Berets, Anyone?

[Babbo Philipe]

the mammoth classic actually looks good, and the price is right, howz the thickness and stretch fit (like elosguei), tough choice , i have been looking at the classic brown, i love the browns, this brown looks like a rusty brown too, decisions---- well i could not help myself, Daan broke me down, those Czechs ,had to have one, that brown is just too brown to turn down, whisky is not good when looking at berets

 

[Bird Lives]

Yo Daan, hows it going my friend...
I have been loving my Elosequi Pirineos Casquette since Christmas...It's a really great hat....and here in Seattle, is great as prptection from the rain aswell!

Would you please tell me the differences between the Elosequi and the Laulhere Beret Casquettes....And do you prefer the foam rubber in the front of the Pirineos or do you take it out?

Sincerly......LC

 

[Daan]

Yo Daan, hows it going my friend...
I have been loving my Elosequi Pirineos Casquette since Christmas...It's a really great hat....and here in Seattle, is great as prptection from the rain aswell!

Would you please tell me the differences between the Elosequi and the Laulhere Beret Casquettes....And do you prefer the foam rubber in the front of the Pirineos or do you take it out?

Sincerly......LC

Great to hear you're enjoying the Pirineos. The Pirineos is, like the Casquette Aotearoa, a more fashionable hat; more "streamlined", contemporary. The casquettes made by Boneteria Auloronesa are more obviously based on a beret; a larger diameter and when seen from the back a typical Basque beret.

The foam pat in the Pirineos and Aotearoa models is there to maintain shape and enhance comfort - no reason to remove it.
The casquettes made by Laulhère are very good quality-wise, but I (and many customers) aren't that happy about the fit. This casquette has little headroom, which is fine for people with a very low forehead, but otherwise sits very much on top of the head. I stopped stocking this model for that reason and only get these on special order (there are customers who want none but this model!).
By the way, the casquettes Aotearoa, have temporarily been well reduced in price!

 

[Bird Lives]

Great to hear you're enjoying the Pirineos. The Pirineos is, like the Casquette Aotearoa, a more fashionable hat; more "streamlined", contemporary. The casquettes made by Boneteria Auloronesa are more obviously based on a beret; a larger diameter and when seen from the back a typical Basque beret.
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The foam pat in the Pirineos and Aotearoa models is there to maintain shape and enhance comfort - no reason to remove it.
The casquettes made by Laulhère are very good quality-wise, but I (and many customers) aren't that happy about the fit. This casquette has little headroom, which is fine for people with a very low forehead, but otherwise sits very much on top of the head. I stopped stocking this model for that reason and only get these on special order (there are customers who want none but this model!).
By the way, the casquettes Aotearoa, have temporarily been well reduced in price!

Once again, you are amazing! We all really do appreciate how fast you get back to us...And how thorough your knowledge and experience is...

And thanks for the pics...a good "hat on" head shot can save a thousand words.

I'll tell you, I am loving my 'Pirineos' and from what I can tell, I would the 'Casquette Aotearoa' aswell. This Elosequi casquette seems to be 'bulletproof'...But intime I will probably pick up another just for a back-up and probably one in blue aswell....

Thanks again, and keep up the good work....would love to see some more pics of you wearing the pirineos in the wild....

Best.....LC

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

I am on a tour of the Basque Country this week and I am currently in Bayonne.
We toured the Basque Museum today where I took photos of these paintings and photo.

I saw two men wearing a beret today in Bayonne and maybe one in Bordeaux over the course of four days.

 

[Daan]

I am on a tour of the Basque Country this week and I am currently in Bayonne.
We toured the Basque Museum today where I took photos of these paintings and photo.
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I saw two men wearing a beret today in Bayonne and maybe one in Bordeaux over the course of four days.

It must be pretty much a year ago that I was there myself, visiting the same museum! Just this morning I was contacted by the Basque Museum, about their upcoming exhibition on the Gaur Group. A real shame there are some 20.000 km's between Wellington and Bayonne...

I may have developed a 3rd eye or something for spotting berets in the wild; I certainly had a good "harvest" when I was in Bayonne. These pictures are taken within a couple of hours pretty much one year ago.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

i must say , the beret with out a doubt , is a thing of beauty, simple, elegant, in dress and in work, , my thoughts are people who wear them are released in someway to the burdens of life, and there are many , but it releases a inner pleasure a little freedom and satisfaction , , honesty i feel naked with out a hat it completes me in some way , i have worn them for years so it is a regular thing , much like underwear, LOL,,,, of coarse a little wine has found my path tonight,, but i think you can relate, great pictures by the way, cheers to you gentlemen

 

[Nico]

Photo of the day,
Wearing my Laulhere black rugby beret.
I agree Philipe. Wearing a beret does help lift one's spirits.
Cheers Gents

 

[NoHorse]

I use my hand to lift my spirits... Skål!

 

[NoHorse]

I have been seeing more and more ordinary people (i.e. persons not on this forum) shamelessly wearing berets in public.

Hrmmph. My status as A Strange Fellow is threatened.

Daan, I will shortly be ordering a fox and a mammoth from you.

Let’s see the hoi polloi match that!

 

[Kreissaege]

An afternoon-nap in the garden. The beret puts me in the dark.

 

[NoHorse]

Yet another use for a beret - napping!

 

[Nico]

Heading into winter in the southern hemisphere.
Wearing the super comfy Czech Classic Winter Green.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

got 2 Czech classic berets frome Daan today, , that was very considerate of you, for the 2nd, these are very nice, and soft, i definitely like the liner, well sewed and the feel is great, thank you so much, my friend
definitely a pleasure to do business with, shipping was amazingly fast

 

[Daan]

Heading into winter in the southern hemisphere.
Wearing the super comfy Czech Classic Winter Green.

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Great to see how the Czech Classics are being picked up now. I have always found it strange how few customers went for these berets, as in my opinion, these are some of the most comfortable, pleasant to wear and best-value-for-money berets available! After stocking the Czech Classics for many years, and despite everything expanding the range of colours, I'm happy to see other boineros sharing my liking.

Very similar to the Czech Classics are the 11.5" Tartan lined Service Star models, but without a cabillou and fitted with a soft leather rim and 3 air vents - no better wool beret for summer!

To get these more in the picture (and assess whether I should expand with more colours...) these are this week on SPECIAL at $39.95 only.
One of the great advantages of this model is the ability to completely change feel and look by wearing the headband folded inwards (Basque style) or outwards (visible, military style).

Trust me, you'll love these berets!

 

[Nico]

got 2 Czech classic berets frome Daan today, , that was very considerate of you, for the 2nd, these are very nice, and soft, i definitely like the liner, well sewed and the feel is great, thank you so much, my friend
definitely a pleasure to do business with, shipping was amazingly fast
View attachment 119739

Are you liking the fit of the Czech classics.

 

[Daan]

Just arrived, the brand new gaucho work-gear by Arandú!

The cotton berets by Arandú are heavy-duty work gear; comfortable, hard wearing berets that are worn by gaucho's all over Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
Fitted with a solid cotton lining these berets protect from the sun, keeping the head cool in the heat while easily withstanding the occasional shower.

The standard beret measures approximately 31.5cm in diameter; the beret with the woven diamond pattern is slightly smaller at approximately 30.5cm diameter.

 

[Daan]

Over the years, a good number of customers have asked about a beret that offered added ear cover and I have long puzzled about what could be done. Of course, some of the larger diameter berets easily pull over the ears, but that is not a look that many boineros appreciate... Simply adding ear-flaps resulted in a very unbalanced and unsightly beret.

Talking to FEZCO-TONAK about this quest, they actually had a ready solution; their old "Falo 02" model, a peaked beret with added ear-flaps that was a popular hat with barge skippers, forestry workers and railway men in Czechoslovakia (and yes, I've experienced enough winter in that part of the world to understand that these berets must have done very well).

Not having been produced for decades, FEZCO-TONAK handmade a few samples for South Pacific Berets, in a 10.5" and 11.5" diameter, but since the manufacturing of these berets is rather expensive, I would like to hear from fellow boineros how they regard these berets.
So, please give me your thought on these two models; do they fill a gap, would you wear a beret like these - I'd love to hear.

Presently, I have listed two of the three handmade samples at the One-Offs page (and keeping one for myself, which is more than welcome on this awfully cold and windy Wellington winters day).

 

[Nico]

Foggy start to the day, donned on the Laulhère green heritage beret.

 

[Daan]

The day after I chose the Auloronesa foulards with headband for the new weekly Special, [cynically] I was informed of the new prices of the Boneteria Auloronesa berets. And no, it's not good news: prices of some models will rise quite dramatically.

I already knew about the béret casquettes; very labour intensive models that simply couldn't be offered for the price originally set by the company's founder. I chose not to restock these and slowly sell out the (luckily reasonably large) stock that I have, at the original price. The béret casquettes would come well over $100.00.

The Universels will have to go up in price, but it is the head-banded (sized) models that will see the most painful increase. The wholesale cost goes up by 80% and frankly, I am not quite sure how to adjust my prices in a way that these models can be continued...
For the month of June I'll keep prices as they are (and the Special stays on till Monday), but when the new stock comes in early July, prices will change.

The reason behind the increase is a combination of factors, the first is that M Denis Guédon (the founder of the company) didn't have to make a living from it. At the end of his long career in beret manufacturing he wanted to set up a small artisan company that would produce the world's best quality berets, made in the very birthplace and heartlands of the beret (Béarn) and hand it over to a suitable artisan when established (and he could retire). This has now happened and brings us to reason #2 (Mme Goupie does have to make a living from making berets) and #3 the six year tax free period to start and establish a company is now over - the company is faced with serious tax invoices.

I guess, in the end, it is the realisation that handmade products of such intense labour and very high quality become almost unaffordable in our day and age (and trust me; neither manufacturer or myself get rich from it...).