Hermes Cup Cozy, $190 via Hermes

File this under: Things I Never Expected to See.

Hermes makes a lot of unexpected products; the company has done a great job transitioning from a leather goods brand to a full-on, ultra-luxury lifestyle brand, and with that comes unexpected pieces (flask, anyone?) to help Hermes devotees spread the French leather love into all areas of their lives.

This is one of those exclusives that I both curse and welcome at the same time: We have the first look at the Hermes bags that will be available on Moda Operandi later tonight! The sale begins tonight at 7 pm EST, but you have one hour to drool over the goods and possibly plan a purchase before anyone else.

The partnership for this sale is between Heritage Auctions and Moda Operandi, which decided to offer an exclusive trunk show of many rare and one-of-a-kind Hermes Bags.

This Halloween I am celebrating by dressing up as a lady who spas (meaning I’m putting on a much needed green mud mask and a soak for my hair while wearing a robe). The kids coming to our door may be a little confused as to what I am, but I think it works and I totally need some at-home spa treatments.

Chevre de Coromandel – Black Crocodile Birkin 35cm GHW – Turquoise Swift Birkin 30cm PHW

Be still my heart. Some of the promotions I work on are both sheer joy and total temptation, and the Madison Avenue Couture Hermes Rue La La boutique is a perfect example of this. Starting today at 11 AM EST, RueLaLa.com an incredible selection of over 60 Hermes bags from around the world for sale.

About once a week I visit the Hermes website to pretend I live in a completely different world, a world where $530 beach towels and $85 poker cards are the norm. We all know the exorbitant cost of the Birkin and Kelly bags, but Hermes releases other leather goods to lure you in as well. Majority of those are still out of the price range for most, but I discovered a ‘gem’.

Images via Vogue.com

It must be difficult to take over a storied and iconic brand like Hermes, particularly for a designer like Christophe Lemaire, whose most high-profile gig before taking the reins of the French luxury giant was the top spot at Lacoste. Those are two very different posts, but Lemaire has managed to incorporate his own brand of crisp sportswear into the Hermes identity reasonably well.

Images via Vogue.com

While cutting the photos for yesterday’s post about Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2012 runway bags, I almost missed this little darling. Cutting photos is mind-bendingly tedious work, and it’s easy to glaze over and become something of a Photoshop robot while in the process, particularly for a show as handbag-heavy as Vuitton‘s. Just before I went into full zombie mode, though, I realized that a lone model wasn’t carrying a bag at all, but instead a Louis Vuitton Flask.

Hermes handbags, accessories and scarves? On sale? We could barely believe it ourselves, but we caught word late yesterday that Hermes would be hosting its New York City sample sale this morning, starting at 9 a.m., at Soiffer Haskin, 317 W33rd Street.

So that’s like, what, an hour from now? Just enough time for you to fake a hacking cough, call in sick to work and get in a taxi headed straight for…West Midtown?

Images via Moda Operandi

Some days, talking about trends and design and the fashion industry just seems a little strenuous, particularly first thing in the morning. Today was starting to feel like one of those days, which calls for some totally gratuitous eye candy. Luckily, online trunk sale pioneer Moda Operandi is currently offering a generous selection of gorgeous vintage Hermes bags, and even though the sale is only open to Moda members, we have all the pictures.

Photo via Things Organized Neatly

Ever wonder what a Hermes Kelly looks like before it is put together? I hadn’t given much thought to the question, but Jeroen van Rooijen clearly has; he deconstructed the iconic bag for his book Zerlegt. What struck me the most is what’s not in the photo – the Kelly has no fussy linings, zippers or unnecessary elements of any kind.