Dainty Hermes?

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thereallouis

thereallouis

Member
Sep 13, 2006
1,372
5
#1
Good Morning Everyone!

I just had a "preference" question for ya'll. I know this might not be super objective, well, because we are in the H forum but...Do you sometimes feel scared of using/buying H because it is sort of dainty? I have looked over some H items recently and have questioned their durability because of their appeared "daintiness." I just don't know how they will hold up in my messenger or backpack. As a University student, things get jumbled up all the time. Between books, my laptop and random junk, I would hate to have anything seriously damaged. Am I being too paranoid?

Thanks In Advance,
All the Best,
J
 
#2
Not dainty. Not, not, not!

Seriously, I'm not kidding here.

I first became attracted to Hermes bags after I ran into 2 clients with Birkins that had seen hard, hard use and looked amazing. One was a gold togo or clemence, very slouchy. The client said she had carried it almost every day for at least 12 years, she couldn't even remember exactly. She wasn't at all careful with it, but it looked fantastic. It had gone to the spa maybe 2-3 times in its hard life. It was really mellow and had a patina and glow that only regular use can give it. Regular use of MY handbags makes them look pretty tatty and frayed, so I was impressed.

The second was also an aging birkin. My dog actually chewed this client's clochette. :shame: Yes, I was horrified, yes I offered to buy her a new bag. She totally blew it off, cuddled my poor, moronic puppy, and said that it would fix good as new. She was absolutely correct. The next time I saw it, the bag looked perfect. It was 15 years old.

Both materials and construction allow these bags to take abuse that would disintegrate other bags.

Not that I'm recommending abuse, but my observation is that many bags and some of the leathers may look like thoroughbreds, but they perform like clydesdales.
 
#5
my epsom bearn has only 1 year of life but it gets banged around all the time and it still looks like the day i bought it.

(off to smell it...i love the scent!)

i hope my epsom birkin holds up to my abuse (i'm very clumsy)
 
#6
My togo dogon wallet looks good as new...have used it EVERY single day for over a year. My year old box calf agenda has a few scratches (as box calf does) and the 3 loops that hold the pencil are a tiny bit stretched, but I abuse that thing so I still give it the thumbs up!
 
#7
I have a 10year old birkin that still gets pretty regular use & even I sometimes have to check the letter to redetermine its age. Hermes stands up to abuse. There was some comment in a Hermes article about a bag that was stepped on by an elephant and Hermes was able to repair it (that's some abuse!!)
 
#8
Well ..... I think there is a bit of a quality issue recently with Hermes ~ nothing major but certainly something that Paris needs to look into. The zipper pull of my long Azap came off, after 3 months (or what feels like 3 months, it may only be 2!).

This hasn't alarmed me nor made me lose confidence in H products. It does make me look bad, I think, that I have 2 items sent back to Paris over a short time span. God knows what my SA thinks I do with my things! So long as things can be fixed, and come back looking great, I will continue to shop with Hermes. This sort of repair and refurbishment after-sale service is not available in some other brands.
 
#9
gga said:
One was a gold togo or clemence, very slouchy. The client said she had carried it almost every day for at least 12 years, she couldn't even remember exactly. She wasn't at all careful with it, but it looked fantastic. It had gone to the spa maybe 2-3 times in its hard life. It was really mellow and had a patina and glow that only regular use can give it. Regular use of MY handbags makes them look pretty tatty and frayed, so I was impressed.
Click to expand...
Wow! Bag sounds so loved :smile:

gga said:
The second was also an aging birkin. My dog actually chewed this client's clochette. :shame: Yes, I was horrified, yes I offered to buy her a new bag. She totally blew it off, cuddled my poor, moronic puppy, and said that it would fix good as new. She was absolutely correct. The next time I saw it, the bag looked perfect. It was 15 years old.
Click to expand...

Aye! My heart would have dropped if I was in your position! :sweatdrop: Hope you still have your puppy :P

Thanks for sharing the wonderful stories! :smile:
 
#10
^^^still have the puppy. He's outgrown the chewing phase, at last. He's my special bud.

Both of those well-loved bags looked fantastic. I still can't get over it.
 
#11
jane birkin has been using her black box birkin w/PH for so many years. she store all kinds of stuff in huge quantities, place it on the floor, it is still intact n look nice. i may not be surprised with other leathers but hers is BOX! Box sratches easily but hers always look new.
 
#12
Thereallouis, I think you go to Berkeley (due to the Campanile as your avatar). I went there too and though I love Hermes I would not use their products while in school. I think the most lux I went was perhaps a black LV epi bag and already that was very good and durable. You don't want to be too flashy there.
 
#14
Kat99, Go Bears!
Yes I do go to Berkeley. I have a full set of Vuitton accessories that are just too flashy up here. I use my agenda and my pencil case because they basically stay in my bag. For my wallet, I switched to a Takeo Kikuchi one that I bought in Japan during my exchange student days. I was thinking that H is a little more subtle without the labeling. I just wanted to know if it could survive being attacked by a notebook or computer, haha. On a side note, I do sport the Burberry here. Although it is a totally different culture, there is not hiding who I am. Those in Feb will see that I'm a classy, NOT-TYPICALLY BERKELEY guy...but I mean who is typical here?
 
#15
hmmm, then hac, or one of their briefcases or something like that (not lined in lambskin) would be best, but that would scream hermes i think - but i guess it's true that it would only be recognized by those already in the know.
but i do agree, none of the hermes bags really deserves to be used as a school bag. taking one of their bags to the office where you have a clean space to put it every day is one thing, but spiral notebooks going in:wtf: and the bag going on a classroom floor... that seems less than ideal.
 
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