Football & Fall, with a Handbag Silver Lining

Until recently I never had much cause to think about fall or football, growing up in the land of endless summer as I did. Sure, I was & remain a fair-weather USC fan - that USC translates to the University of Southern California for any Southerners reading this - like most other locals. However, that fandom existed in the background of life, an afterthought to vitally important things like maintaining my tan back before we had to feel guilty about that sort of thing. Fall was something to be feared, the season when we had to mournfully pack away our bikinis & cute surfers until the following summer.

Cue a move to Texas later, and not only have I traded in my tan for wrinkles and a mortgage, but I find myself actually excited about the upcoming football season & fall. I've mentioned before here how surprised I was to find myself enjoying this in the first place. Well, the fall bit is easy to figure out; after enduring 70 some days of sweltering 100+ degree temperatures, I'm as eager as the next girl to dust off my cashmere & riding boots. Like an alcoholic locked out of a bar, I want in righthisverysecond - DO YOU HEAR ME, FALL???

Ahem.

It's the football - or, more specifically, the tailgating spectacle that surrounds football - that sneaked up on me. The co-eds parading around in sundresses & cowboy boots, pretending not to notice the adorable undergrad boys checking them out from behind their Kountry Krystal cups. The older moms who have been perhaps too touched by the team spirit, wearing their the jangly Longhorn earrings, to match their burnt orange polo, shorts, socks, and football-shaped bag. The grandparents who arrive days early in their tricked out RVs that cost more than my house and yours combined.

And so it goes that, seven years after my first University of Texas game with the alum AH, I find myself both a season-ticket holder (for the mere annual price equal to at least two handbags I'd cheerfully kill for) (Yes, I translate the price of everything into purse terms - doesn't everyone?)(Parentheses) and in possession of a closet with an entire burnt orange - ie, the color flattering to approximately two people globally - section:

My closet - yes, mine is organized by color & on matching hangers - is where my rarely seen Type A-Minus kicks in.

Raise your hand if you're surprised that Master P has his version of this too...

This may make me a Texas poster but, more importantly, it makes the Anonymous Husband happy to see me hop on the bandwagon. Hence, wearing the world's least flattering color is but a small sacrifice to make for a few Saturdays each year. It ain't "Vogue", but then again, the national media currently besotted with Austin forgets that it is, at heart, a small town that loves its football and its eccentrics, usually in that order.

All of the above being said, there are school color alternatives, as the latest "Southern Living" so helpfully reminds us - yes, California friends, I now subscribe to magazines like "Southern Living". One need not clothe oneself head-to-manicured-toe in school colors when giving a nod to the (vividly awful) color via accessories would suffice.

If you're reading that as using football season as an excuse to buy a new bag, then we're on the same page here. When I just can't get in the burnt orange outfit way, I'm thinking I'll combine this, my favorite white shift:

So long as the mercury reads 100 degrees or more, I"ll be in my summer whites, month be hanged

With a new pair of Millers & this little crossbody wonder, perfectly sized for navigating the beer-soaked crowds ... wonder what Marc Jacobs would make of inadvertently producing football-related accessories?

Source: endless.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Edited to add: I found good budget bag alternatives here and here. You're welcome!


How are you & your wardrobe preparing yourselves for fall & football?