Taking an Hermes break or just slowing down. Feel free to join or give support.

[880]

my SA told me that when he was in training years ago, he was taught that prespend didn’t matter and that you need to take care of your local, regular clients first. He’s always treated me that way.

Having said that I do accept that it’s his job to show me new things. And, simply bc I buy x item, I do not assume that entitles me to y bag offer. The only thing it means is that I’ve bought something I adore that I can afford.

At the same time, my SA feels that SAs who discuss linked sales and their sales targets or who try to shame their clients into shopping one way or the other are not acting professionally.

If I didn’t trust my SA, I simply wouldn’t shop there. Neither the client, nor the SA is in complete control as to whether an SM will authorize a bag offer. But, the client always has the sole decision making power to spend or not. It’s natural to slow down, and honestly all SAs know this. Most of their clients have plenty already

 

[bluediamond35]

I don't have a relationship with an SA so will be "slowing down". I have been very fortunate to purchase an Evelyn and picotin on H.com last year.

 

[Satya83]

I am slowing down naturally as I mostly purchase scarves and like others have said I have not been overly impressed with the designs and colourways of late. I think I am a perplexing customer at my home store, as I am not an active participant in the quota bag race. The focus of my attention has moved to another expensive hobby-orchid growing, which may end up being a more risky financial investment than H lol.

 

[QuelleFromage]

I am slowing down naturally as I mostly purchase scarves and like others have said I have not been overly impressed with the designs and colourways of late. I think I am a perplexing customer at my home store, as I am not an active participant in the quota bag race. The focus of my attention has moved to another expensive hobby-orchid growing, which may end up being a more risky financial investment than H lol.

I like this - a new pursuit - and wanted to highlight this as a great answer to those who want to detach - from this brand, shopping as a whole, anything. An intensive hobby or practice (that is NOT collecting bags or knowing lots about Hermes 🤣 ) is a wonderful distraction. I come from a family of explorers and for me, travel to wild places is a great way to get away from anything consumer culture oriented.
I do think that it helps if the hobby takes one away from retail....of course with all hobbies and new learnings there is gear, etc., to buy - but once you are in nature and away from physical stores and maybe even the Internet, it's really refreshing.

 

[Beachbunny_chanel]

Just wanted to add that I texted my Chanel SA after I hadn't texted her for two years. Asked her if she had a certain bag type that I want available. She sent me pictures of five different styles plus some pictures of wallets I'm interested in. She kindly reserved two pieces for me to pick up when I'm there on the weekend. Don't know if I will even stop by at Hermès even though they are in the same street.

Lool, did the same two days ago! How funny is that

 

[papertiger]

I like this - a new pursuit - and wanted to highlight this as a great answer to those who want to detach - from this brand, shopping as a whole, anything. An intensive hobby or practice (that is NOT collecting bags or knowing lots about Hermes 🤣 ) is a wonderful distraction. I come from a family of explorers and for me, travel to wild places is a great way to get away from anything consumer culture oriented.
I do think that it helps if the hobby takes one away from retail....of course with all hobbies and new learnings there is gear, etc., to buy - but once you are in nature and away from physical stores and maybe even the Internet, it's really refreshing.

Unless just a passing fashion trend, people who are connoisseurs and collectors of H (and other things) tend to be the intensive types.

I think we should list our intensive hobbies/ practices and turn them into habits:

I aim to spend more time on:
Dancing (latin, contemporary ballet and freestyle) I could dance all day 💃
Playing piano (I'm terrible- I'm owning-up to that ) guitar (I used to be good) and castanets (just to annoy my neighbour who revs up his supercar every morning 6am)
Meeting more friends more regularly - always intense, always a pleasure
Reading - actual books (Dante's Inferno is on the BC list for March) I aim to get lost in-between the pages and not get distracted by new season scarves
Keeping a journal (also something I'm terrible at, but I started last month with a few random words, so not exactly 'intensive' but may get there)

 

[gogingercat]

Unless just a passing fashion trend, people who are connoisseurs and collectors of H (and other things) tend to be the intensive types.

I think we should list our intensive hobbies/ practices and turn them into habits:

I aim to spend more time on:
Dancing (latin, contemporary ballet and freestyle) I could dance all day 💃
Playing piano (I'm terrible- I'm owning-up to that ) guitar (I used to be good) and castanets (just to annoy my neighbour who revs up his supercar every morning 6am)
Meeting more friends more regularly - always intense, always a pleasure
Reading - actual books (Dante's Inferno is on the BC list for March) I aim to get lost in-between the pages and not get distracted by new season scarves
Keeping a journal (also something I'm terrible at, but I started last month with a few random words, so not exactly 'intensive' but may get there)

I laughed out loud at 'castanets' 😂

 

[bluediamond35]

I think many have a New Year resolution to pair down wardrobe (including handbags) so their wallets & home will be ready for Hermes when the time is right. At least I do!

 

[ladysarah]

I like this - a new pursuit - and wanted to highlight this as a great answer to those who want to detach - from this brand, shopping as a whole, anything. An intensive hobby or practice (that is NOT collecting bags or knowing lots about Hermes 🤣 ) is a wonderful distraction. I come from a family of explorers and for me, travel to wild places is a great way to get away from anything consumer culture oriented.
I do think that it helps if the hobby takes one away from retail....of course with all hobbies and new learnings there is gear, etc., to buy - but once you are in nature and away from physical stores and maybe even the Internet, it's really refreshing.

Unless just a passing fashion trend, people who are connoisseurs and collectors of H (and other things) tend to be the intensive types.

I think we should list our intensive hobbies/ practices and turn them into habits:

I aim to spend more time on:
Dancing (latin, contemporary ballet and freestyle) I could dance all day 💃
Playing piano (I'm terrible- I'm owning-up to that ) guitar (I used to be good) and castanets (just to annoy my neighbour who revs up his supercar every morning 6am)
Meeting more friends more regularly - always intense, always a pleasure
Reading - actual books (Dante's Inferno is on the BC list for March) I aim to get lost in-between the pages and not get distracted by new season scarves
Keeping a journal (also something I'm terrible at, but I started last month with a few random words, so not exactly 'intensive' but may get there)

Traveling is a wonderful idea, who doesn’t enjoy it? But it may be far less expensive to buy a scarf or a lipstick. I love the scarves and blame @papertiger for this (easier to blame someone else right? ) I don’t collect handbags, and H handbags are definitely a special indulgence treat for me, not something I can afford on a regular basis. Scarves, lipsticks, china are more affordable treats and I suspect that’s true for a lot of H clients. Few people can afford the birkin but many more can get the lipstick or some shoes. Or do you think most people are there for the bags, so it’s bags or famine?

 

[papertiger]

Traveling is a wonderful idea, who doesn’t enjoy it? But it may be far less expensive to buy a scarf or a lipstick. I love the scarves and blame @papertiger for this (easier to blame someone else right? ) I don’t collect handbags, and H handbags are definitely a special indulgence treat for me, not something I can afford on a regular basis. Scarves, lipsticks, china are more affordable treats and I suspect that’s true for a lot of H clients. Few people can afford the birkin but many more can get the lipstick or some shoes. Or do you think most people are there for the bags, so it’s bags or famine?

Sorry about your scarf addiction

I would love to travel more. Although it can be expensive, my additional problem would be I could never get more than 2 weeks off work (at a time). All my travel for the past 15 years bar once has been for work not complaining). A fortnight's holiday is too short for real exploration internally or externally.

I do think that traveling gives one perspective.

 

[ladysarah]

Sorry about your scarf addiction

I would love to travel more. Although it can be expensive, my additional problem would be I could never get more than 2 weeks off work (at a time). All my travel for the past 15 years bar once has been for work not complaining). A fortnight's holiday is too short for real exploration internally or externally.

I do think that traveling gives one perspective.

A bit Off Topic - but yes I agree on the importance of travel. We are lucky that we took gap years and did a little bit of exploring. Two weeks in not enough time to explore, unless it’s a city break exploring the local H boutiques ha!

 

[Veritybelle]

Unless just a passing fashion trend, people who are connoisseurs and collectors of H (and other things) tend to be the intensive types.

I think we should list our intensive hobbies/ practices and turn them into habits:

I aim to spend more time on:
Dancing (latin, contemporary ballet and freestyle) I could dance all day 💃
Playing piano (I'm terrible- I'm owning-up to that ) guitar (I used to be good) and castanets (just to annoy my neighbour who revs up his supercar every morning 6am)
Meeting more friends more regularly - always intense, always a pleasure
Reading - actual books (Dante's Inferno is on the BC list for March) I aim to get lost in-between the pages and not get distracted by new season scarves
Keeping a journal (also something I'm terrible at, but I started last month with a few random words, so not exactly 'intensive' but may get there)

Here are a few of mine:
Roaming - I love every aspect of travel - planning, the wonderful experiences it affords me, the sense of disconnection from daily life, the connections and life experiences I build with my family and my other longtime travel buddies, the widened horizons of my children, the milestone memories it creates….
Writing - I have a newsletter for an audience of grown up women which is a surprisingly intensive but incredibly fun side-hustle.
French - I’ve had a passion for the language since I began learning it as a child, and it takes constant investment to maintain and keep improving.
Music - I used to play a bit but now I’m more of a listener - I want to reduce my habitual passive listening via Spotify and Quobuz and explore my vinyl collection a bit more!
(I’d list exercise but then this would sound like a cliched NY resolution list. So I’ll just say I’ve added cold plunge into my routine and It. Is. Fantastic.)

ETA: I’ve also managed to keep a sweet basil plant alive on my kitchen counter for three whole weeks now, and if that isn’t emotionally intensive I don’t know what is!

 

[textilegirl]

@QuelleFromage and @papertiger, I think you may be on to something. I suspect that many die hards (those who know an awful lot about H, waaaaayyyyyy beyond maintaining relationships to pre-spend for a quota bag!), have a number of other interesting obsessions, and shifting to focus on them is likely to be more rewarding at the moment than dealing with the often not very luxurious experience of shopping with H. Personally, I need a new wallet and I'm so tired of having to remind myself of the myriad reasons why that seems to be so difficult to find at H; I really just want a wallet and not the whole blah, blah, blah.
So, I am with @Veritybelle in seeking to improve my French language skills. I'm also rather obsessed at the moment with the history of Medieval France and the Catholic Church. And gardening season will shortly be upon me....

 

[QuelleFromage]

@QuelleFromage and @papertiger, I think you may be on to something. I suspect that many die hards (those who know an awful lot about H, waaaaayyyyyy beyond maintaining relationships to pre-spend for a quota bag!), have a number of other interesting obsessions, and shifting to focus on them is likely to be more rewarding at the moment than dealing with the often not very luxurious experience of shopping with H. Personally, I need a new wallet and I'm so tired of having to remind myself of the myriad reasons why that seems to be so difficult to find at H; I really just want a wallet and not the whole blah, blah, blah.
So, I am with @Veritybelle in seeking to improve my French language skills. I'm also rather obsessed at the moment with the history of Medieval France and the Catholic Church. And gardening season will shortly be upon me....

This, exactly. So much else to learn, do, and see. I was shopping with friends at les puces in Paris recently and we saw a nice Chocolat box calf Birkin for sale. I talked with the seller a bit, showed her a couple things, and one of my friends said "You might know even more about Hermès than you do about art!"....I don't want to know more about a brand than I do about art!

So back to art I go (many of you know I was a professional photographer for quite a bit). There is always, always more to learn and it will never end, which is great.

I have a very old dog who is of course an adored member of the family, and I lean in very hard to making sure his last years are good years (so far, so good, looking at the 17th birthday soon). Not a hobby per se, but a big focus: that pup has been around for more than a third of my lifetime. (He did try to eat a Toolbox once. So cute.)

I climb mountains, and that requires a lot of physical training, so I am very focused on that (can't carry H these places really unless you do, say Horizon oxygen mask with Barenia trim 🤣 ).

And y'know, I live here in Paris BUT I was not brought up as a native French speaker and I could certainly work even more on that

 

[papertiger]

This, exactly. So much else to learn, do, and see. I was shopping with friends at les puces in Paris recently and we saw a nice Chocolat box calf Birkin for sale. I talked with the seller a bit, showed her a couple things, and one of my friends said "You might know even more about Hermès than you do about art!"....I don't want to know more about a brand than I do about art!

So back to art I go (many of you know I was a professional photographer for quite a bit). There is always, always more to learn and it will never end, which is great.

I have a very old dog who is of course an adored member of the family, and I lean in very hard to making sure his last years are good years (so far, so good, looking at the 17th birthday soon). Not a hobby per se, but a big focus: that pup has been around for more than a third of my lifetime. (He did try to eat a Toolbox once. So cute.)

I climb mountains, and that requires a lot of physical training, so I am very focused on that (can't carry H these places really unless you do, say Horizon oxygen mask with Barenia trim 🤣 ).

And y'know, I live here in Paris BUT I was not brought up as a native French speaker and I could certainly work even more on that

A a photographer you obviously have a great eye, see detail as well as overall proportions, texture and colour. Loving beautiful objects we own for their visual presence, design, development, engineering, construction, and usefulness is nothing to feel same about. Hermes may not be hung in the Louvre or Carnavalet, but beautiful and useful things are part of the creative landscape, just 3D, portable and personal.

Artisans are creatives too, and at H, they're just a part of a team called Hermes. A craftsperson knows they'll always be unsung heroes working behind the scenes day after day. There should be pleasure in arts and crafts, we don't need to buy anything, but there should be no ill-feeling if we do or don't. Buying is not bad either, bar the ridiculous prise rises that mostly go to the shareholders, H also supports a huge network of related industries and pays people's wages.

I think it's great you know all about the things you own and where they come from. You can know all about arts and crafts, and there's always more to know.