Katie Holmes Rocks the Birkin

[Marco]

Katie Holmes Rocks the Birkin

Filed Under: Hermes Handbags, Celebrity Purses

By: Erin D.








Joey Potter who? All traces of her former tomboy self have been eradicated judging by Katie Holmes’s tragically glam look. Seriously - Mrs. Cruise is working it. Just take a look at that gigantic brown leather Hermes purse, which could easily fit hubby Tom inside. One can only imagine how much a supersized handbag like that costs (gulp). I’m also loving Katie’s skirt, red heels, and white top - unfussy but undeniably gorgeous.


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Photos from PopSugar.com.

[kitsch_k]

this girl is really serious abt being a fashionista...that birkin is fabulous...its just too big though...

[Barbara]

Love the bag but its just to big.

[Mirrorball]

I have to agree on the size. It would be nice to travel with, but not for everyday.

[westminster17]

This is NOT a Birkin bag. This is the predecessor to the Birkin, the travel bag known as the HAUT DE COURROIES, and if you take a look at page 38 of the Le Monde D'Hermes 1999 Vol. I, you will see a vintage version. It was originally created to be a travel ("carry-on") bag and started about 45 cm and got larger. When they wanted to create a new handbag for Jane Birkin, they simply downsized this travel bag.

You used to see these in the Paris store all the time up until about 10 or 12 years ago when they became very scarce. They were sold for less than the Birkin, adjusted for inflation, and when the demand for the handbag soared, they obviously decided that selling a handbag with less leather and stitching for a higher price made a lot more sense than continuing to make so many of the Haut de Courroies travel bags. Some 20 years ago, when I was fortunate enough to travel from San Francisco to Paris in first class (on business), you would always see several women carrying them, and they looked great and worked well as a carryon, I'm sure.

[Jewel]

Is this a similar purse to the one that Lily Allen had not to long ago as well? I think I had the same feelings toward that one that I do toward this one. It's just way too big.

[westminster17]

Again, this is NOT meant to be a bag; it is meant as a piece of carryon luggage. Hence, its 45 cm (18") size. A piece of carryon luggage that could be slipped under the seat in front of you or in the overhead bin, but also be easily accessed. In fact, when these were popular some 20 years ago, the only women who carried them were in the front of the plane with plenty of footroom and no worries about going through security inspections and having to open everything or push it through an x-ray machine.
I suspect that when Katie Holmes was photographed, she was in an airport or otherwise traveling. No one uses one otherwise, as far as I know.

[mattilda]

westminster17 thanks a lot for an info!! i just have some questions (if you dont mind) as i cant really find Le Monde D'Hermes 1999 Vol.1 and mostly everything on HAUT DE COURROIES is in french of course...

what i did find is an info that HAUT DE COURROIES "was born" in 1900 and the catalogue with the birkin sizes (from 27x32x16 till 48x60x30). so i was wondering is HAUT DE COURROIES still HAUT DE COURROIES or maybe its just xxl Birkin now? is there any difference between those two besides size? (ive heard somewhere that HAUT DE COURROIES has shorter handles but im not sure about that) and do you maybe know the price?

thanks in adv.

[westminster17]

Mattilda,

I do not recall ever seeing the bag in a U.S. Hermes boutique but it was always available in the Paris stores between five and twenty-five years ago. The price was about the same as the Birkin, although prices for their handbags were always about one-half of the U.S. prices over all of those years. The 1985-86 LeMonde D'Hermes shows the Kelly priced at $1,275 and the Birkin at $2,675, both in calfskin. Page 32 of the 1984-85 issue shows the Haut a Courroies as a travel bag, but they did not list prices until the following year.

Up until about ten years ago they could be ordered in any color, any leather and any size. I suspect that they make very few of them these days and that they are primarily ordered by European customers who are used to the style.

It appears to me from the pictures that the handles are the same as on the Birkin, but the larger bag makes them look proportionately smaller.

[mattilda]

Westminster17,
thank you so much for all the informations - so nice of you. It was very heplful!

[westminster17]

Jewel,
It looks like Lily Allen is carrying a bag which YSL knocked off from the long established Hermes bag. Not nearly as well done or effective and clearly intended for travel only, given the name YSL gave the bag.

[laura]

Way too large, IMO.

[westminster17]

laura,

Notice the shopping bag being carried by the person behind Katie in the first photo. Almost exactly the same size as Katie's H-de-C. Katie is likely either traveling or, given her lack of a coat, carrying tons of baby stuff, etc., in her Hermes "shopping bag"; which bag would you feel most secure with if carrying heavy or sharp items?

If Katie is actually traveling, which is the intended use of the bag, isn't this roughly the size of most carryon bags?

Yes, for a handbag one wants a 28 cm Kelly or a 30 cm Birkin or larger, depending on your height and needs. My guess is that Katie is NOT using this as an everyday handbag, given that she can well afford a croc Birkin in any color she wants!

[laura]

Regardless of what Katie's using it for, it overpowers her itty bitty frame to the point that she looks a little silly! At first glance, I was surprised that Tom let her venture out alone, but on second thought, she's probably carrying him in that bag...

[anne022196]

i like this kind of bag,..
what i mean is the style as well as the color..

[Jewel]

Originally Posted by westminster17

Jewel,
It looks like Lily Allen is carrying a bag which YSL knocked off from the long established Hermes bag. Not nearly as well done or effective and clearly intended for travel only, given the name YSL gave the bag.

Thanks for the information. I wasn't quite sure, I just remembered that Lily Allen's bag looked a lot similar to the one that Katie has here.

[kitsch_k]

westminister your knowledge is amazing...

katie always looks like she's playing dress up...

[ricci]

Originally Posted by laura

Regardless of what Katie's using it for, it overpowers her itty bitty frame to the point that she looks a little silly! At first glance, I was surprised that Tom let her venture out alone, but on second thought, she's probably carrying him in that bag...

I thought that part was funny too! He is such a little boy!

[WorkerBea]

did you ever hear that Tom was a homosexual and this is a muse

[kitsch_k]

hihihi that's some juicy gossip...

[ricci]

Well I never heard this. He is a little fella and quite jumpy, but I never thought he went both ways?????????

[raven1083]

this girl always amaze us with her style and look, about the handbag it is a good handbag pretty nice looking and stylish but most you think it is big specially if you used it for your everyday use.

[mattilda]

i found it yesterday:
Katie Holmes departing Good Morning America taping in NYC, 14.01.2008 - HOLLYWOODSBEST

[PrincessOfFabulousity]

Regardless if she's using it for traveling, every day use, carrying everything she needs for Good Morning America, ect... I LOVE it! I love her ultra classic style. I can only hope that when I'm a mom, I can look that fabulous!

[ricci]

Originally Posted by WorkerBea

did you ever hear that Tom was a homosexual and this is a muse

wow ladies, I just saw his "interview" on youtube and the Tom is just one weird cat