It always starts with that call, right? When the heart rate starts to escalate and you wonder what could your Hermès sales associate possibly be reaching out about? Well, this was my situation just last Wednesday morning. 

The house was bustling when the phone rang, full of extended family — people talking, laughing, moving from one room to another. You know the wonderful chaos when everyone is together and there’s never quite a quiet corner? Well, somehow I needed to tune all of that out. I listened intently, trying to walk quickly to another part of the house so I wouldn’t miss a single inflection in the caller’s voice. There were two orders of business at hand. 

First, to inform me that the Daisy Marguerite charm that I had been excitedly waiting for had arrived, and it needed to be secured with a payment link to be sure that it wouldn’t vanish into the abyss of somebody else’s profile. One would think from my screech that I had won some sort of lottery. But how can I explain how this little daisy 🌼 flower makes me feel? I guess there will always be a little girl in me.

Having seen one of our community members put this Daisy in their Kelly doll’s hair had me feeling all those cabbage patch doll vibes (I may have just dated myself – IYKYK). I guess it’s pretty evident from my Instagram carousel post of 20 photos just how sweet this was for me. 

Once this business was out of the way, I assumed this was the purpose of the call. Little did I know this was just the opener. 

My tone probably moved towards closing remarks… but wait, wait – there was more… 

Did I actually just hear the words… “How about you come in to see me and create an à la carte — exotic?”

I actually don’t think I heard the word ‘exotic’ because I was hyperventilating at the words ‘à la carte.’ It was all muffled. My brain, the background sounds… I was already jumping, maybe even twirling… headed towards the center of our home where everybody was, with my arms pumping up and down as though I was doing some sort of calisthenics. 

My family looked at me strangely as I now had my right hand with the phone to my ear (obviously I had to get off of speakerphone), and my left arm going up and down rapidly as though it was some shoulder strengthening exercise. My face gleaming, my jaw wide open, doing the two-step dance towards them… basically, I must have looked pretty ridiculous. This grown woman is doing a strange series of movements – body and face. 

Now, at this point, the thought racing through my mind was “when could Mr PB and I go?” 

With the store closing at 6 PM, it’s always an effort to coordinate the two of us going into the city together. And there’s no way in the world I would want to be rushed through this experience.

I’m going to need to pause at this juncture of the story to weave together several events of our summer. You’re going to need to be patient because it’s important to me to document all of this detail, as this opportunity has sentimental value to me.

Let me take you back to July, which is both my birthday and our anniversary. It’s a big month, and I so wish the two celebrations were separated by more than just seven days, lol, because it’s a lot of pressure for Mr. PB — ha ha — and for my Hermès sales associate.

Although my birthday comes first, we’re going to skip ahead to the anniversary story for two reasons: first, the birthday deserves its very own story, and second — and more importantly — the anniversary narrative has actually already begun, so it’s best we complete it first. 

Let me refresh your memory. I told you the story about my travels through Japan earlier this year during cherry blossom 🌸 season. The trip was memorable in so many ways, and I discussed that in tremendous detail here. But I will get straight to the point – and to what is relevant to this story – which is the extensive search for the Hermès Adage bracelet, ultimately only to be surprised with it here at home! You’ll need to see this. 

Read also: The Hermès Anniversary Surprise I Never Saw Coming

Shortly after I received this decadent gift, we made a visit to my Hermès sales associate to express how excited and delighted I was with the match to my Adage ring. The two pieces together make a dynamite statement. Not something I can pull off daily; it’s an occasional look, but I’ve already enjoyed it five or six times in the few weeks I have had it.

During this visit, I confess the thought of an anniversary bag to commemorate the occasion certainly crossed my mind. Alas, at that time there wasn’t anything from my laundry list of wishes available. 

I gently approached the idea: would there be a world in which I could possibly custom create a bag of my choice which would mark this special anniversary. My suggestion was met with the reality that the special order à la carte program was not available at this time.

Fast-forward to last Wednesday morning when I got the call. 

Perhaps, now that I’ve given you context, you can better understand why this particular opportunity meant more to me now than it may have at any other time.

And so, on this morning call – right there and then with my hubby present in the great room – we negotiated a time together (my SA, Mr. PB and moi).

We decided our appointment was slated for 4:30 PM on the coming Friday. In 54 hours to be exact… but who’s counting?

Now I can get into the real meat of the story (says the vegetarian 🌱) lol. 

This is about as real-time as I can narrate. And truthfully, I did not think I was going to share this story till the future someday when this beautiful à la carte treasure would arrive. But we all know that could take anywhere from a year to two years because it’s an exotic. 

Just like with colors and regular leathers, I seek diversity; I want the opportunity to experience all of it so I am going to mimic the same style of curating with exotic skin. Not to mention that the cost of exotic pieces doesn’t allow me to justify a vault full of them so every decision I make — every purchase — is carefully thought out and very intentional.

And so we begin. This is where you get a glimpse inside my head as I work through the possibilities. My thoughts were all over the place, so I’m breaking it down by category and laying out the case for — and against — each option.

More importantly, there was a piece of news that I felt compelled to share immediately. Hang on, I’m going to get to it soon.

Do you have any idea how exciting it is for me to contemplate the combinations and permutations of an à la carte offer? I mean, your mind can go wild with options within, of course, the parameters that Hermès sets with each season of special orders. 

Typically, the charts are released at the beginning of the year, and few, if any, changes are made to the fall session. Having reported the special order news earlier in the year, I could quickly reference our article to see what my exotic offerings were going to be. I, of course, would confirm if any changes had been made to the spring 2026 session for fall. 

Simultaneously, I had this crazy, fleeting idea that maybe I would splurge and custom order a matching exotic boot. However, it’s probably hugely advantageous to my bank account that the color offerings were not in the palette that I was contemplating. 

Let’s be real: I’m not likely to have a closet full of exotic pieces. Yes, I have embarked on an exotic journey to include some, but I have been very careful about curating pieces across different colors and types of skin. So for the purpose of this article – let’s keep the focus solely on crocodile and alligator skins. 

Even though I’ve documented my love for smaller bags for the last 10+ years, my thoughts briefly wandered toward a B25 or K25.

• The larger surface area would allow the beauty of an exotic skin — especially the scales of shiny or matte croc — to shine. In a wider surface you can see the gradient of scales going from smaller on the edges to larger in the center

• I hardly use my B25 and K25s in the evening.
• If I’m going to custom-create something exotic, wouldn’t I want to use it primarily in the evening?

The case is stronger against the B25 and K25. It would be a compromise.

And that brought me to the two styles I spent the bulk of my time contemplating.

My love for the Mini Kelly is no secret. I have a fair selection of classics and blue box specials — Gris Argenté, Doré, Clouté and, of course, my one and only Miss Mimosa that I adore.

I use my minis very casually – even my Mimosa

• I travel with them all the time.
• They work for both casual and formal occasions.
• The strap gives me shoulder or crossbody options.
• I love the structure — they are truly my preferred sellier style.
• And those little feet! I really miss them on the Kelly Pochette.

But Monika, you have several Mini Kellys already. Might this feel repetitive? And then will the size limit my ability to enjoy the beauty of the scales and skin?

• It’s a little bigger – wider than the Mini Kelly, giving the exotic skin more room to show off and shine.
• It fits considerably more.
• In exotic, it feels especially elegant and formal.
• I have far fewer Pochettes than Mini Kellys, so there’s an element of novelty.

But wait.

Having used my Beton matte alligator Pochette, there were two things that concerned me. First, the lack of feet. When you put it down on a table, the exotic skin is directly against the surface. Dust, dirt or any liquid, and my paranoia kicks in. Then there’s the lack of a strap. It’s handheld only.

Not that that’s a bad thing. I love the way the Kelly Pochette looks tucked under the arm or delicately carried by its top handle. In exotic, it feels even more elevated and formal to me than a Mini Kelly.

So here I was, with a very compelling case for both.

This part involved considerably less deliberation.

• I love the finish and already have several pieces I adore: my Mimosa Mini Kelly, Beton Kelly Pochette, Vert d’Eau Micro Picotin and my Himalayan Constance 1-24. 
• It’s definitely easier to maintain. No finger prints, and seems to mask wear far better.

• I have only one shiny gator bag, my Constance To Go in Graphite from Rome last year.
• A shiny lisse finish would give this special order something different from what I already own.

The shiny side was winning. I was heavily leaning toward shiny lisse crocodile, which came with a tight selection of color choices. 

• Noir
• Bleu Sapphire
• Vert Rousseau
• Graphite
• Havanne
• Bordeaux
• Framboise

This was a little more personal.

For those of you who have read my recent articles, you know that I’ve definitely turned toward a more neutral palette. Who is this girl?

• The younger Monika would have jumped for glee at the sight of Framboise, and we’d be done.
• It certainly would make a statement.

• I’m now enjoying shades of blue, beige, gray and quite possibly even brown.
• I find myself drawn to subtler, quieter versions of color.
• My taste has evolved toward something more classic.

I was definitely leaning toward neutrals. And I think that shift really comes down to the journey. Experiencing new things, new looks, new places, new cuisines — and discovering along the way that your tastes can change, too. 

Somehow.. with the passing of time, I’ve come to really love this quieter, more classic phase of simplicity.

Our home is much more minimalistic in design with neutral palettes, with just a sprinkling of ‘va va voom’ statement pieces here and there. Now that I think of it… it’s similar to the way I dress. Usually much more classic neutral pairings – solid colors with a pop of an accessory — be that the boots, the jewelry and of course, always a BAG. 

I was pretty confident I had narrowed down the color, and don’t worry, I’m not going to keep that a secret. I am going to share that with you a little farther down in this article. 

So, I’ve roughly walked you through my deliberations. For style, I was torn between the Mini Kelly and Kelly Pochette. For skin, I was definitely leaning toward shiny.

And then there was color. Looking at the options, I think you can probably guess where my head was going based on my existing collection.

I thought I had it all figured out. Little did I know what was waiting for me at that appointment.

I awoke to a bright, sunny morning with just a touch of that crisp early-fall air. I had plenty to accomplish before heading into the city, and I knew we needed to leave by 3:30 PM to get ahead of Friday traffic. 

Of course, I had already planned my outfit. It was all chosen around the unboxing of my Daisy Marguerite charm, which I was going to debut in the hair of my Vertigo Kelly Picto Doll. After a blowout and a new Zimmermann two-piece knit skirt set I’d bought in Las Vegas back in May but had somehow never worn, I was feeling pretty excited about what would be – a magical day ahead. 

My assistant and I put together a beautiful unboxing of the charm, capturing all the details, including the way it threads onto a bag. And thankfully, Mr. PurseBop made it home well before we had to leave. I have about 1,000 photographs documenting this entire experience, so indulge me while I share a few.

When we arrived, my sales associate was already waiting in the VIP room with the special order box, chilled champagne glasses (still on my 30-day cleanse, so none for me), and even a few extra goodies for Mr. PurseBop to try. And yes one small’ish orange box. 

This was a “monumental experience,” to say the least. I use the word very intentionally because, in my family, “monumental” has a meaning all of its own. We reserve it for those epic three-day weekends when all the sisters and brother-in-law‘s get together for a crazy, fun, overindulgent 🍸 weekend. So calling this monumental carries a significance beyond the literal definition of the word.

It took me a few minutes to settle in, rearrange the sample box to be under the bright light – followed by the usual pleasantries. Then it was time to begin.

One note before we get into it: I was asked not to photograph the iPad, as the screens and the information on them were considered internal documents. I respected that request, although trust me, I would have loved to document every screen and step of the process but I wanted to be respectful of their protocol. So, unfortunately, I don’t have those images to share with you, but I’ll take you through everything I can.

We started the process, and my sales associate asked which bag I wanted to begin with.

I immediately said I was leaning towards a Kelly Pochette, but I wanted to explore the Mini Kelly possibilities as well. I was busy fumbling through the box, taking the samples over to the window so I could see them in natural light, when I heard: 

“Monika, I don’t think the Kelly Pochette is an option this season.“ 

I immediately rushed over.

“What? That’s absolutely not possible. What do you mean?”

And this was the interesting part: this wasn’t something already known.  My sales associate was discovering it right along with me.

“Monika, it’s not an offering. Come, let’s look at this together.”

So we went into the special order selections on the iPad and arrived at the scrolling page showing the available bag styles. THERE WAS NO KELLY POCHETTE!!!!

I was in total shock. How could this be?

I knew Kelly Pochettes had been written as special orders in exotic skin in the past, so I wondered if perhaps the restriction was specific to exotic. Perhaps it would still be available in a regular leather, like Swift?

We kept looking, but there was nothing to select. The Kelly Pochette simply wasn’t there as a bag style being offered. At that point, it didn’t matter what appeared on the leather page — there was no Pochette.

I wish I had been able to photograph that screen because seeing the available styles laid out in front of us made the situation very real.

Earlier this week, when we broke the news that the Kelly Pochette was no longer available for Fall 2026 special orders in the United States, I was very confident in reporting it because it came directly from my own personal experience. I’m extremely diligent about sharing only confirmed information, and this was something I had experienced firsthand when I went through the special order process myself.

Of course, Hermès offerings can change, and availability can differ by region. But at that particular moment, the Kelly Pochette was not available. Once we shared the news on our website and social media, we received multiple confirmations from our community, not only in the United States but also in Europe. You can read more about it here.

Now let’s go back to my dilemma. 

Lacking a Kelly Pochette option, I shifted my focus to the Mini Kelly, and began deliberating color. I began to verbally rationalize my color choices with hubby and my sales associate. I was leaning pretty heavily into Bordeaux, but I also unexpectedly fell in love with Vert Rousseau. 

As much as I knew the skin would be stunning on a bigger surface area, my greatest utility would come from keeping the bags small. One I could sneak into my carry-on or nestle in another bag on our many adventurous travels. 

So although the strings of my heart were being pulled in multiple directions, I knew what was best for me was a Mini Kelly in Bordeaux. With the option of the Kelly Pochette completely eliminated, it certainly made my job easier. 

I did reiterate multiple times during my visit that my wish for the rest of the year and even into next year could very possibly include an exotic shiny Kelly Pochette. Well, the very top of my want list is the Daisy Pochette but that comes from the “arts and crafts” division – next would be a shiny porosus crocodile Kelly Pochette. And in Vert Rousseau! I had never considered this color before, but I loved how it was an off-black sort of shade, yet not quite dark enough to be considered it.

And so we chatted, and I asked a lot of questions, like when the special order list says Lisse crocodile — does that mean shiny alligator or shiny Porosus crocodile? The answer remains somewhat unclear to me, but what I gather is that the bag could be created in the skin type available in your color choice at that given time. I am going to delve into this a little bit further in a separate article where I explore and define different exotics. It’s been on my to-do list forever to create a comprehensive exotic skin guide.

Ok, before this article becomes a novel — well, it’s already a novella — we have to address the topic of linings. The color selections were very sparse. In fact, this might have been the hardest part of the entire process. If I were doing a Kelly Pochette, I had decided that I would do tone-on-tone lining and stitching. And here’s my reason why.

I tend to wear my bags open, and, with the Kelly Pochette, more of the lining would be visible. In my mind, this was a more formal bag, so I was convinced I didn’t want to see a different color popping out from the corners and edges of the bag.

Since I was creating a Mini Kelly, whose interior is hardly visible except to the owner when the bag is open, I felt more liberated to pick something a little crazy. But even then, the choices were so limited.

• Noir
• Blue Indigo
• Gris Perle
• Gris Meyer
• Gold
• Nata
• Bordeaux
• Rouge de Coeur
• Orange

With Bordeaux, the gray options seemed extremely boring. I didn’t want to do Nata or Craie again, so that left orange or red. Both unconventional pairings with Bordeaux.

As I placed them together and tried to visualize the Rouge de Coeur option, it was a serious clash, so it was quickly eliminated.

That left me with orange.

Not what I was visualizing, to be honest, but the orange and the Bordeaux seemed to complement each other in a contrasting sort of way. Not sure that makes sense, but let me show you in the photo. Keep in mind the lining is in swift so it will be more saturated and smoother than the togo leather orange swatch here. 

As the Bordeaux reads a brownish hue, the orange looked pretty; unusual yet pleasant. Both hubby and my sales associate seemed excited about the orange lining. In fact, it was my SA’s top pick and suggestion. So there was something sweet about including a little bit of them in it too.

To me, it was an ode to the classic house of Hermès. Orange for the Maison. Personalized for me. So maybe this was the right move. And so we went through the iPad, finalizing my choices from the drop-down menu to ultimately create an illustration of what my à la carte bag would look like.

I asked if I could have our anniversary date stamped into the bag, and that little shooting star or heart with it. I was told this would happen after the bag arrives, as a second process after I had purchased the bag. 

I intend to have it done this time, though, since this is my special anniversary bag.

Oh my goodness, I have totally forgotten to discuss hardware. Though I did at the appointment lol. With Bordeaux, I thought Gold hardware would read too formal, but I was thrilled to find Permabrass available. This might be the only exterior detail evidencing that my bag is a special order. Except for the horse shoe stamp of course. I tested both the Gold and the Permabrass swatches against the combination under the lights and by the window in natural light. No question it was going to be Permabrass. I’ve been on a Palladium kick for a while, but this bag commands a regal finish. 

Ok, that was easy.

I sat next to my sales associate, and we went through the iPad process one more time, carefully double-checking each option. We were both sitting on high stools on one side of the table and hubby was across. I know I’m gonna sound really nerdy, but I’m going to say it anyway – it was a really sweet moment. 

I knew that the wait for this bag could be one or two years, so the feeling had to be memorized. Etched in my mind forever. And memorialized in writing.

I stood up, walked around the table, and asked Mr. PB to put his hand on the special order box along with our dressed-up Dolly and I took a family portrait. Lol well, we can call it a family hand portrait.

Now the wait begins…

But there is a little more to this story. So please stay tuned for part two.

Love your PurseBop
XX

Read related articles:

Hermès 2026 Guide to Special Orders: New Colors and Insider’s Tips

An Insider’s Guide to Hermès Leathers

The Hermès Anniversary Surprise I Never Saw Coming

Hermès Birthday Reveal Leads to a Deep Dive of Comparing Hermès’ Most Coveted White Shades

Put a Little Bloom on Your Birkin: Meet Hermès’ Marguerite Charm

Love, PurseBop

XO