Hi! I wanted to share my rather hectic story in case it helps anyone looking to buy bags in Paris. Some background: my family was in Paris from Monday afternoon-Wednesday morning, and my mother and I both wanted birkins. We were also joined by my mom’s best friend, who is a Hermes VIP in the UK. It was my first one (I am 15 which I know is young, but absolutely adore Hermes [emoji173]️ and knew that if I saved and bought myself a birkin I would wear it forever), and my mother wanted one for her birthday - though Bs and Ks have been passed down to her by her late mother, she has never actually bought anything for herself. Neither of us had significant purchase history - I had a wish list in London and she had sent 2 bags to get cleaned in London. I wanted a b25 in magnolia, rose pourpre, rose tyrien or shocking, Togo or swift, and she wanted a b30 in a dark blue e.g blue nuit with gold hardware.
at FSH on Tuesday: My mother and I applied for appointments on saturday for Monday but were rejected. We were accepted for Tuesday - my appointment was 10:30 and hers was 6:30. My lovely father had done his best to network and secure us appointments, and he got us someone more prominent in the store (not sure what his name was, but he was meant to be head of SOs). My mother, her best friend, my father, my brother and I arrived at the store at 10,30, did all the queuing etc. and met this person my dad had been introduced to. He asked me what I wanted before we had even sat down and disappeared off. He came back just 10 minutes later holding a small box, in which was my lovely b25 magnolia, Togo PHW. I was elated and of course took it.
However, I was shocked at what happened next. My dad asked about a blue birkin for my mother and he said no, absolutely not, one bag only. I was honestly surprised to hear that only 1 bag per group was allowed as I thought it was pretty obvious that we weren’t resellers from how excited I was by my bag. I understand that Hermes must remain exclusive, but this seemed ridiculous.
We returned to FSH appointment at 6:30. It was just me, my mother and her friend as the boys had given up on shopping (typical). Our SA was lovely and wrote down my mother’s preferences. She left and came back around 20 minutes later with a huge box and led us to the women’s clothes where she opened it on a display box. Inside was a b35 blue nuit, Togo and GHW. It was lovely however my mother knows what she wants and finds the b35 too big for her, and too much of a work bag. The lady had mentioned that she had a b25 in a different blue but when we pursued this, she said it had gone - all that was left was b25 in magnolia (I was carrying my new baby at the time and I wonder if she said this because I had it already), and there were no b30 in any colour. So my mother asked on behalf of her friend, saying do you have anything red in crocodile? The lady went completely cold, saying sharply no, crocodile is very special. I tried to tell her that my mother has lizard and ostrich (I was not lying), but no crocodile. Still she would not budge. So we left without my mother’s birthday birkin.
At George V on Tuesday: After FSH, we were determined to try our hardest to get my mother what she wanted. As our hotel was right by the George V store, we tried there. To better our chances we split up - I was w/ my mom and her friend was on her own. There were no Bs or Ks on display, which I thought was a bad sign. After queuing for 10 minutes, we were served by a man. We explained what my mother wanted and he did not even go away and look, he said “we do not have any birkins or kellies, we have some wallets and a few garden parties left”. So we left defeated. My mother’s friend on the other hand was buying scarves and was so determined and politely persistent that she was led upstairs. Despite also being told there were no Bs or Ks she was actually shown a light blue Kelly mini II! She didn’t take it as it was not what my mother wanted.
I hope my story has helped anyone looking for bags! In the end I was surprised that despite what I had heard about George V selling Bs and Ks to locals only, we were offered something. I was also completely shocked that only one birkin was allowed for my family - has anyone else been told this? I find it unlikely that they were suspicious we were resellers, but it’s possible that they just didn’t want to give us 2 bags.
I am so happy about by baby birkin - I’ll post a picture as I am completely in love. Good luck to anybody trying to score a bag!
