Huffington Post: Gina Rivera Fashion Week Favorites

If New York Fashion Week promises anything, it’s that we’ll be left in awe and, occasionally, disbelief as some of the most outrageous creations in apparel and hair parade down the runway for the first and maybe their last public appearance.

What better time to review the hair styles that never drop from our radar.

We will see variations of these everyday cuts at this pinnacle event. New York Fashion Week, Sept 4 to 11, predicts the styles for next spring. Other week-long mega shows follow immediately in London, then Milan and Paris. The designers necessarily push the envelope but lots of what we’ll see is both exciting and plausible, merely bending proven styles.

• The bob is among those eternal cuts, in large part because it is lo versatile. It isn’t just one cut or one look but is beautiful is many variations. It can also be convenient and manageable by design. The bob can be wavy, blunt, longer, shorter, layered and piecey. We’ll always have the bob.

• The pixie made a super strong showing at both the Emmys and MTV’s Music Video Awards recently … for good reason. Like the bob, this is a versatile cut, but it almost always conveys a cute and playful demeanor, whether it’s spikey, grown out, piecey, geometric or soft and neatly controlled, like we saw on Miley Cyrus at the VMAs. Halle Berry and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting rocked the pixie at the Emmys.

• What can’t we do with an up ‘do? Among these are the trending buns that can be worn loose or ballerina taught, and don’t forget twists that can be done with great care and precision or ‘just in time’ to meet a friend for coffee.

• The romantic chignon is another up ‘do and eternal classic. While it looks complex, it can be done without a lot of fuss, incorporating a braid that you just wore to a soccer workout. It can be loose and carefree or precise and elegant, accenting jeans or strapless gown.

• Who would have thought the ponytail could have so many looks. The ponytail has claimed so much new territory in just the last couple years, fitting just as comfortably in the boardroom as the gym. This was all over the red carpets at these recent two trend-setting events, the Emmys and MVAs. Ariana Grande donned a high ponytail, reminiscent of the late 60s, with long creamy mocha brown mocha tresses. Ponytails just keep morphing, moving up and down the head, with and without parts, gathered with a cool variety of accessories, which brings me to my next category.

I’ve been talking about cuts but I want to mention a couple other eternal hair elements.

• Accessories never go away. We can pin a wisp of baby’s breath in a chignon or pierce a top bun with a couple of black knitting needles or lacquer-red chopsticks … don’t hesitate to experiment. For the ponytail, we saw a trend of leather and metallic hair ties and clasps. Hairbands are useful but they’ve long been an artful accent. Next time, instead of reaching for a bobby pin, consider what else might work. If we want it, there is always room for an accessory.

• Simple hair colors can be the most beautiful and will never go away: a deep, rich brown with blended, caramel highlights; tone-on-tone reds; soft blondes with blended highlights. Sometimes, we don’t want to do anything wild. Our hair still should be beautiful. Hair color, though, can be very tricky, especially in its simplest variations. An enchanting undertone of plum in a redhead, for example, can be difficult to achieve and easy to mess up. For great results, go to a stylist for coloring.

As always, be open to change!