Berets, Anyone?

[JimK]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/how-coronavirus-stopped-a-23000km-american-odyssey

There is a nice photo in that article of Mr. Davies in his beret with a hood over it for the cold temperatures.

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

Tchoupi, thanks for the great photos from M.E. Davles epic tread up South America and North America.
The cotton berets made me look to my own cotton berets waiting for a warm sunny day.

JimK, great photo of the Elosegui Ano 1858; looks very comfortable.
The news article link is very informative.

So, Daan, for how long is your shipping window open now?

 

[Daan]

So, Daan, for how long is your shipping window open now?

Ha! I wish I could respond with any sort of certainty, but truly, I don't know...
New Zealand is in total lockdown presently, but NZ Post being an "essential service provider", continues to operate to some degree. Exactly what that means, is not clear.
Any orders coming in now are fulfilled within 24 hours as usual, dropped off at the NZ Post depot, but from there it is out of my hands - deliveries to North America and Europe can take anything from the usual 10 working days to... I don't know.

What I can say is that all shipments are insured and in the unlikely case that a parcel goes missing, I will re-send. However, this won't be the usual 21 days after target delivery time. Before placing an order, it may pay to check with your postal service what local conditions are like.

 

[JimK]

snowing at the moment here in North Ogden, Utah! This is my biggest beret, an Elosegui.

 

[Daan]

One good thing about being in lock-down and NZ Post having halted most of its services, is that you have plenty of time to do a proper stock take. And it is quite amazing what treasure I found, hidden in boxes I had somehow forgotten about for years.

Large quantities of boinas Super Lujo for example, or a whole box of Txapelduns in Bordeaux; Laulhère’s first lot of Heritage berets in midnight-blue and, for some crazy reason, a box full of bérets bayadère in size 58!

In these dire times of quarantine, isolation and lock-downs one not only needs a good Reality Shield, but also some good economic gain – so all these new re-found berets are on SPECIAL this week, at a discount of at least 45%.

One week only, over 45% off as long as stock lasts! (From 1 April, NZ Post will implement a postage surcharge; all berets ordered prior will be send at the usual fare).

 

[Daan]

As cases of COVID-19 ballooned last month, people in Europe and North America scrambled to get their hands on surgical masks to protect themselves. Meanwhile, health officials jumped in to discourage them, worried about the limited supply of masks for health care personnel.

“Seriously people-STOP BUYING MASKS!” began a 29 February tweet from U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. The World Health Organization and U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have both said that only people with COVID-19 symptoms and those caring for them should wear masks.

The worldwide shortage of masks has led to drastic measures. Earlier today the Government of the Autonomous Basque Region in Spain has ordered beret manufacturer Boinas Elósegui to immediately halt the complete production of berets and focus on manufacturing face masks instead.

The cost per mask is relatively high, but individual masks can be dry-cleaned up to 50 times in their lifespan, while the merino fibers are a natural antiseptic.
Specifically for the Basque market, Elósegui developed a face mask with txortena (or cabillou).

When the production of berets can be resumed is an unknown; “we expect to produce face masks only till at least the end of this year”, Elósegui spokesman Tonto Gilipollas said.

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

So all the talk about reality shields reminded of my trip to New York City in March, 2017,
standing across from Trump Tower wearing my Elosegui Txapela in Boudeau

then I thought since I am wearing my Txapela today I could try
to craft a beret mask.
I have an unlined white Nutria that would work.
I just need to add an elastic strap and I am ready to go.

 

[Daan]

Misfortunes never come singly
1.Bad things or situations always come in groups or streaks, they never come in a single way.
Synonyms: it never rains but it pours; when it rains, it pours


COVID-19 and the consequences for beret manufacturers have been bad, but things can always get worse. Last week part of the Filature du Parc was destroyed by fire.

Filature du Parc in Brassac (Tarn) is a specialized mill that supplies the merino wool threads used by all French beret manufacturers.

So apart from being in lockdown, now it is also impossible to physically manufacture berets. I fear the continuality of manufacturing berets in France is becoming more unsure, with Manufacture de Bérets, Laulhère and Le Béret Français all suffering terribly from both these disasters.

On a very personal level, I am lucky to have a large stock of French berets from all three manufacturers; who knows wat will happen with production in the near future…

 

[JimK]

Misfortunes never come singly

Daan! That looks like a genuine disaster! Please - fill in some blanks! Is that the supplier of yarn from which berets are made?

 

[Daan]

Daan! That looks like a genuine disaster! Please - fill in some blanks! Is that the supplier of yarn from which berets are made?

That's correct, Jim. And Filatures du Parc is the only mill in France that supplies the fine thread of merino wool for the beret industry.
Add to that the lockdown and the closure of the border between France and Spain and you'll realize how dire the situation is.

 

[JimK]

Filatures du Parc is the only mill in France that supplies the fine thread of merino wool for the beret industry.

Ach, it's horrible enough just the physical destruction of such a factory, all the equipment and materials. But then the way nowadays our supply chains are so dreadfully efficient, which is to say brittle. I hope we find a way to come out of all this stronger somehow - more resilient. These kinds of hard knocks are unavoidable even if they only come around every decade or two.

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

A photo from back in the good old days.
i am the bartender for our local art museum group,
so I was pouring wine back on March 5, one of the last
times I was in a group setting.
Wearing the Flamingo 10p in kahki along with nitrile gloves,
back when all you had to worry about was washing your hands.

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

An instance of my current world view,
the split color down the middle Paso-doble
by Elosegui in black/Bordeaux.
The Bordeaux color is very dark,
so, it makes a good pairing with the black.

 

[JimK]

Zoom is the thing these days! I decided to try a virtual background using one of the algorithmically generated images I like to experiment with. The beret is a Doria made for Delmonico.

Stay healthy, all!

 

[JimK]

That black and white background is too stark! Here is a more colorful pattern.... with a green Elosegui Super Lujo.

 

[Daan]

I am incredibly saddened by the news that my friend Jean-Claude Pertuzé has died last Sunday.

Jean-Claude was a great supporter of The Beret Project; designing my logo, sending me beautiful artworks of his and telling me the story of the “Bigue-les” badge that I wear every day around my wrist…

Jean-Claude had a kind of humour that gave me the energy to go on with life, enabling me to laugh at the dark side of the world we live in.

He was a great man, a good friend and a real mensch.

I will miss him.

 

[JimK]

He was a great man, a good friend and a real mensch.

So sorry to hear this, Daan. Working together, trading ideas... shared projects create true friendships. The fond memories are a lot, but don't match the loss by any measure.

 

[Cepice]

snowing at the moment here in North Ogden, Utah! This is my biggest beret, an Elosegui.

View attachment 223407

Big berets often look a bit clumsy, but yours looks quite dashing. I think it's the whole shebang of the structured shoulders of your tweed jacket and the dash of color from the scarf. Nicely done, a real inspiration!

 

[Cepice]

An instance of my current world view,
the split color down the middle Paso-doble
by Elosegui in black/Bordeaux.
The Bordeaux color is very dark,
so, it makes a good pairing with the black.

View attachment 229844

I hope I can have as much fun as you do when I grow up, @Bouwerij_Jongen!

 

[Cepice]

@Daan I'm sorry for your loss. Your friend looked quite funny, and he sketched a very bold line.