Birkin 101

I already told my friends that I need to own a piece of Birkin in my lifetime. Why not now? It's still too expensive for me and looks a little too old. But it doesn't hurt to have a little knowledge about this dream bag.

" Birkins come in sizes 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45cm. The 45 is a travel Birkin with slightly longer straps. There is also a similar bag called a Haut au Courries (sp?) (means High Belts in French) that is slightly taller with shorter straps. These come in sizes 27, 32 and, I believe 37. People still call this a Birkin.

For leather, there are texured and smooth varieties. The most popular leather for Birkins right now is Togo, a scratch resistant textured calf leather. You can also get smooth leathers, and goat leathers, as well as exotics. Some leathers -Togo, Clemence, Natural Barenia, Chevre - (goat,) Box (very smooth and shiny) Chamonix, are always around. Other leathers are produced for awhile, then get discontinued (Veau Graine Lisse, Courcheval for example.) These are usually the pressed leathers with a bit of texture and sheen.

Then, there is the hardware. You can get 24K plated gold, silver palladium, a more burnished ruthenium and one I LOVE called guilloche. This is palladium hw with a diamond cut pattern on it. Fabulous and rare!!

Then there are colors. More than you can imagine. Reds, greens, oranges, browns, yellow... the most popular Birkin colors are Gold (really a rich tan color,) black and Blue Jean (a sky blue - gorgeous.) "

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