@bercyvillage
agree with
@A.Ali ,
@_gelato_ , and
@periogirl28
I make my appts well in advance, when I make my travel and hotel plans, as per their request. For my last two visits, abd one visit going forward, my regular SA, who is on year long maternity leave, arranged to have us shop with a colleague. With both SAs, we spend more time chatting and catching up about life in general (Covid, strikes, politics, travel, the Olympics, their august vacation, and life in general); maybe two hours chatting and one hour shopping.
I am fortunate to be primarily a RTW client; to have my first appt arranged through a connection (not lottery); to own a pretty sizable bag collection already; and, to go to Paris twice a year. My regular FSH SA and her covering colleague take care of me throughout the store. But, I’m not sure that she and her colleague would have continued to make future appointments with us except for the fact that my DH really happens to love talking with specialists, including premier luxury SAs and artisans of all kinds. He clicks with them, and they end up talking about everything, usually starting with all aspects of the business and the product. He loves beautiful things, but he is even more interested in the individual people we meet along the way. He truly doesn’t care whether I end up with a particular item or bag, and his attitude relaxes SAs.
DHs profile at my home store; at FSH; and in two locations in Asia (where my extended family is based). I get QB offers from the first two locations and reject more than I accept. I am new to Asia, so have only requested and received a gold evelyn TPM for my mom there (her request). All my SAs know how I shop and what I buy is usually a three way vote between DH, SA, and me, (they voted as unflattering an apron dress I loved, so I passed. Apparently the back view made them both cringe lol). Whether I buy really doesn’t seem to affect my offers, but I will buy anything that works on me; that I need and want; that is in my budget. I don’t come with a list or expectations, but I have a very definite style (and SAs can absolutely see that from what I wear in the first five minutes that they meet me. It’s also very clear thst I will absolutely be open to any of their suggestions, and take their aesthetic opinion into consideration.
I do not treat an SA like a waitress taking an order for xyz. I generally spend .5-2X+ RTW to one QB, and my DH and SAs prefer size 25 and size 28/30 on me. (Though mixed media 25B are too busy on me; I look like a bobble head somehow).
I don’t have a wishlist. When they ask me what I would like, i usually draw a blank. On the last visit, I rejected a 25B togo in favor of a 30 rainbow bolide. It was a magical moment when I said this pic of rainbow is the type of bag I love but don’t expect to find, and she came up with that exact bag. She said I could buy both, but the togo leather of the 25B honestly looked dull and drab in comparison. On two separate trips, my SAs picked a 28K quadrille and a 30B toile maxi bivouac (a brand new kind of toile that they had not seen before) bc they know one of my favorite pieces of RTW is a toile swift jacket. I would not have known to ask about either. I prefer to start with RTW, not bags, and I show them pics of favorite outfits and what bags i own, so they really understand my aesthetic quickly. It does help that I’m not asking for the hottest mini K; that I don’t think they are lying if they say that they don’t have x or y; and that I dont think the visit is a waste without a QB.
I did not have any prespend at FSH before my first appt and offer 25K. And, my spend at FSH isn’t particularly high compared to many others here. However, DH and I both shop RTW, and I personally wear both men’s and women’s RTW. My SAs are not as familiar with mens RTW, so they bring in a mens RTW specialist. This year, we had a new mens RTW specialist, and we ran into our first mens RTW specialist, so all of us, plus the mens wear manager had fun chatting, mainly about hart bakery in Copenhagen and the fact that it is better than most of not all bakeries in Paris.
Be polite, be considerate, and try to relax (i was very nervous at my first appt, and it was needlessly stressful). Shopping should be fun. I kind of believe the bag almost chooses you, and if you don’t get it, it wasnt meant to be, this time around. Don’t be afraid to speak up about what you like, but also be open to new suggestions.
If you’ve gotten this far reading my post, I apologize for the length Lol.
