Have you ever been surprised out of your wet-hair towel at the salon, or shaken to the point of dropping one of your prized rhinestone handbags, when your stylist — and cutter like no other — informs you that the start of autumn constitutes a lull in the hair-fixing and hair-obsessing yearly cycle? Known anecdotal and perhaps some unknown (to this writer) but empirically determined, evidence suggests that it’s true. The summertime and late-year holiday season make the time for going back to school seem like your living room when someone decided to stream a really boring movie and then, with considerable panache, went on to practice the obstinate refusal to reconsider the selection.

Although more than a little bit astonishing, the stylist’s revelation makes sense. Do you really take out your beautiful crystal cuff bracelet the first day of school for your seventh grade class, or do you save it for Fourth of July night celebration? The answer’s obvious. People want to look their sharpest when it’s time to see the many old friends and relatives that aren’t seen very regularly throughout the year. It’s also at these occasions that still and moving cameras are out and about!
When memories are being captured on film, or pixels, everybody wants to put on a brave and good-looking face for history. It’s only human nature. Those images are how you’ll be remembered for ages to come. You don’t have to have the biggest endowment of intelligence to recognize when a moment demands that proper consideration be given to self-presentation.

That’s why leisure and networking get-togethers are the times to be seen in the very best from your collection of stylish and handsome leather tote bags. And what goes with that tote like nothing else? A good haircut and dye job, of course. So you see, the start of fall can comprise a respite from constant summery parities, officially decreed and otherwise. It’s also the buildup to the holiday season’s crazy-party time.

You see, the British aren’t completely off with their summertime wedding and polo match fascinators. Your next party means it’s time to bring out the most extravagant and fascinating clutch purses you can find!

Sam Walters is a writer living in Los Angeles. Her writing appears in print and online.