie Bowie is best known. Perrico describes the sound as jazz pop. Taylor puts it on par with Lady Antebellum. One thing they can both agree on is that their music is much like Taylor's new look: unplugged.

Although the biggest change for Taylor has been going from the blond locks she sported 10 years to becoming a brunette, she realizes a color job does not an image transformation make. The folks at Saks Fifth Avenue helped her complete the mission with a fresh face of makeup and scaled-down-but-still-sexy wardrobe options. The makeup came easy. According to the array of colors her Chanel makeup artist Jewel Hall had to choose from, blondes may have more fun, but brunettes have more options. The darker hair color makes a smoky eye in tones of purples, greys, blues and deep greens possible, whereas before she was restricted to browns. The rest looks less frosty, more fresh.

Clothing marks the next big difference-maker. Having just turned 40, the exposed midriff, acid washed denim and blingy belt buckles made her feel like she had no concept of the term "age-appropriate." "It just felt wrong," she says. "I'm growing up at age 40 and trading in those clothes. No more bubble-gum pinks or Lady GaGa clothes."

Saks' personal shopper CJ Swank killed the pop star look with the help of designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli and alice + olivia. The sexy factor still comes through, but it's more of a wink and a smile as opposed to something resembling a proposition. If the dress shows a lot of leg -- albeit a leg bearing her natural skin tone -- the cleavage takes five. If it's a look like the snug slacks and floral blouse from Dolce & Gabbana that Swank hand-picked for her, Taylor will forget the top few buttons, but remember a push-up bra. It's all about give and take.

But will it last? Michael Boychuck, who took her from blond to brown at his Color salon at Caesars, has done the same for Britney Spears, Nicky Hilton and Vince Neil. Not one of them lasted as brunettes for more than a year. "It's a great change," he says of Taylor's new hair. "But once you have blond hair, you always want some form of it."

Check out davidperrico.com for upcoming performances by David Perrico Group featuring Marley Taylor. Zowie Bowie performs Friday and Saturday nights at the Monte Carlo, dark through July.