Berets, Anyone?

[Spitfire]

Mais, bien sure...

 

[monbla256]

And mine :

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Harp]

Mais, bien sure...

Soren, vous devez etre liee a Ernest Hemingway.....

 

[T Rick]

Mais, bien sure...

That's a great looking Beret (could you tell us the manufacturer?).

Also really like that quote from the IWC ad, haven't seen it in awhile. Malkovich did a great job there.

 

[PADDY]

I also use mine as bedwear, especially in the winter to keep my little noggin warm! it's also handy for around the house in my PJ's and Gown until the fire gets going and takes the chill off the place!

 

[Carnage]

I actually had a new beret arrive, free of charge, last week for me to try out. It is an E.C Snaith, I guess it will do as a spare beret if my Small Crown ever gets lost or damaged. The Snaith seems to be of an ok quality.

 

[bolthead]

I have my eye on 2....

....as we speak, on ebay. 1 is a German (military, w/patch), the other is a Basque. I'm hoping to snatch at least one of them, hopefully the German. It'll be my 1st beret.

 

[Daan]

The Beret Factory of A. Mingo of Pradoluengo

I tried uploading this beautiful video of Mr Agustin Mingo's beret factory in Pradoluengo (Burgos), Spain, but gave up after some 20 minutes and frustration mounting.
The only way I can find to share this video, is to link to my blog, here.

The video shows in detail the whole process of manufacturing berets in a small scale artisan setting, providing insight in how berets are made and especially how a small business like this operated; labour conditions, machinery, lots of creative solutions and ingenuity...
The place is Pradoluengo, in Burgos, Spain.
Mr Agustin Mingo stopped his business a number of years ago, leaving Boinas Elosegui the one remaining beret manufacturer in Spain.

 

[Daan]

Video of Mazamet; Wool Centre for French Berets

Another great little video, about the historic wool industry of Mazamet in France, the troubles of the post-war period and the revitalization through the Marshall Plan. Mazamet used to be the world's wool spinning and manufacturing capital - supplying wool to the beret factories in the nearby Béarn.
Description US Government Archive:
"Women carry bales of wool for processing in Mazamet in France. Wool washed in large containers with warm and cold water. Clean wool put in a machine for drying, operated by a woman. Women sort wool from the cleaned bales. Old man wearing beret sits on a stone bridge, and lights pipe. He remembers the time just after the war when France had no money, industry and factories. Machines stand idle, streets with closed shops and houses with closed shutters. Closed banks. Men cutting logs of wood. Other men fishing in river. Afterwards Marshall Plan provided financial aid. People back to work. Factories opened up. Processing of wool taking place."
Nb. If it doesn't play, move to 'next video' (button below screen) and move back again

 

[EggHead]

I am looking for a good quality beret in grey color, any recommendations? I mainly look for comfortable fit and wear and for sides not to stick out more than 1 inch from my head. Lining would be OK as long as I can roll it up or bend. I am size 59cm.

I realized that sometimes wearing a hat presents problems when I went to my kids school play and had camera in one hand, video in the other and hat in .. I needed a third hand! or wear a beret to and stuff it into a pocket indoors.
Cheers!

 

[Neophyte]

I am looking for a good quality beret in grey color, any recommendations? I mainly look for comfortable fit and wear and for sides not to stick out more than 1 inch from my head. Lining would be OK as long as I can roll it up or bend. I am size 59cm.

I realized that sometimes wearing a hat presents problems when I went to my kids school play and had camera in one hand, video in the other and hat in .. I needed a third hand! or wear a beret to and stuff it into a pocket indoors.
Cheers!

I often toyed with the idea of starting a thread where members could lay out the inconveniences of their hat-wearing lifestyle. I just never saw it going anywhere. Would've been cool, though .

 

[monbla256]

I am looking for a good quality beret in grey color, any recommendations? I mainly look for comfortable fit and wear and for sides not to stick out more than 1 inch from my head. Lining would be OK as long as I can roll it up or bend. I am size 59cm.

I realized that sometimes wearing a hat presents problems when I went to my kids school play and had camera in one hand, video in the other and hat in .. I needed a third hand! or wear a beret to and stuff it into a pocket indoors.
Cheers!

Egghead,
Take a look at Daan Kolthof's site here: http://www.southpacificberets.com/ . He carries a wide variety of Berets from Spain, France, Argentina and I'm sure he can get you the one you want. I wear one of his Elosequi Basica Basque Berets in Black and it is GREAT !

Onward thru the Fog

 

[Big_e]

I am looking for a good quality beret in grey color, any recommendations? I mainly look for comfortable fit and wear and for sides not to stick out more than 1 inch from my head. Lining would be OK as long as I can roll it up or bend. I am size 59cm.

I realized that sometimes wearing a hat presents problems when I went to my kids school play and had camera in one hand, video in the other and hat in .. I needed a third hand! or wear a beret to and stuff it into a pocket indoors.
Cheers!

You might look at post #193 of this very same thread. It seems that British troops get their standard 12 inch beret, soak them in cold water and wear the berets as they dry. The beret seems to shrink to just the right size. Now you just need to find a good quality grey beret.
Ernest

 

[Daan]

Thanks for the compliment, Monbla256.

Yes, normally I would have some grey berets in stock: the smaller Boina Espinosa and the 30cm Tolosa Tupida. Boinas Elosegui don't have any (male) berets in grey; only the Elosegui Femina, which is an un-lined soft beret (meant) for women. At present, I have no grey berets in wool left in stock - I hope to get some grey Tolosa Tupida's in by mid-Feb.

What I do have are the Algodon (or cotton) berets in the Espinosa and Tolosa Tupida range (yes, I had my doubts too at first about cotton berets, but believe me, they're great - and I actually sell them to Basque customers in Spain, France and the diaspora!).

But, Egghead, if you're happy with a military style grey beret, I have some Australian army berets (new, never issued) and happy to send you one free of charge (drop me a line with your contact details and I'll get it in the mail).

You might look at post #193 of this very same thread. It seems that British troops get their standard 12 inch beret, soak them in cold water and wear the berets as they dry. The beret seems to shrink to just the right size. Now you just need to find a good quality grey beret.
Ernest

Yeah, they do shrink, but give you the appearance of Calimero with an eggshell tight on your head. It continues to puzzle me why British soldiers do this to their berets (and themselves)...

 

[monbla256]

Yeah, they do shrink, but give you the appearance of Calimero with an eggshell tight on your head. It continues to puzzle me why British soldiers do this to their berets (and themselves)...[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

You have to have been in the military to understand the WHY of that!! It is a sort of testosterone/youth thing the military works off of

 

[Daan]

[/QUOTE]You have to have been in the military to understand the WHY of that!! It is a sort of testosterone/youth thing the military works off of [/QUOTE]


Oh, I have been in the military - much too long as a matter of fact.
I don't know much about the link between berets and testosterone, but the result in my days was long flowing hair from under our berets.
Hair length was always a cause for high level disputes between Dutch and American commanders during combined NATO maneuvers, especially since "we" -knowing how the Americans regarded us- took great pride in outperforming our US counterparts (no offence - I can't care less these days, really...).
I can't recall any 'trouble' with the British - they wore their berets in the same tight way then, but didn't seem to be offended by the Dutch.

It's all history now anyway; the draft abolished and so are the ponytails, long beards and earrings in the Dutch military.

 

[Daan]

A cartoon from those days; translates more or less to this:

The Dutch soldier...
Must have discipline, but not at the cost of his personal freedom.
He must be armed, but it shouldn't cost too much.
He must be vigilant, but not too much...

 

[rlk]

Grey Beret

I guess I just received Daan's last Grey Beret. Tolosa Tupida in Merino Wool from Argentina via New Zealand.

 

[EggHead]

I guess I just received Daan's last Grey Beret. Tolosa Tupida in Merino Wool from Argentina via New Zealand.

This is the color I am looking for! and probably the size too.

 

[EggHead]

Thanks for the compliment, Monbla256.

Yes, normally I would have some grey berets in stock: the smaller Boina Espinosa and the 30cm Tolosa Tupida. Boinas Elosegui don't have any (male) berets in grey; only the Elosegui Femina, which is an un-lined soft beret (meant) for women. At present, I have no grey berets in wool left in stock - I hope to get some grey Tolosa Tupida's in by mid-Feb.

What I do have are the Algodon (or cotton) berets in the Espinosa and Tolosa Tupida range (yes, I had my doubts too at first about cotton berets, but believe me, they're great - and I actually sell them to Basque customers in Spain, France and the diaspora!).

But, Egghead, if you're happy with a military style grey beret, I have some Australian army berets (new, never issued) and happy to send you one free of charge (drop me a line with your contact details and I'll get it in the mail).

Yeah, they do shrink, but give you the appearance of Calimero with an eggshell tight on your head. It continues to puzzle me why British soldiers do this to their berets (and themselves)...

Thanks Daan, I am intrigued by the Argentine algodon berets. What's your experience in wearing/handling them? I would like to see a grey one on your site.
As far as the eggshell berets, it's is not something I would want to put on my egghead