Interesting info - thank you
Could we hope for pictures of the said scarves - I know they are nearly impossible to photograph, but still Edit: I see you have already fullfilled my wish!
Scarves Chiffon (mousseline) scarves
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Interesting info - thank you
Could we hope for pictures of the said scarves - I know they are nearly impossible to photograph, but still Edit: I see you have already fullfilled my wish!
Very jealous of your summery look! I am dying in the slushy rain of the Pacific Northwest!
Beautiful seasounds! Love the color and pattern mix in this!
Thank you, ladies! This was my attempt at mixing scarves and prints (a la MaiTai!). Was really pleased how it worked out. I just love wearing a moussie.
Thank you! It's 7 or 8 years old - wore it to an wedding in California, now it's seeing new life in Florida!The moussie is the finishing touch, but what a gorgeous dress!
Mousseline friends, many of you who have been following this thread for years have heard me blather on endlessly about how much I love mousselines. They are my favorite, favorite thing Hermes makes. Even the ones I've had the longest still make my heart pitter-patter when I pull them out. So I'm not thrilled to need to post a rant/lament/PSA here regarding the quality of current mousselines.
Everyone, please please please, if you are buying mousselines from this season or 2017, CHECK YOUR MOUSSELINES THOROUGHLY in the boutique, held up in a decently-lit area, before taking them home.
Yesterday I received a stole I was very excited about, the Savana Dance in a fabulous absinthe green with peach accents. It was sent brand-new from the web shop and shipped to store. Having had negative experiences with the quality of last summer's mousselines, I asked the SA to unfurl it for my inspection. I was horrified to see around a dozen pulls and fractures in the fabric. We unfurled a different colorway that the boutique had. Same thing, albeit slightly less pervasive. See the pics for a couple of examples of what I mean.
These would be easy enough to miss if you weren't looking carefully, but they should NOT be present in a brand-new mousseline. Frankly, my oldest mousselines wouldn't even show these types of problems even if you ran over them with a mack truck. Post-2007, sure, some of them will eventually show little slubs in the fabric, which look a bit like the textured areas of shantung silk. But nothing like this, and pulls don't occur in any of them up to summer 2017 without something actually snagging on them.
What changed in summer 2017? According to a lovely SA who is the scarf buyer for her boutique, Hermes has decided to produce the mousselines using thinner threads. Supposedly people complained that they were "too hot." I have my suspicions about the corporate rationale for this change, but whether or not they really changed thing at customers' insistence, I can't see it as anything but a change for the worse. Mousselines I saw last summer without pulls, even brand-new from the cellophane, were the exception, not the rule. My Iris mousseline is fragile in the extreme, and has to be babied to survive being knotted. When packed, it emerges with creases and crinkles looking sad and squashed.
Do I freak out when one of my mousselines gets a slub or a pull because I've worn it many many times, or when I've done something to cause a problem with my own carelessness? Certainly not. Do I think it's unacceptable for Hermes to sell mousselines that are so inherently frail that they couldn't even survive packing and transit to the customer without showing damage? Oh most certainly I do. And my tolerance for declining quality varies inversely with the ever-steeper prices that H is charging. If I didn't know they could do better, I wouldn't be stomping my foot over this-- but I have 34 pre-2017 mousselines in my drawers that say otherwise.
Check your moussies, everyone! No judgement here if you find a bunch of pulls and decide to buy one anyway. If anyone understands being overcome by the beauty of the mousselines, it's me. I myself am asking H to send me a pristine replacement for the Savana stole, even though I know that seeing so many new mousselines with these problems means they will not wear with the hardiness of the older mousselines. But I absolutely won't buy one that is damaged from the get-go, and if customer comments are what drive H's changes to the mousselines, this customer has a lot to tell them! If you've experienced this same issue, do let your SA and H customer service know. I would hate to see the mousseline format (which has dwindled from two seasons and four formats to one season and two formats) die out entirely, and I do believe that if people have bad experiences with their durability, they'll cease to sell and H will kill them completely.
Okay, rant/advisory notice over! I promise I'll make up for this grouchy post with pretty pics of some new-to-me (but older issue!) additions soon.
Everyone, please please please, if you are buying mousselines from this season or 2017, CHECK YOUR MOUSSELINES THOROUGHLY in the boutique, held up in a decently-lit area, before taking them home.
Yesterday I received a stole I was very excited about, the Savana Dance in a fabulous absinthe green with peach accents. It was sent brand-new from the web shop and shipped to store. Having had negative experiences with the quality of last summer's mousselines, I asked the SA to unfurl it for my inspection. I was horrified to see around a dozen pulls and fractures in the fabric. We unfurled a different colorway that the boutique had. Same thing, albeit slightly less pervasive. See the pics for a couple of examples of what I mean.
These would be easy enough to miss if you weren't looking carefully, but they should NOT be present in a brand-new mousseline. Frankly, my oldest mousselines wouldn't even show these types of problems even if you ran over them with a mack truck. Post-2007, sure, some of them will eventually show little slubs in the fabric, which look a bit like the textured areas of shantung silk. But nothing like this, and pulls don't occur in any of them up to summer 2017 without something actually snagging on them.
What changed in summer 2017? According to a lovely SA who is the scarf buyer for her boutique, Hermes has decided to produce the mousselines using thinner threads. Supposedly people complained that they were "too hot." I have my suspicions about the corporate rationale for this change, but whether or not they really changed thing at customers' insistence, I can't see it as anything but a change for the worse. Mousselines I saw last summer without pulls, even brand-new from the cellophane, were the exception, not the rule. My Iris mousseline is fragile in the extreme, and has to be babied to survive being knotted. When packed, it emerges with creases and crinkles looking sad and squashed.
Do I freak out when one of my mousselines gets a slub or a pull because I've worn it many many times, or when I've done something to cause a problem with my own carelessness? Certainly not. Do I think it's unacceptable for Hermes to sell mousselines that are so inherently frail that they couldn't even survive packing and transit to the customer without showing damage? Oh most certainly I do. And my tolerance for declining quality varies inversely with the ever-steeper prices that H is charging. If I didn't know they could do better, I wouldn't be stomping my foot over this-- but I have 34 pre-2017 mousselines in my drawers that say otherwise.
Check your moussies, everyone! No judgement here if you find a bunch of pulls and decide to buy one anyway. If anyone understands being overcome by the beauty of the mousselines, it's me. I myself am asking H to send me a pristine replacement for the Savana stole, even though I know that seeing so many new mousselines with these problems means they will not wear with the hardiness of the older mousselines. But I absolutely won't buy one that is damaged from the get-go, and if customer comments are what drive H's changes to the mousselines, this customer has a lot to tell them! If you've experienced this same issue, do let your SA and H customer service know. I would hate to see the mousseline format (which has dwindled from two seasons and four formats to one season and two formats) die out entirely, and I do believe that if people have bad experiences with their durability, they'll cease to sell and H will kill them completely.
Okay, rant/advisory notice over! I promise I'll make up for this grouchy post with pretty pics of some new-to-me (but older issue!) additions soon.
I ticked 'like' button which seems like schadenfreude, but it's because I'm so sympathising with your disappointment .The colours here are wonderful.
Oh my, this is sad news Calexandre. I have not bought any 2018 mousses yet, though i did purchase several Iris mousselines and Zebra Pegasus last year. I did not examine them carefully other than the hems which are prone to unravels or runs, i must admit. I loved them so much i guess i felt confident they were new in plastic and not on display. I will certainly let my SA know my concerns, but i think this needs to go higher up he chain of command as in someone in charge of silk productions. I feel completely happy with my vintage and up to 2017 collection, and like you, think the earlier years are the best weight and quality. I did have some concerns of wrinkling so quickly on the stoles so i stopped buying them. So sad for my favorite format too.
@calexandre I liked your post! lol! Thank you for warning us for the quality. That's the same thing happened to me in the year they issued PdV. I returned 3 times all because of the poor quality. Brand new from the sealed bag and I found threading and discoloration on each one. I eventually found the ones without problem. Even without problem, the quality is very poor. The year they issued the Axis Mundi, no matter how much I like the design, the scarf is so thin and feels so fragile. I felt the quality came back a little in current year's design. I'll need to check my savanna dance.
Ha, Frou Frou, I could only interpret your “likes” as sympathetic! And yes, the colors really are wonderful, and so illuminating to the skin. Hoping stole #2 will be free of snags.
Lanit, this is a useful reminder about the hems! For all that I eagle-eye the center of shawls, I’m not as good about remembering to check hems. But you’re right, they are a common failure point (even in twills sometimes).
So interesting what you say about stoles too, and the increased wrinkling. I wonder what might cause that on the stoles in particular? Did you find yours were thinner/lighter? Or is it the form itself? I have only 5 stoles, as I prefer squares, but sometimes the patterns are beyond my ability to resist! I don’t wear them often enough to have a knowledgeable assessment about their hardiness.
Mimi, you very fairly point out that there have been other years/patterns that have had their issues. My Axis Mundis are somewhat delicate creatures, and certain colorways of Aux Portes du Palais have proved more fragile than I’d like. This is just the first couple of seasons I’ve noticed issues on brand-new scarves, but your post makes me wonder if I’ve just grown more persnickety or better able to spot problems. Hoping the second time is the charm for my own Savana!
APDP was VERY delicate. I actually had purchased a white one with a frayed hole in it (which I only noticed when I got home). It almost looked like a burn hole.
This is so interesting— I have seen a preloved blanc/corail apdp that had several small holes— not visible when folded, but there nonetheless. I assumed the original owner had gotten it caught in something, but maybe it came that way. My blanc/corail is holding up very well. Makes me think the scarf “runs” have something to do with durability too, although I do think if the threads are deliberately thinner now, we can expect more flawed “runs” too.
Oh dear. This new moussie development is not good. Thanks for the PSA. I will check any new ones thoroughly. I must admit, I had a hard time concentrating on what you wrote after I read you had 32 moussies in ur drawer. Can we see them as a family pic? Pretty please! 