My very first bag I got from an Hermes boutique (with no prior spending or purchases might I add) was the Evelyne III PM in the Etoupe Taurillon Clemence leather. You can read my Hermes Evelyne III PM review here. And in the review you can see how I complained a bit on how it was a bag choice further down my wishlist, however I must say I was very lucky to be offered a bag without any purchase history at all. Nowadays that would probably be highly unlikely. Any-who, I ended up selling that bag on eBay (at a $1000 loss I think), which is a shame. But I figured lesson learned and I didn’t go in to an Hermes boutique for another couple of years. But currently I’m in the grips of an Hermes obsession and I have this vintage Vespa bag to thank (that and the Havane Picotin 22 I didn’t buy at the RealReal). And who would have guessed it would be the Evelyne’s close cousin that would get me back under the Hermes spell.
If you’re not familiar with the Vespa bag, it is a crossbody bag akin to the Hermes Evelyne but it features a beautiful chain d’arc chain toggle closure as the primary design detail as opposed to the perforated H on the Evelyne. From what I could gather, it was produced by Hermes from 1997-ish up until around 2009. The Vespa comes in a TPM (XS), PM (Small), and GM (large) size, and in both gold and palladium hardware. I’ve seen them come in a variety of leathers including Courcheval (the precursor to Epsom), Epsom, Ardennes, Crinoline (fabric), and Buffle/Buffalo leather.
Mine is the Buffle leather in the color Havane in the PM size (from 1998). The Vespa bag tends to come in hardy, scratch-resistant, water-resistant leathers, and that may be because the bag was rumored to have been made for women zipping around on their Vespas in Europe. All I can say is that vintage buffalo leather is amazing. Super durable and yet not too heavy. When I first got the bag from Brandear (my favorite Japanese eBay reseller and Brandear’s current selection of vintage Vespas here) it had mold on it (as described and which I removed with a 1:1 ratio of rubbing alcohol and water—see my video of rehabbing this Hermes Vespa here), but I took a chance on it anyway because after researching it, I learned buffalo leather is one of the most durable out there (more so because unlike cow leather, buffalo leather is not usually stretched or made thinner—their hides are used as is for leatherwork). And in case you’re wondering, this is from domestic Asian water buffalo (not the endangered American buffalo), and Hermes does not currently make items using this leather. So you can only find them used, which to me makes them even more special.
Comparing the Hermes Vespa PM to the Evelyne III PM
There isn’t a lot of written info about the Vespa (just a couple listings and a thread or two about it on the Purse Forum), but I did find out more on YouTube. Below is a screen grab of the dimensions from one of those videos (link under the pic).
As you can see the dimensions are pretty much the same with the Vespa being slightly taller. When wearing it, I felt like the Evelyne was bigger than the Vespa but maybe the tallness of the Vespa makes the bag feel more rectangular and thus more compact. Other than the closure of the bag, other differences include the 1) Non-adjustable thinner strap on the Vespa vs the adjustable thicker strap of the Evelyne, 2) No exterior pocket on the Vespa vs. the snap button pocket on the Evelyne, 3) A divider inside the Vespa vs. no divider on the Evelyne (which is why I sadly can’t use the bag organizer I bought for the Evelyne with the Vespa), and 4) The price (you can find the Vespa for under or around $1k usually while the Evelyne currently retails for $3850). Of those four differences, the only one that really makes a difference for me is the strap. Lucky for me the shoulder strap works crossbody on my 5’4” frame, but I think if you’re a lot taller, this wouldn’t sit well crossbody. And because it’s not adjustable there’s no option to make this a shoulder bag either.
Another complaint about the Vespa (that I saw on Purse Forum) is that the bag’s toggle is not easy to use and thus it’s hard to get things in and out. Well this comment was made in the early 2000’s and I don’t think women were used to TBE (tiny bag energy), because these days I’ve definitely had bags that were super hard to get in and out of (hello Loewe Dice Pocket and mini satin calfskin Puzzle). I usually wear this bag toggled closed (because how else can you see the chain lol), and can access my wallet and sunglasses from the opening (the wallet is usually resting on top of my pouch of miscellaneous items). If I wanted to get to the bottom of the bag every time, then yes I could see how it can be more of a hassle than the Evelyne. Or if you prefer, you could always leave the bag open for easy access and just close it for the times you want it to be secure.
As for me, I loooooove my Vespa. So much so that it truly kicked off an Hermes addiction, or more specifically a brown Hermes bag addiction. I much prefer the chain d’ancre chain over the perforated H (I don’t know why but I really can’t get behind the perforated H, even if it’s meant to be faced inward). I’m also a fan of the buffle leather, since it’s a lot stiffer and won’t get stretched out as much as the Clemence leather that Evelyne comes in these days. And last but not least the prices on these vintage Hermes bags are so much more reasonable than what they’re charging in the store (and that’s if you can even build up enough of a purchase history and relationship, or have the luck, to be offered one in the store). Honestly, these vintage Vespas are more rare than an Evelyne and yet they look more elevated while still flying under the radar. And last but not least, I don’t think the Vespa ever was faked as much as the Evelyne is (I think Clemence leather is quite easy to fake so there are a ton of fake Evelyne bags out there). So if you’re buying it from the resale market, I think you can rest assured the Vespa is most likely authentic (especially if it’s 25+ years old, I don’t think a fake can hang around that long and still look good). Also the chain d’ancre detail would be hard to fake since Hermes uses only the best and sturdiest bag hardware, so even an old bag shouldn’t have too much damage on the hardware.
Anyway if you’re interested in scoring a secondhand Hermes Vespa bag I suggest looking at Brandear, Fashionphile, or the RealReal. Also you can find all my other Hermes reviews here.
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