My first Birkin

August 2020…my first Birkin!

I've just managed to score a Birkin at the FSH store in Paris so I wanted to share my experience...

I have wanted a Birkin ever since I saw Samantha on SATC using Lucy Lius name to get one! I’ve researched on and off for years about how to go about getting one.

For anyone who doesn’t know, to get an appointment at the FSH store you have to apply for it online using your phone. You apply between 10am-5pm the day before you want the appointment. I was told to apply a few days earlier to get my details into the system because you almost always get rejected the first few times you try.

I started applying for appointments on the 27th July using both mine and my husbands passports. We were both turned down for appointments on Tues, Wed and Thursday. On Thursday night I received a text from Hermes saying…

“We are pleased to confirm your appointment. You will be welcomed on Jul 31, 2020 at 10:30 AM precise in our Faubourg Saint Honoré store.

Hermès

Faubourg Saint-Honoré”

The only problem with that is I wasn’t arriving in Paris until the 1st!! I called them and said that my flight had been changed and that I wouldn’t arrive until the 1st and I asked if I could move the appointment to the 1st. I was politely told no, if the appointment had been the same day they would have held it but they can’t transfer it to the next day and I would have to apply online again. I thought that I’d lost my chance, I was worried that they would have blacklisted me! But I still applied on the 31st for an appointment on the 1st.

It was a massive shock when I got a text confirming my appointment for the 1st! I couldn’t believe it. Only issue was that my appointment was 10.30am and I didn’t land until 1pm! As soon as we landed in Paris on Saturday, we rushed to the hotel to change and walked along to the FSH store.

When I got there I asked a lady at the entrance of the store where I should go to speak to someone about an appointment. She directed me straight ahead up a couple of stairs to the “Leather Appointment” desk. I went straight up and told them I had an appointment at 10.30am but I had only just got into the city now. I apologised and asked if it was still possible to speak to an SA. They said yes! I’m so glad we had to wear masks in the store because it did such a good job of hiding my stupid grinning face!

I was told to hang around and would receive a text when my SA was ready for me. I only had to wait around 5 minutes before I received this text…

“Your sales associate is now available to meet you. Please meet a hostess at the leather department upstairs.

Hermès

Faubourg Saint-Honoré”

The SA asked me what I was looking for and I said I was looking for a bag, preferably a Birkin, in size 25 or 30. I said I was looking for a neutral colour, preferably a grey such as Etain or Gris Asphalte. I said I would prefer palladium hardware and Togo leather. She asked me if I had tried any other sizes and I said no. She showed me a few display bags for me to get an idea of size and I said I think I would prefer a 30. She then asked me if I would consider any other bags, at that point I asked for a Mini Kelly, she said she didn’t think there were any in store but she would check if there had been any delivered. She also said that if there were no neutral colours would I be willing to consider any other brighter colours. I said yes I was very open to seeing different colours. The whole time she was tapping away on an iPhone type device, I couldn’t see the screen so I wasn’t sure what she was doing. She then told me to wait in the handbag area and she would be back in 5 minutes.

I was a sweaty mess, I was so nervous and excited! My SA came back after about 10 minutes with two boxes. From what I had read, if the SA comes back with boxes it means that they aren’t offering you a Birkin, Kelly or Constance, they are offering you something else. However, she came over to me and said the magical words “Madame please follow me” I knew at that point I was going to be taken to a private room which is almost always a sign that they are offering you a B,K or C! We went up two flights of winding stairs to a private room with two chairs and a table. She asked me to sit down and told me that she had found me a Birkin! Hallelujah!!!!

As she was unboxing the bag she told me that she couldn’t find any 25 or 30s but she thought I would like this one. She then presented me the Birkin. It is in Togo Leather with Rose Gold Hardware in the colour Etain. When I saw the rose gold hardware I was immediately sold! The colour along with the grey is so beautiful. She told me that if I thought it was too big she would go and look at Kellys for me. But I was totally sold on the Birkin. Looking back, I kinda wish I had asked what Kellys she had but I was scared she was going to take the Birkin away haha. I told her I was happy with the Birkin and I wanted to take it.

In the other box she brought a liner, she asked if I was interested in one of those too. Now as you all probably know, I own Lanillio Liners so I wasn’t going to pay £££ for a Hermes liner when I make my own! So I politely declined. She then told me she would take me down to the accessories area so that I could look at Twillys, now I dont really like Twillys on bags but I felt a bit like I had to buy them. She didn’t pressure me at all but I’m too polite sometimes and I felt that because I had declined the liner I should probably just buy some Twillys. I ended up choosing two really pretty pink Twillys (which I’ll probably never use!) and just before I went to pay she brought me the little orange bag charm and asked if I wanted it too. For some reason I said yes, no idea why because I’ll never use that either!

She asked me if there was anything else I wanted and I said no. She took some details from me because I had no purchase history and then took me to the desk to pay. I paid using my AMEX card and waited for my bag to be packaged back up. She then gave me my bag along with my charm and twillys and a lipstick and perfume sample too. And I was outta there! My husband had gone for a wander so I called him to come back and get my picture outside the store with my big orange bag 🙂

The whole process took just under an hour. I flew easyJet so I was only allowed one carry on, I had to arrange for my little case to be put in the hold which cost £25 and I took my Birkin on as a carry-on.

And thats my story! This was my very first Hermes item, I have no other purchase history. I do think that I got my appointment and bag quite easily due to the pandemic. Paris was quiet, there weren’t many tourists at all and the whole city seemed much quieter than when I had been before. They may have had more stock available and less customers which could be why it was all so easy for me or it could have just been good luck.

Thanks for reading everyone! I didn’t mean for this to be so long but I did so much research from other people experiences that I wanted to include every detail from mine incase it helps someone else :)