Can Birkin Go Over the Shoulder?

[Hippolyta]

Hi all. I m not a hand-carry or crook of arm carry person at all. It's the main reason why I've never considered a Birkin, despite loving the look, history, and otherwise practicality of the bag. But I've found myself more and more drawn to the bag, so I've been researching and I saw this picture. Those handles look much longer than the handles on every B35 I've ever seen. Is this something custom, or are the handles actually long enough to wear the bag this way? I suppose another possibility is that the beautiful Cindy Crawford is just thin enough to wear it this way, but it would never work on my normal-sized frame.

 

[givemethebirkin]

I can wear my birkin 35 on my shoulder but it's not super comfortable as the handles are short. Maybe size 40 would be better suitable as a shoulder bag. Looks like her bag is definetly custom made. I read somewhere on this forum you could customize the straps of Birkins in Japan but I could be wrong.

 

[WhiteBus]

That does not look like regular Birkin handles.
There was a Birkin Shoulder, but the bag was wide and not as tall as the standard proportions.
If you had enough resources and would never need a birkin to return to Hermes, you could have the handles replaced by a third party artisan.

 

[millivanilli]

I have a40 and no way it woul look like that - can wear it over the shoulder but it clashes with the rib cage. Handles aren't that long.

 

[allanrvj]

There were at least two types of shoulder Birkins before. One was the JPG Birkin, 42 cm wide, which looked like this:



And another one which was like a limited release back in the early 2000's which was 45 cm wide (image from Christie's):



Both have, obviously, long been discontinued.

 

[Hippolyta]

Thanks, everyone, for confirming what I thought.

There were at least two types of shoulder Birkins before. One was the JPG Birkin, 42 cm wide, which looked like this:

View attachment 5838172

And another one which was like a limited release back in the early 2000's which was 45 cm wide (image from Christie's):

View attachment 5838175

Both have, obviously, long been discontinued.

I've seen that JPG B42 on resellers sites and I've always thought the proportions were off. It looks like they cut off the bottom half of the bag. That second one with the longer straps looks great. But 42cm is HUGE and kind of renders the bag impractical for most uses.

I will have to decide if I can accept having to carry the Birkin by hand or in the crook of my arm before taking the plunge. I just love the look of the bag, and everything else about it fits my lifestyle and aesthetic.

Thanks all!