I'm normally much more of an LV or even Coach girl, but I saw these and absolutely could not pass them up!
I've already posted the how/why in another thread in the Money Talks section, and because I'm extremely lazy I'll repost an editted version of it here in case you haven't seen it
I was out shopping with a girlfriend on Tuesday in a trendy area of time I normally don't spend much time in. We went into a consignment store I had recently read about in the newspaper.
Anyway, we were browsing, and I noticed a whole stack of Hermès scarf boxes in a locked cabinet behind the counter. I thought 'why the h**l not?' and asked the saleswoman if I could look at them. And wow, they were really, really beautiful. I spent a bit more time talking to owner of the store, and these scarves were brought in by a man whose wife had passed away - they had had this tradition where every year he would order her a new scarf from Paris (my friend and I thought this way just the most romantic thing!). After she died, he simply couldn't have them in the house anymore - it was just too painful to look at them and remember the woman he had lost.
Something about that story really touched me - this is going to sound a bit... weird, probably, but I really wanted to give at least one of these scarves a good home (lol, yes, I sound crazy). I know that I'm the type of person who'd treat these items the way they were meant to be treated - this lady had really loved her scarves, and even though this isn't someone I had ever met, I wanted to do right by her... I've always been a major antique lover and this seems like a bit of an extension of that.
I was trying to decide between a few of the scarves, and ended up going with a 1991 Catherine Baschet design called Beaux Jours de Bonsai. It's black and red, very Asian-inspired and elegant. I had also found a twilly in the 50% off section - it doesn't scream Hermès and I wonder if that's why people had passed it by!
When I got home that night, I did a bit of research, made sure to get the scarf authenticated (just to be safe), and so on... but I couldn't stop thinking about this one other scarf - it was a deep sapphire blue and covered in fish. I was still thinking about it when I arrived in Small Town on Wednesday morning, so I called the store and begged them to hold it until I got in Thursday afternoon. And even though they don't normally hold things, because I had spent so much time talking to them about fashion and designers, they agreed to hold it for me (I think the owner has a soft spot in her heart for me as a young woman with such a passionate interest - and sustained knowledge - in fashion, design and couture). By the time I got to the store today, every other scarf has sold and someone had been trying to get the owner to sell 'my' scarf to her! I did a bit more research on the design, and it's a 1992 Annie Faivre design called Grands Fonds, which seems to be quite rare and desirable.
Altogether, I spend about $300 + tax (for 2 scarves and 1 twilly) - and I honestly don't regret any of it. These scarves are so, so beautiful and I know they're items I'll keep for the rest of my life... and I am not one to say that lightly (I've never said that about a handbag or any item of clothing). And as I told the boutique owner, I can't help but hope that in some small way, knowing that these scarves (which, after all, were love tokens) are being loved, used and cared for in the way his wife treated them herself will provide the man who brought them in some small measure of comfort.
(I actually do quite a bit of academic work on the importance of objects and their ties to memory and emotion, which is perhaps why this is affecting me so much).
And finally (god, this is a book, LOL), I told DH all about it and he's totally cool with it, so long as I don't buy any more luxury items for quite some time.
I've already posted the how/why in another thread in the Money Talks section, and because I'm extremely lazy I'll repost an editted version of it here in case you haven't seen it
I was out shopping with a girlfriend on Tuesday in a trendy area of time I normally don't spend much time in. We went into a consignment store I had recently read about in the newspaper.
Anyway, we were browsing, and I noticed a whole stack of Hermès scarf boxes in a locked cabinet behind the counter. I thought 'why the h**l not?' and asked the saleswoman if I could look at them. And wow, they were really, really beautiful. I spent a bit more time talking to owner of the store, and these scarves were brought in by a man whose wife had passed away - they had had this tradition where every year he would order her a new scarf from Paris (my friend and I thought this way just the most romantic thing!). After she died, he simply couldn't have them in the house anymore - it was just too painful to look at them and remember the woman he had lost.
Something about that story really touched me - this is going to sound a bit... weird, probably, but I really wanted to give at least one of these scarves a good home (lol, yes, I sound crazy). I know that I'm the type of person who'd treat these items the way they were meant to be treated - this lady had really loved her scarves, and even though this isn't someone I had ever met, I wanted to do right by her... I've always been a major antique lover and this seems like a bit of an extension of that.
I was trying to decide between a few of the scarves, and ended up going with a 1991 Catherine Baschet design called Beaux Jours de Bonsai. It's black and red, very Asian-inspired and elegant. I had also found a twilly in the 50% off section - it doesn't scream Hermès and I wonder if that's why people had passed it by!
When I got home that night, I did a bit of research, made sure to get the scarf authenticated (just to be safe), and so on... but I couldn't stop thinking about this one other scarf - it was a deep sapphire blue and covered in fish. I was still thinking about it when I arrived in Small Town on Wednesday morning, so I called the store and begged them to hold it until I got in Thursday afternoon. And even though they don't normally hold things, because I had spent so much time talking to them about fashion and designers, they agreed to hold it for me (I think the owner has a soft spot in her heart for me as a young woman with such a passionate interest - and sustained knowledge - in fashion, design and couture). By the time I got to the store today, every other scarf has sold and someone had been trying to get the owner to sell 'my' scarf to her! I did a bit more research on the design, and it's a 1992 Annie Faivre design called Grands Fonds, which seems to be quite rare and desirable.
Altogether, I spend about $300 + tax (for 2 scarves and 1 twilly) - and I honestly don't regret any of it. These scarves are so, so beautiful and I know they're items I'll keep for the rest of my life... and I am not one to say that lightly (I've never said that about a handbag or any item of clothing). And as I told the boutique owner, I can't help but hope that in some small way, knowing that these scarves (which, after all, were love tokens) are being loved, used and cared for in the way his wife treated them herself will provide the man who brought them in some small measure of comfort.
(I actually do quite a bit of academic work on the importance of objects and their ties to memory and emotion, which is perhaps why this is affecting me so much).
And finally (god, this is a book, LOL), I told DH all about it and he's totally cool with it, so long as I don't buy any more luxury items for quite some time.
