Berets, Anyone?

[Fern]

I hear many people say they are scared of big berets, but they are my favorite. I walk river trails by my house most days and I like 12 + inches to manipulate to block sun or wind.

Having said that I have a number of smaller berets, including the ones in this pic, that measure around 10.75 inches and for general wear around town they are good. I don’t think I would wear anything smaller.

If I could only have one, it would be 12 inch. Or maybe 12.5.
Hmmm, One beret, that’s funny.

View attachment 466257

You’re motivating me to do a collection picture, too!

 

[Mm25]

Christmas markets are already popping up around me.
I think this is the biggest jingle bell I’ve ever found.
Where are all the other beret wearers?

 

[Daan]

The recent posts re favourite vuelo*/flight*/pouces*/diameter* hit an interesting issue many (new) boineros are confronted with: how to describe the size of a beret?
And it is confusing, as the various measuring systems not only disagree, but overlap and in translation become something entirely different.
At South Pacific Berets I stick to the metric system as it is the least likely to confuse. There are Imperial Inches and US units, whereas most French-English dictionaries will tell you that a (French) pouce is and inch. And then there are the Spanish pulgadas, still used by Boinas Elósegui.
Below I made a table translating the various sizes:

MM	INCH	POUCES	PULGADAS
233	9.17		10
244	9.6		10.5
250	9.84	9
256	10.08		11
266	10.47	9.5
267	10.51		11.5
279	10.98		12
280	11.02	10
291	11.46		12.5
294	11.57	10.5
302	11.89		13
308	12.13	11
314	12.36		13.5
326	12.83		14
336	13.23	12
349	13.74		15
372	14.65		16

Then again, even within the same size berets tend to differ one from the next; being handmade slight variations always occur.
So far for the diameter of the beret; head sizes too can be confusing! Again, the (Continental) Europeans, the Brits and the Americans all use different systems and for the same reason, I stick to the metric system, which can easily be translated through the table below:

Inches	21 1/2 ​	21 7/8​	22 1/4​	22 5/8​	23 ​	23 3/8​	23 3/4​	24 ​	24 1/2​	25​	25 1/2​
Hat Sizes	6 3/4​	6 7/8​	7​	7 1/8​	7 1/4​	7 3/8​	7 1/2​	7 5/8​	7 3/4​	7 7/8​	8​
Hat Sizes	SM​	SM​	MED​	MED​	LG​	LG​	XL​	XL​	2XL​	2XL​	3XL​
Metric	54​	55​	56​	57​	58​	59​	60​	61​	62​	63​	64​

On a different topic, after seeing various boineros showing their fav headgear, I miss seeing the Peaked Berets*/Béret Casquettes*/Boinas Pirineos*.

For those unfamiliar with these great vintage berets, they're on SPECIAL this week, discounted up to $29.50!

 

[Fern]

Nice seeing the topic of “brim size” or “vuelo” come up again. Was very helpful to me to see conversion tables back when I began collecting.

 

[quikrick]

Daily Boina.
Universal Auloronesa 9 1/2 pouces, brown.

 

[Fern]

Daily boina. Traffic edition. Elosegui superfina 11”.

 

[Jon Crow]

Daily boina. Traffic edition. Elosegui superfina 11”.

View attachment 466950

Fern I live in Madrid Spain, Boinas are popular here, I wear a old black Kangol sometimes

 

[Fern]

Fern I live in Madrid Spain, Boinas are popular here, I wear a old black Kangol sometimes

Hi @jon! Good to know! I discovered my txapela love on a trip through Olite, and eventually through Pamplona and Bilbao. Elosegui is my preferred label, though I do have just one French basque beret.

 

[Jon Crow]

Hi @jon! Good to know! I discovered my txapela love on a trip through Olite, and eventually through Pamplona and Bilbao. Elosegui is my preferred label, though I do have just one French basque beret.

Nice places, my wife is Palentina, from Palencia, I had a old civil war boina once made in Barcelona

 

[Fern]

I had a old civil war boina once made in Barcelona

That is probably one sweet looking hat/boina. How large was the vuelo? Where is it now? You said you “had”

Oh, and are you referring to the Catalonian civil war or the basque/Carlist war? Was there another?

 

[Jon Crow]

That is probably one sweet looking hat/boina. How large was the vuelo? Where is it now? You said you “had”

Oh, and are you referring to the Catalonian civil war or the basque/Carlist war? Was there another?

I don't have it to measure now but it was floppy, yes had, sold a lot of uniform and military items a few years ago so it went, I'm referring to the Spanish civil war, fascist Vs republicans

 

[Fern]

I don't have it to measure now but it was floppy, yes had, sold a lot of uniform and military items a few years ago so it went, I'm referring to the Spanish civil war, fascist Vs republicans

When I came back from Spain, I dug deep into the country’s history because the boina has such strong significance there, especially the red boina associated with the civil war.

Have you seen the basque movie, “Giant”, that takes place during that time?

 

[Daan]

Christmas 2020 SPB released a limited series of very special berets: Les Bérets Pacifique. These handmade foulard quality berets appeared in a total number of 30 pieces.
Boneteria Auloronesa (Manufacture de Bérets) was the manufacturer, while the berets were custom dyed in Mazamet (Tarn) in a beautiful russet.

These berets have now practically sold out, with only a very small number left in stock.This specific colour was extremely hard to get right; a tertiary color, russet is an equal mix of orange and purple pigments which had to be done by a specialized operator in the centre of France's artisan wool industry, Mazamet.
These berets will never be produced again...

This Christmas another limited series of Fijian Bérets Pacifique sees the light of day: foulard quality berets in black and three colours in a grand total of 20 pieces only.
These new Bérets Pacifique, handmade by Manufacture de Bérets, are fitted with the same genuine Fijian cotton lining, based on traditional tapa cloth motifs, handpicked from the Sigatoka market on Viti Levu (Fiji's main island).

Available in a limited number in both 10p [28cm] and 11p [31cm] models: Black, Bordeaux, Jean and Brown. All berets are fitted with the trademark liguette and the labels of Boneteria Aotearoa and Manufacture de Bérets.

 

[alanfgag]

 

[alanfgag]

ps… Daan, any stock remaining on the Merino d’Arles beret? My daughter wore mine during our Thanksgiving holiday and it was a struggle to get it back…

 

[Daan]

ps… Daan, any stock remaining on the Merino d’Arles beret? My daughter wore mine during our Thanksgiving holiday and it was a struggle to get it back…

Beautiful photo!
And no, I wish I had more of the Merinos d'Arles, but none remain and unlikely to come back...

 

[Fern]

Daily boina. La Encartada, 11.5”

 

[Daan]

Disinformation from Béarn
Disinformation is not just the privilege of American and Russian presidents; it penetrated the world of berets too.
When Boneteria Auloronesa / Manufacture de Bérets started a decade ago, Laulhère was quick to portray itself in the media as the only true French beret manufacturer.
A quick search on Youtube will show many reports and interviews where Laulhère states so. Manufacture de Bérets was portrayed as a hobbyist making berets in his garage...

After the threat of a court case, Laulhère changed the phrase to being “the last French historical beret manufacturer”.
Once out there, it is hard to get rid of it.

Although the quality of a beret in many ways comes down to the personal preferences of the wearer, I dare say that a MdB-beret is superior in craftsmanship, quality of wool and comfort to a Laulhère made beret (which doesn't mean these berets are not very good quality...) and MdB's dedication to the beret's heritage and origin are admirable.
It is not that long ago, that Laulhère considered moving its production across the border to Spain, to reduce costs...

But, the original disinformation campaign worked; I still often come across a portrayal as Laulhère being the sole French manufacturer. This morning on Ebay: a beret under the (Laulhère) "Restoration Hardware" label stating it being the "sole, the only, true Bearn Beret still manufactured in France".

Meanwhile, Manufacture de Bérets is more productive than ever: more options in the new Orthez and Luxe range, as well as limited edition projects under the Aotearoa label!

 

[Mm25]

Daily boina. Elosegui in khaki.

 

[Daan]

Daily boina. Elosegui in khaki.
View attachment 469021

A personal favourite, and coincidentally, this week on SPECIAL!