u/dazzledaisy397

I swore off Dior about three years ago after a pretty bad experience with quality and customer service. The long and short of it was that I ordered a bag from a Hawaii SA (due to the price difference), the bag had multiple, visible defects, and Dior was entirely unhelpful with the return process. Their only options were for me to drive four hours round trip to deliver the bag at my nearest store so that they could ship it to Hawaii, or pay $150+ for my own shipping label back to Hawaii.

All that to say, I didn’t see myself shopping there again, but I still loved the feminine designs. During a recent trip to Paris, we decided to pop in to the flagship store for some eye candy. I’d visited last winter/spring (and had visited the Dior Galerie on that trip as well), so I expected to love looking at the gorgeous store itself, but didn’t expect to fall in love with any bags.

When we walked in, I was immediately drawn to the center display in the front room. It had a variety of unique Lady Dior and D-Joy bags, as well as some of the Cigale bags. I tried on the small, but felt it was a bit big for my liking, so I asked if it came in any smaller sizes.

At first, the SA pointed to the one mini exotic on the top shelf, and said it only came in exotic, then said she would go check. She came back several minutes later with this pink mini! I didn’t even know the bag existed in a mini, and she said it hasn’t hit the US yet. I contemplated a two-tone mini Lady Dior and D-Joy as well, but the Cigale won out. Even though no one else will see it, the wax seal detail on the interior magnet really sealed the deal (no pun intended).

Not pictured, but it does come with a strap just like the small and medium. I’ve included a photo of the mini next to the small, and the mini next to the mini Lady Dior and D-Joy for those curious about sizing!

The SA was so sweet, and walked us over to the Galerie and let us skip the line and enter at no cost. It was a really lovely experience, and made me feel excited to give the brand another shot!

As I continued wandering around the store, I was finding so many pieces that I loved, from shoes to RTW to other bags. I haven’t ever walked in to Dior and felt this in love with so many pieces, so it’s safe to say that I’m thrilled with what Jonathan Anderson is doing.

Thanks everyone for letting me share!

Back in the spring, I had visited Paris and had walk-in success, ultimately being offered a B30 in vert mangrove togo leather, as well as this gris misty/noir swift verso K25 with permabrass (of course, this was what I chose).

I recently visited again, and wanted to share the “failure” experience as well. I often see commentary that people only post about the successes, and that it can therefore skew people’s ideas of the likelihood of getting a QB in Paris. So, here’s the fully candid recount of both trips!

Spring trip
During the spring visit, we got walk-in appointments at FSH four days in a row, as well as two walk-in appointments at Sevres on different days. For the second appointment onward, I had 3-4k euro in Paris prespend on my husband’s account.

We always approached the desk in a friendly manner, I always wore something from Hermes besides a bag, and we entered the lottery each day. I think this matters, because if they’re entertaining the idea of a walk-in appointment, they will often ask for your email so they can check and confirm that you’ve been requesting online (I think this is also a way to view your profile for possible spend).

In the final FSH appointment, I got the two QB offers. I had honestly started to think it wasn’t going to be possible, because that was my sixth appointment! Had we not been staying right near FSH, I probably wouldn’t have given it this much effort, but it was way enough to pop in at the start of each day.

The SA assigned to us mentioned that they recognized us from the leather desk from a few days earlier, and it seemed to work in our favor that we were “familiar faces,” as the SA put it.

Summer trip
My game plan this time was to build my own account in Paris, since we already had a QB under my husband’s account from earlier in the year. We got walk-in appointments at both FSH and Sevres under my account with zero prespend, then I bought couple of sweaters at George V on my account and got an appointment there as well (this was all on the first day). So, three appointments in one day would lead me to believe that appointments are not being formally recorded.

As the trip progressed, I got two more appointments at Sevres and one more at George V. There were a few things that differed during this experience.

The main thing I noticed that was different during this visit was that the leather desk attendants actually referenced past appointments I had had, and used that as rationale not to grant further appointments. I still don’t think that they’re recording appointments, but I’m speculating here - I say this because, in one attempt at FSH, the woman said (without checking my name or account), “Didn’t you have an appointment yesterday?” I told her it had been several days prior, to which she responded that they must wait at least 7 days between appointments.

Of course, my prior experience has proven to be different, but we know that Hermes changes their rules whenever they please! With this particular leather desk attendant, it seemed that the familiarity backfired, while it had previously helped.

Final thoughts
The second trip really reinforced how much of this is about luck, who happens to be tending to the leather desk when you approach, and the SA you get paired with. For example, it might have been good luck that the spring SA viewed our efforts positively, while it was bad luck that the FSH attendant viewed it negatively (she was almost scolding about it - it felt weird). I’m sure that the inventory and your wishlist factors in as well, but I do think that a quota bag as a walk-in is a very rare occurrence.

Also, I have no idea if my Paris account is linked to my US account, so I have no clue if my early 2026 QB and my pending SO were “working against me” in Paris. There are a lot of unknowns!

If you have a loose, flexible itinerary, and if you’re staying near a store, I think it’s worth a shot - but I don’t know if it’s worth consistently going out of your way. My efforts definitely waned towards the end of this trip, and to be honest, I felt a little bit frustrated by the ever-changing rules and attitudes at the leather desk. Most people were very kind, and at worst, they were just a bit icy - but never rude. Regardless, it doesn’t feel great to feel scolded for trying to play the game that Hermes created!

Lastly, I put “success” and “failure” in quotes, because I do think that in many ways, the summer trip was still a success! Lots of walk-in appointments and lots of great non-QB offers - just none that were quite what I wanted.

Best of luck to anyone else headed to Paris soon! Enjoy it!

Welcoming a new B25 in rouge H to the family! Within the last several months, I had sold a few bags, and was holding onto the money waiting for the right thing to come along. I’ve shopped resale (online) in the past (though I’ve now sold all of my resale bags except for my vintage box Kelly 28), and I shop in the boutique, and I’d decided that if I was going to get another resale bag, it was going to be a newer stamp in pristine condition, and it was going to be from a seller that I could visit in person so I could inspect the bags myself and try on different colors/styles.

I paid a visit to the NYC Fashionphile Flagship location this weekend, and although I’d gone in with the intention of getting a K25 sellier or a Mini Kelly, I left with this beauty. It’s a 2024 rouge H B25, which still had the stickers intact (though I promptly removed them) and no visible signs of wear and tear that I could spot.

The selection of MKs was pretty limited, but there were some beautiful K25s that were in the running as well (I’ll include photos, but I also considered K25s in mauve sylvestre, rouge de couer, and noir). I also have to say that I loved the NY Fashionphile location - it was so quiet and serene (probably because there’s no signage at all and you have to go through security to get to the showroom), and the SA just let me take my time trying on and inspecting the bags. They came back here or there to see if I needed help, but otherwise, gave me my space, which I appreciated. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting a bag in the boutique and don’t plan to stop, but it was really nice to be able to browse and just pick whatever I wanted.

Since I have three Kellys with a MK SO on the way, a B25 felt like it filled an appropriate gap in my collection. I still want to add a K25 sellier to the collection, and that’s what’s next on my wishlist at my store. In the meantime, I’m glad that I went the resale route for this one!

If you have favorite twillies to pair with rouge H, please drop photos and names in the comments!

ETA and before anyone jumps down my throat about the hardware on the sangles not having engraving, this is just a portrait mode photo issue!

First, let me share the story behind the red medium Diana! I’ve wanted a vintage Chanel - specifically, a birth year bag - for at least a couple of years. I love Dianas in a pop of color, specifically, in caviar. And I love the seller My Grandfather’s Things, and their live sales are my favorite show (although it’s been a bit since they’ve had one!). Back in January, they did a sale preview, and I remarked to my husband how much I loved the red caviar Diana that they previewed. When it came time for the live, the red Diana never made it into the lineup… because, unbeknownst to me, he’d bought it! He’d been saving it for a specific occasion, and just gave it to me this weekend. (As a side note, I’ve purchased a vintage Hermes Kelly from them as well, and both bags have been in stunning condition!)

Anyways, now onto the comparison between this Series 2 caviar Diana and my 23P caviar small classic flap. I adore the classic flap, but I’ve been unimpressed with how it’s held up over three years of infrequent/intermittent and careful use.

The Leather
You can see in the photos that the caviar leather in the vintage and the 23P are quite different. The caviar nodes in the modern are smaller and more raised. In person, the feel is much more plasticky. The vintage feels like leather, but it still has a sturdy and durable feel.

The Straps
This is, maybe, the biggest difference to me. The leather on the vintage strap is rolled under and stitched, whereas the leather on the modern strap appears to be glued down. As you can see, this has resulted in some peeling and lifting/“fraying.” This change in construction just feels incredibly lazy, especially given the egregious price increases.

The Hardware
As we all know, the days of 24k gold hardware are long gone. If I remember correctly, the blue 23P bag is meant to have “light gold hardware,” so maybe it’s not fair to compare, but the richness of the vintage hardware is unmatched.

The Corner Wear & Overall Condition
I’ve struggled with corner wear on the 23P bag, and it makes me quite nervous to use it moving forward. Again, this is a bag that I’ve had for less than three years (purchased July 2023 straight from Chanel) and have used pretty infrequently. I’m not excessively cautious with my bags, but I’m aware and I treat them well. Looking at the corners of the Diana, I’d think that this bag was newer than the 23P… and it’s ~35 years old.

My Conclusion
Like many others before me, I’m now fully converted to vintage. It’s already been years since I’ve bought a new Chanel bag, because my heart breaks when I go in and see bags with visibly crooked flaps sitting on display, and in addition to this classic flap, I’ve experienced other quality issues in new bags as well. It also just makes me sad that a brand I aspired to shop at throughout my youth has, in my opinion, gone downhill so much! It used to be a dream to buy a bag at the Rue Cambon store, but when I visited Paris earlier in the year, I didn't even feel a desire to purchase anything. On the flip side, I think it will be fun to hunt for specific vintage bags I want - a pink caviar bag and a light blue Diana are on the short list! So, maybe vintage will be a great avenue for me to fall back in love with Chanel!

Thought it would be fun to do a comparison of two bags that my brother would probably say “are exactly the same,” but that - to an Hermes collector - are entirely different!

The first is a Kelly 25 retourne in togo leather, gold, with gold hardware, purchased from my home store early 2026. The second is a Kelly 25 retourne in swift leather, gris misty/noir verso, with permabrass hardware, purchased from Paris during a walk-in appointment this spring.

I’ve found that the grained togo Kelly feels more casual, whereas the smooth texture and fine grain of swift makes it feel a bit easier to dress up (before anyone comes at me, I’m not talking evening/cocktail attire - just a nice dinner that wouldn’t require a clutch, but that might feel a bit more elevated). Although togo is a soft leather, it does feel a bit more structured to the touch when you get in and out of it, while the swift feels very soft, buttery, and pliable when you touch it or open it. Togo feels more durable than swift, but I think it’s only in my head! I haven’t actually had an issues with swift where I’ve found it prone to scratching or anything similar.

As far as hardware, the gold is definitely gold (obviously). Permabrass does have a palladium-like look in certain lighting or against certain outfits, but other times, it looks like it could be gold hardware (if I didn’t put the two right next to one another).

I love that the gold Kelly is super classic, and I love that the gris misty/noir is more unique with its verso coloring and the permabrass hardware. I’m also a huge fan of the way that swift takes color - my first QB offer was a monochrome B30 colormatic in swift ardoise, and I turned it down because I wanted a classic, but I fell in love with swift when I saw it!

While I do want to add a sellier K25 to the collection someday, I personally love the versatility and easy use of retourne. If you own a Birkin/Kelly in swift, or another less-traditional leather than togo or epsom, I’d love to see photos and hear what you like and dislike about it!