Carefully avoiding the day of rail strikes last week, I did end up seeing the fabulous Hermès Leather Forever exhibition at the Royal Academy. For more details, see here.
I was accompanied by another Hermès fan,so the fun was certainly doubled. It was a fine chance to see (and feel) complete hides ready for cutting out the pieces of leather needed to make a bag or belt or item of clothing. I had never handled Evercalf before, so this was very useful. I adored of course the selection of fine bags, perfect pieces of wearable art and appreciated for it as they would not remotely fit into my lifestyle (the adorable Kelly sellier in Lizard Bleu Brighton springs to mind). There were some rare bags too, such as a Troika Plume.
Elegant travel luggage was lovingly displayed, pieces that told a story of luxury travel. A fabulous winged saddle, made for the exhibition, a small selection of shoes and the piece de resistance for me: a collection of ladies shoes in miniature, made so small that only an infant could wear them (but of course not walk in them). They showed of the craftsmanship maybe even better for me than some of the bags.
A whole room is dedicated to hardware on bags often shown on older bags in styles that are now discontinued.
If you are dithering over whether it is worth seeing, please don't delay as the exhibition will end next week.
A bit of shopping nicely rounded of the day. You may remember my quest for the perfect red scarf a few months ago. Well, I finally struck lucky at the Royal Exchange store where my friend an I both received wonderful service.
After a brief dalliance with "Tendresse Feline" in the store (a stunning red scarf with navy border), I tried on a 70cm twill from the Men's collection: Recto Verso in the tomatte/noir colourway. I think this will be a staple everyday scarf in a good shade of red for me. Worn here with a black shirt and a grey striped cardigan, just right for a leisurely Sunday brunch with friends.
Hope you had a great weekend, too.
Wonderful choice , love the red scarf and the way you're wearing it .
ReplyDeleteThe news led me to expect a warm day today today, but no surprise it's very grey and chilly again .
We visited Kew yesterday, and I almost froze to death , but it was worth every shiver to see the lush greens of Spring . The rhododendrons were extraordinary , such colours and abundance .
I owe the knot to you; it works well for the 70's, so thanks for the tip. Lucky you at Kew and I agree it was an extraordinarily cold and miserable weekend.
DeleteWow, Bienchen, you wear the red scarf in a very effortless mode, it's almost like a neutral scarf! Wonderful! It is interesting to see how the red scarf changes its impression according to the wearer, you, lanit, Tango… three completely different ways!
ReplyDeleteYes, thanks to Estrella I am effortlessly chic:) You are right about this being nearly a neutral. Just a muted red and black and a very simple, nearly abstract design. I see I am in very good compnay there... ;)
DeleteI join my words to Estrella's ones : the scarf is gorgeous - I particularly like the subtle pattern which looks like a dip dye and the color seems really beautiful (red but not too bright - and the way you wear it is simply perfect - I love when the scarf seems to have been tied "à la va-vite". I always forget that there are also scarves in men's department ! What a pity : my looks is often boyish (I like pants, leather jackets, shirts, loafers and brogues). Thank you for this discovery.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and time to call in at the men's department soon, they also had this in blue/black and it was just as pretty but there is definitively no blue gap in my collection.
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