Tie One On

Bonjour, Ya'll!
The word on the street in Paris is "SOLDES"...but, what does that mean?  Twice a year, the government here in France allows sales, in January and July.  So here we are in the midst of soldes-mania in Paris.  To further add to the craziness, the luxury brand, Hermes, has its ONCE (and ONLY once) yearly sale.

If you aren't completely familiar with the brand name, consider this:  In 1956, Grace Kelly was starring in Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief".  Movie costumer Edith Head purchased a bag for Kelly's character, in which Grace, the woman, fell in love with.  This bag?   An Hermes bag, in 1977 renamed the "Kelly Bag" in honor of Grace Kelly.  It now remains Hermes' all-time best seller. Price: staring around $4000.00--I found most in the neighborhood of $13, 000.00 for resale.  Hermes does not offer or disclose their prices online for new bags.

Here's a little clip showing Hermes' other big-selling item:  The Birkin Bag.

But the most famous item of all at Hermes is the scarf.  One is sold every 20 seconds, according to my Google. Of course, they are a little pricey...cheaper than the bags, though!

One of my favorite new designs: collier de chiens

So, even the jaded Parisians queue up for the Hermes sale.  Naturally, I needed to participate in this most French of rituals for the obvious cultural experience.  So, off I went to Porte Maillot where the sale was happening in the exhibit hall for 4 days.

First of all, there was more security than a state dinner.  I stood in line while security checked us all out for about an hour.  My friend Katie went the first hour of the first day--got there before 7:00 am when it was NUTS with people running from the coat check to the next lines (for scarves).  All in all, there was a whole lot of line standing. But, we all had our smart phones with Candy Crush, so we coped. and yes, you read that correctly, there is a coat check at the sale. (very proper and French this sale).

It was run in a very orderly fashion though and there was plenty of well, everything I saw, to go around.  Some of it was just too chic for me--I'm an Isaac Mizrahri (for Target) kind of girl, so $3000 for a pair of shoes really isn't my gig.  But, I am a great observer and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! *Probably a good time for my first disclaimer:  I asked for a Hermes scarf for Christmas, which Santa went to a LOT of trouble to find and I love and appreciate all 3 of my Santas.*

Hermes 2013 Chasse En Inde, my Christmas present.

When I finally made it to the front of the scarf line, I met a new friend (big surprise, I know!) She was a savvy American living in London who came to the sale for the 2nd year.  We shopped together for a while until we were elbowed apart by a pint-sized Asian lady screaming into a cell phone and grabbing one of every design.  Lucky for me, I found a favorite quickly since everyone is only allowed 15 minutes at the scarf counter.  Hermes sucked me in for one big one and one small one.  I just couldn't resist. Sadly, no purses, bracelets, or leather goods there, except for a few shoes and clothes.  Guess Hermes can't stoop too low by discounting TOO many items.

Les Mustangs, created in 2004 to celebrate the opening of the Dallas Hermes store.

My big one!

I had so much fun, I called my friend Jeanne-Marie to come over and go back with me.  or maybe for moral support when Paul kills me for spending that much money on 2 scarves...She did and we got back in line and went in again!  We somehow resisted the temptation of buying matching leather jackets (for only 13,000 euros each). She shared the article below from Texas Monthly about the only American who ever designed for Hermes. We looked through all the sale stuff and even asked (in Jeanne-Marie's much-better-than-mine French) about the "Texas-designed" scarves, but no luck.  Oh, well, there's always next year!!  (or ebay!)  Thanks to my friends Katie and Jeanne-Marie for living out yet another Paris dream with me!

 http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/portrait-artist-postman