The Holy Grail of all Handbags - Hermès Birkin

Hello all-- the Redneck Fashionista is back! After a nasty bout of bronchitis that nearly took a turn into pneumonia, I'm back in action, sucking on an albuterol inhaler and praying for warmer weather.

This post is dedicated to THE BAG. You know the bag of which I speak. It arrives lovingly wrapped in an orange box from Hermès, inside a buttery soft dustbag that smells of the world's finest leather. Yes, I'm talking about the Birkin. The holy grail of all handbags. Seen on celebrities from Jennifer Aniston to Eva Longoria to Victoria Beckham and everyone in between, this is the accessory to end all accessories-- the bag of bags. According to many fashion and gossip columnists, "you're nobody in Hollywood if you don't have a Birkin," and we can see why.

Each Birkin is handmade by specially trained craftsmen at Hermès with years of experience. That's right, hand-made. Over 2,800 hand stitches go into each bags, and one Paris atelier only turns out an average of 6 bags per week. That may answer some of your questions as to why there is a need for the notorious "waiting list" which is rumored to be between 2 and 5 years. In actuality, in most US and UK stores, there is a call list an an order list, and the names that are on it are people who have made special relationships with sales associates and have either ordered a bag or requested a call when a Birkin that fits their criteria comes into the shop.

Dozens of different animal skins are available for Birkins-- including basic leather, ostrich, crocodile and alligator. The base price of a Birkin is around $7500, but the price can go up to six digits-- that's right, over $100k USD, depending on the leather, hardware and size. Hardware is available in palladium and gold and the highly sought after, almost unavailable ruthenium. You can even get diamonds! For example, a 35cm Porosus Crocodile Birkin with diamond-encrusted hardware will be well over a hundred thousand US dollars. Hardware is available in palladium and gold and the highly sought after, almost unavailable ruthenium.

I'll be getting mine soon-- within the month, hopefully, if things play out as I've planned-- and you can guarantee I'll be posting pictures. Until then, I'm off to dream of sumptuous leather and hand-made luxury.

This has been the Redneck Fashionista, coming to you from the middle of Nowhere, where cow print is, like, sooooo in right now. *Blech!*