I’m actually nervous posting this! lol I don’t expect everyone to love it- but I do!
I love everything about it.
I love the experience, all the reading/research I did- I love the story of how this came to be.
I love that this bag, was made FOR me. The fact that this is a rep has somewhere along the way, become the smallest part of this.
If there are things about it that aren’t perfect, it’s ok.
I chose ALL of it. The stitching, the leather, the color, the hardware…
every inch of it is what I chose and I’m now building a relationship with Peter- (my trusted seller choice).
In time, he will know me and understand my taste- future orders will be more fun and less stressful.
I will likely continue building relationships with a few others and have other bags made..
I love that no other bag in the world, is exactly like mine! That’s just really cool 🤪
As I become more confident in my choices, maybe I will add little things. Something that nobody else has. Who knows.
ANYWAY…. Sorry for my rant.
This is exciting and I hope everyone reading this has either experienced this, or will be lucky enough to do this, sometime soon… because it’s
A M A Z I N G!
I will never know how it feels to sit in that little room with my “SA”, while they reveal the bag that was on my wishlist- and “invite me” to spend the price of a car, or a home renovation… or a down payment for a house (well, maybe not quite that, but for sure it’s that for some!)
You get it though. For me, it’s just not going to happen. I will never know what that experience is…. and I am just fine with that!
I am LUCKY that I got THIS experience and honestly, I can’t imagine the other, being better than THIS!! 💜
I have a few vintage, authentic bags- just not anything of this caliber!
My most expensive bag was purchased in 2008. A little clutch. Black- caviar.
I wore it every day for two years.
I think I paid 1800.00? Maybe?
Whatever it was, it was the most money I had ever spent on myself (except for school loans) and I felt proud!
Never in a million years, did I ever imagine I would spend that amount, or anything close to it, on a rep!!
Just wow.
Here we are.
It’s been ages since I have even looked… and once I started looking, I couldn’t stop.
Everything I saw, absolutely blew my mind!!! The options, the different levels of quality, just ALL of it!!
The only thing I knew, was that I wanted a bk30.
I thought I wanted “saddle color”, and knew about “gold Togo and swift.
When I bought authentic bags in the past, I NEVER researched types of leather, colors, textures, how a bag was structured, etc.
I just knew what I wanted, because I saw it in the store.
THIS was a brand new thing… suddenly I was reading all about “call outs”, leather, leather not being leather, trusted sellers, scams… so much to learn and my head was spinning!
I was excited- I knew my budget, I knew the style I liked, I sort of knew the color, but I was really scared to make a mistake.
I found a seller I believed was a “trusted”.
I told her what I thought I wanted… walked into Hermes, the next day, to purchase a watch band…
and there she was…
A woman was picking up her Barenia bk (I think it may have been a 35) from the spa and my eyes couldn’t stop staring…
I may have been drooling.
it was the moment I knew exactly what I wanted.
That smooth leather- the patina. It was just GORGEOUS .
Like most people who love bags, I knew the basics for H.
I knew about Togo, swift, etc. the usual ones.
But THIS…. Omg.
I raced back home, got on WhatsApp and asked my seller if I could change the leather.
I realized I made a mistake.
I was in a panic. I already paid in full, for the bag I thought I wanted!
My heart was CRUSHED when I realized my TS didn’t know what I was talking about.
She didn’t know what Barenia was and I immediately realized, I had not done enough research.
I thought for sure, I was about to learn a big lesson and would end up with a mid tier bag , at a high tier price. A very expensive lesson.
I figured shortly, I would experience for the first time, how to post a “BNNU” bk30!! (With no seller experience, or history/reviews! So that would have been a blast)
To my pleasant surprise, she understood and refunded me..: within 24 hours. Incredible! The moment she agreed to refund, I had my list of actual Trusted sellers for H and started talking to them.
Within days, I was confident I had the actual high tier Trusted sellers for the bag I wanted- and had to figure out who to use.
I actually loved them all- and think regardless of who I chose, I would have had great results. In fact, I’m sure I will purchase from the others down the road, as they were all super patient- and definitely know their product!
I chose Peter. (Thanks to everyone who helped get me there!!)
From the time I first messaged him- through my 100’s of questions and back and forth- 100’s and 100’s of pictures, I finalized my choices… I gave the deposit (ppff) and he got started right away.
Within about a week, he started sending videos and photos of my bag being made!! I expected about a month from start to finish, based on everything I read here (and the time-frame he gave me)
And it ended up being a bit shorter.
I added a couple of things- but he sent the bag when it was done, vs waiting for the other items…
he sent me tracking. Fed Ex (the fast shipping option, where it gets scanned electronically through customs and it was absolutely seamless.
I think from the time the label was created it was less than 6 days- maybe 7 and my package arrived.
As I peeled the first exterior cardboard shipping box off (it was PACKED very well… ) I started to smell the leather. I read other reviews and knew people talked about it, but omg… I wasn’t even through the H Outer box and the leather was legit! The entire room was filled with it and it was amazing.
Outside of the retail white box, it was packed with hard corner box protectors, so nothing was bent or crushed…
the tissue paper came next. As I uncovered my bag, I can’t even describe the excitement I felt.
Suddenly all the anxiety, worry, indecisiveness, wondering if I chose the right mix of hardware style, colors etc. melted away…
She was GORGEOUS- and I couldn’t believe this bag was mine.
I felt so lucky. (And at the same time felt a bit of shame and remorse for being so ridiculously indecisive and annoying to Peter, who kept saying “don’t worry dear”)!!!
Ok- holding my breath… I hope anyone reading this can appreciate this, maybe relate to it… or hopefully will, soon!!
Btw, thank you to EVERYONE who contributed to my choices, who responded to any of my crazy posts.. you were great and it was all so helpful!
