here's the thing

HiHeels

united
Apr 8, 2006
4,906
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here's the weird thing about "feelings" in this case of the birthday croc - a bag bought at hermes, whether it's in the US, England, Spain, France, wherever, it is authentic.

a bag received without an orange box, or even with an orange box but without the fanfare that a customer with other hermes experience would recognize (protective felt, tissue pillows, etc.), or even a die-hard hermes fan for that matter, might sense that something is off to begin with. i think it takes a far bigger person to acknowledge the possibility of something being amiss then it does to refuse to accept that. this is not the "best friends forever" forum, it's the hermes forum. i would not want to be a part of this forum if it weren't for the women i've met and friends i've made, BUT we discuss hermes here. the whole subforum is not exclusively about ooing and ahing over presents. while a PM helps the OP feel less attacked, it does not acknowledge the hundreds of other members who are participating and reading and viewing something that was Publicly posted in the first place.
while i would not want to be in the position of OP, i am not more concerned for her feelings then for every other member's, because there is some question to the authenticity and that is something we are free to discuss here.
incidentally, i do not at all disrespect look-a-like bags or people who have them. i will say this just once: i find it offense to equate the value of someone's bag with the value of their character, whether it's a bag from target, or a look-a-like that just isn't worth what it represents itself to be. my grandmother survived wwII IN a concentration camp and the nazis did not manage to kill her OR her love of beauty and good things. they did kill most of her family and understandably she had a tough up-hill climb to rebuild a life. she did this and yet still had petty desires like the rest of us. she could not afford an hermes bag while she was struggling and working. even when she finally had some financial security, pitifully, she could not bring herself to invest in a bag because (this is so sad) it was not something one could easily flee with. we're talking about having this mentality in the 70s, 80s, 90s. jewelry you could hide, or barter for your life with, was her thinking, but a purse would be too easy to lose or damage and therefore lose it's value. so my grandmother carried many a look-alike bags. to be clear look-alike-hermes! she did buy their scarves, as they were smaller items. were there any scarves for me to inherit after she died? no! why? because as she got older and ill and less able to enjoy her things, she gave them to friends who had complimented her on them, her peers who couldn't afford such things as hermes scarves but she felt they ought to enjoy them before they themselves passed on. she rightfully put their pleasure ahead of my own, rationalizing that i'm young and have time to buy my own luxuries. THAT is the kind of person who carries a look-alike sometimes.

so the often-voiced opinion that look-alikes are sinful does not interest me, but i do think we should be able to speak freely about a suspected inauthentic bag that is being posted as an authentic bag. i really wish that Vlad would create a separate forum (NOT an hermes sub-forum but a separate forum altogether) for people to discuss acquiring and enjoying look-alike bags. every brand has them. discussing them is not the same as discussing a brand's bag, an "authentic" bag. they have their own issues of quality and satisfaction for the owners, and people who have them and love them and enjoy them should be able to discuss and value them free of scorn - such mean-spirited scorn.

and fake hermes should NOT be posted in the hermes subforum.
this is MY opinion.
 
Oh man. I think the mods are going to come down on you hard. And they'll surely lock this thread as soon as they see it.

However, I agree with you even though I haven't been chiming in. Members really need a place to discuss this issue because just closing threads is annoying and just ends up making problems fester. Perhaps the mods can move a thread like this to a board policy subforum or something?

This is an issue that's deeply dividing our lovely subforum and clearly, some loyal and good-hearted members feel the need to discuss it further.
 
It'll make me sad too. But based on what mods have said prior to closing the other threads, I suspect their first instinct will be to close this one too and admonish you via PM. Same thing happened to me in April about a different issue.

I just hope that instead of closing the thread, they'll move it somewhere so that genuine and concerned discussion is encouraged rather than quashed.
 
Also, if some new board policy results from this incident, I hope it's something that has the input of members - perhaps via voting - rather than something that's determined by fiat.
 
interesting. i didn't think twice about posting it here (and i'm such an uptight stickler for rules) because i felt like it was such a major issue for us here, in our little hermes world. i wanted to fix the rift too that seems to have happened, that makes me so sad. i suppose the mention of a separate thread for look-alikes is not hermes-exclusive, but it is an issue we dodge so often here.
 
Also, if some new board policy results from this incident, I hope it's something that has the input of members - perhaps via voting - rather than something that's determined by fiat.

that sounds like something you should bring up with a mod or with vlad. my intention was not to start a policy thread in the hermes subforum so let's not turn mine into one. :flowers: :flowers:
 
i will say this just once: i find it offense to equate the value of someone's bag with the value of their character, whether it's a bag from target, or a look-a-like that just isn't worth what it represents itself to be.

HH ^ thank you for this wonderful statement and reminder, and I really appreciate your post. :flowers:
 
HiHeels, orchids,

I really appreciate your posts too. From the bottom of my heart, I know the mods understand. And I think they are exhausted at the same time. Trying to regulate the board, and still keep the fun is no plain day's job. Having said that, I think we all need to give it a rest.

I have been a member of a local board and it became too overly controlled and many great members left as a result. I do not hope this happens. I just hope it returns to the way it was.:crybaby:
 
^^I am sure with due time the atmosphere will lighten up in here. GT, I really appreciate the way you moderate this forum--it's a bit like parenting at times eh?
 
^^ I totally agree.. I've had a horrible incident some time ago and i decided to leave. In my time off, i thought about it... and realised "the reason" :sneaky: i decided to leave is just not worth it..

we're here to enjoy our purse addiction and celebrate the joy of shopping for this bag or that bag, knowing that no one in real world would understand our addiction except eachother..

HiHeels.. truth eventually does come out.. and even if its not admitted loudly by any member.. members know whats authentic and whats not.. i truely hope everyone would close this issue and all members would come back soon to go back to what we are used to here.... pure fun..:flowers:
 
GT, I really appreciate the way you moderate this forum
I want to heartily echo this quote. I adore the mods we've chosen for our subforum and think each one does an excellent job and is knowledgable, fun and positive. I certainly didn't mean any criticism of them in my earlier posts. My prior experience with the moderation team was at the global level.