Berets, Anyone?

[JimK]

32cm Tolosa Tupida... I'm standing in the marina on Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, Utah. I imagine I should be waist deep in water, but the lake is at a record low.

 

[Daan]

32cm Tolosa Tupida... I'm standing in the marina on Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, Utah. I imagine I should be waist deep in water, but the lake is at a record low.
View attachment 356501

Love the photo (not the circumstances...). One of the very last Tolosa Tupida's in 32cm (I have only 2 left in stock and that's it...).
The photo made me think of all the "Despoblados", the forgotten towns that were submerged to create hydro lakes in the Spanish mountains under Franco's dictatorship - often a revenge on the "Reds" who lived there.

Vegamián is one such town and unlike many others, was not demolished or cannibalized before the water took over.

In 1983 the lake had to be cleaned up (removing dead trees and other debris, so as not to block the turbines of the power station). What emerged under layers of mud was a village that was very much intact.

This (above) is the school; every brick still there, windows and roof in place.

Above two neighbors of Vegamián in front of the Hermitage of San Antonio, below 'after the flood'.

Julio and Millán in what was their town:

Read the full article here.

 

[JimK]

The photo made me think of all the "Despoblados", the forgotten towns that were submerged to create hydro lakes in the Spanish mountains under Franco's dictatorship - often a revenge on the "Reds" who lived there.

Thanks for that fascinating history. I lived for a while near the Ashokan Reservoir, one of the main sources of drinking water for New York City. There were signs and songs and stories of the towns that got submerged. I don't think there was any political punishment behind the project, though there must have been some conflict.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

As the weather heats up and I do more acitivies in warm weather,
my cotton berets will tell me it's time for a wash.
So, in a small tub of warm water with Woolite detergent
I soak them for 30 minutes. Then squeeze, rinse and squeeze again.
Then to dry sun for that final sun bleaching.
View attachment 342474
View attachment 342475

d

you know what i have done before is use a small inner tube on the inside and either let dry or steam to get wrinkles out

 

[Daan]

The SPECIAL at South Pacific Berets this week is a wide selection of berets in khaki. That sounds pretty straightforward, but, it's not...
Khaki in North America refers to a light shade of brown with a yellowish tinge. It has been used as a color name in English since 1848 when it was first introduced as a military uniform.

The word khaki is loaned from Urdu (meaning 'soil-colored'), which in turn comes from the Persian khâk (meaning 'soil'); it came into English via the British Indian Army.
Khaki-coloured uniforms were used officially by British troops for the first time during the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia, when Indian troops travelled to Ethiopia.

The United States Army adopted khaki during the Spanish–American War (1898), replacing their traditional blue field uniforms. The United States Navy and United States Marine Corps followed suit, authorizing khaki field and work uniforms.

When khaki was adopted for the continental British Service Dress in 1902, the shade chosen had a clearly darker and more green hue. This color was adopted with minor variations by all the British Empire Armies and the US expeditionary force of World War I, in the latter under the name olive drab. This shade of brown-green remained in use by many countries throughout the two World Wars.

Whereas European countries now refer to 'khaki' to what Americans call 'olive-drab', it can make it confusing to select a 'khaki beret'.
Instead of making my own "rules", I decided to stick with the description used by the manufacturer.

That means berets in a greenish hue from France, soil/tan colour for berets from Spain and Japan.

You'll find them all here.

 

[Daan]

Ask anyone to name a famous person wearing a beret and 9 out of 10 will say Ché Guevara. Not an “easy” role model really; the cliché of “the hero to one is the terrorist to another” is certainly valid for Ché.
Either way, he did wear his beret (a Laulhére in 10p) well and certainly did his best to re-popularize the beret.

Arsenio Garcia Davila, a combatant with Fidel Castro and survivor of the 1956 landing of the Granma in Cuba, owns Ché Guevara's original beret.

Many films have been made about Ché Guevara, The Motorcycle Diaries probably the most famous.

A film with a different twist is Ernesto, following the friendship between Ché and a second-generation Japanese-Bolivian named Freddy Maemura Hurtado.

“Ernesto” is the creation of Junji Sakamoto, “the rebel from Osaka”.
Ché was so taken with Hurtado’s personality and medical skills (Ché himself was a doctor), that he granted him full use of his first name, Ernesto.

It’s a slice of political history that few Japanese are aware of — that and the fact that Ché once visited Japan for 12 days, in 1959.

These days the Ché-Beret is still very popular, outside and in Cuba. Part of the uniform for Cuban schoolchildren and with Ché "lookalikes" making some money from tourist taking their pictures.

The enormous popularity of berets in Japan, certainly has a lot to do with Ché Guevara.

 

[Daan]

The New Stock from Japan

Berets are big in Japan and there is no other country that has so many beret manufacturers and beret fashion-designers.
The new stock that has only just arrived at South Pacific Berets is a great example of the enormous variety of beret designs that boineros in Japan come up with.

These are the Jou-Jou 9.5p Berets; light-weight berets that can be worn in a variety of way, fitted with a size adjustable headband and available in 4 stunning colours.

The Outback Tropical Berets are feather-light berets made of a nylon outer shell and a poly-cotton lining. Fitted with a size adjustable headband these berets make for the ultimate sun protection in hot and humid weather.

The Jou-Jou Cotton berets in Café au lait and Indigo measure 28cm in diameter and are fitted with an elastic headband which ensures a very comfortable fit for all sizes. These berets are made of 60% cotton and 40% poly/rayon for reinforcement.

The Jou-Jou Paper berets are summer berets made of 50% paper and a 50% blend of cotton, polyester, and rayon. These 30cm diameter grey berets are fitted with a comfortable size adjustable headband, offer great protection from the sun's UV rays and weigh only 60 grams.

Our Eco PU "leather" berets are a perfect alternative for cowhide leather. PU Leather is, unlike PVC, pliable and flexible, offers breathability and can wrinkle and stain like natural leather.
These lined black Eco-Leather Panel Berets are size-adjustable and measure approximately 26.5cm in diameter.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

Ask anyone to name a famous person wearing a beret and 9 out of 10 will say Ché Guevara. Not an “easy” role model really; the cliché of “the hero to one is the terrorist to another” is certainly valid for Ché.
Either way, he did wear his beret (a Laulhére in 10p) well and certainly did his best to re-popularize the beret.

Arsenio Garcia Davila, a combatant with Fidel Castro and survivor of the 1956 landing of the Granma in Cuba, owns Ché Guevara's original beret.

Many films have been made about Ché Guevara, The Motorcycle Diaries probably the most famous.

A film with a different twist is Ernesto, following the friendship between Ché and a second-generation Japanese-Bolivian named Freddy Maemura Hurtado.

“Ernesto” is the creation of Junji Sakamoto, “the rebel from Osaka”.
Ché was so taken with Hurtado’s personality and medical skills (Ché himself was a doctor), that he granted him full use of his first name, Ernesto.
View attachment 363136 View attachment 363137
It’s a slice of political history that few Japanese are aware of — that and the fact that Ché once visited Japan for 12 days, in 1959.
View attachment 363133 View attachment 363134 View attachment 363135
These days the Ché-Beret is still very popular, outside and in Cuba. Part of the uniform for Cuban schoolchildren and with Ché "lookalikes" making some money from tourist taking their pictures.
View attachment 363138 View attachment 363139 View attachment 363140
The enormous popularity of berets in Japan, certainly has a lot to do with Ché Guevara.

the Che beret had a sweet satin liner

 

[Babbo Philipe]

Good morning American patriots

 

[Daan]

French theme at the Lawrence Welk Show with the Three Lennon Sisters, in 1964. Berets galore!

 

[Bouwerij_Jongen]

Daan, I am hoping you can shed light on the Instagram post by
Manfacturedeberet that showed a beret made from undyed brown colored wool.
Here is a cropped portion of the photo showing the beret


An undyed brown/khaki beret from MdB would be different.

 

[Daan]

Daan, I am hoping you can shed light on the Instagram post by
Manfacturedeberet that showed a beret made from undyed brown colored wool.
Here is a cropped portion of the photo showing the beret
View attachment 366582

An undyed brown/khaki beret from MdB would be different.

Yes, I certainly can! That beret is one of the new Bérets Merino d’Arles made for South Pacific Berets by MdB/Auloronesa.
Sara was a bit quick posting that photo, but your timing of enquiring is spot-on; I am presently awaiting delivery by courier of these berets.
Below a sample, in 9.5p:

The Bérets Merino d’Arles are custom batch-made berets in natural, unbleached wool of the Merinos d’Arles sheep. Given the difference between completely natural and standard manufacturing merino fibers, the knitting, fulling and felting of these berets follows an intricate and difficult process.
After years of trials, started by Auloronesa's founder Denis Guédon, South Pacific Berets will now -exclusively- offer these Merinos d’Arles berets in the Auloronesa Universel model, fitted with a liguette (to adjust the size), black cotton lining and the label of Manufacture de Bérets Béarn.

I am waiting with great anticipation for the berets to arrive and hope to have these available on the website within the next 48 hours. All models are Universel and will come in 10p, 10.5p, 11p and 12p/Alpin in a small number. At this stage it is unclear whether MdB can be convinced to make more... Prices will range between $110.00 and $125.00.
For those interested, happy to take pre-orders.

About the Merinos d’Arles: these sheep produce a light fleece of only 2 kg of very fine wool in the range between 20/21 micron with a length of 5/7cm.
The particularity of the Merino d’Arles fibre is its curliness; no other wool has so many bows per centimeter. This allows very light products due to its bulkiness and lightweight.
Whereas most Merino sheep are bred with a focus on pure white fleece, the original colour of the wool are shades between milk-white to light brown and grey.

The old Roman city of Arles in the South of France is the centre of French Merino sheep. It was in 1806 that the “Imperial and Royal Bergerie d’Arles” was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte. In Arles the Spanish Merino sheep was crossed with a local sheep breed, the “Mouton Camarguaise”, with the Merinos d’Arles as a result. This was a small, tough animal, sturdy to cope with the hard living conditions on the plain as well as in the mountains, with the finest wool, ideal and well adapted for the dry and hot climate of the vast plains of the ancient delta of Rhone and Durance River.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

Daan, I am hoping you can shed light on the Instagram post by
Manfacturedeberet that showed a beret made from undyed brown colored wool.
Here is a cropped portion of the photo showing the beret
View attachment 366582

An undyed brown/khaki beret from MdB would be different.

these do seam nice but more grey then brown i was talking to Sara a few months ago about them , my daughter was interested, Sara has them
for sale she replied today im pondering on getting a couple myself

 

[Daan]

these do seam nice but more grey then brown i was talking to Sara a few months ago about them , my daughter was interested, Sara has them
for sale she replied today im pondering on getting a couple myself

I am sorry to say that you haven't got your facts right, Philipe.
The production of these berets is a joint venture and South Pacific Berets is the sole retailer where these can be ordered - Sara has a small number for sale in her physical shop in Orthez only.
Depending feedback and interest in these berets, I may be able to restock over time and Sara may decide to sell these herself - but that would be a while into the future.
Meanwhile the berets have arrived here in Wellington and shall work tonight to get these available on the website!

 

[Babbo Philipe]

I am sorry to say that you haven't got your facts right, Philipe.
The production of these berets is a joint venture and South Pacific Berets is the sole retailer where these can be ordered - Sara has a small number for sale in her physical shop in Orthez only.
Depending feedback and interest in these berets, I may be able to restock over time and Sara may decide to sell these herself - but that would be a while into the future.
Meanwhile the berets have arrived here in Wellington and shall work tonight to get these available on the website!

Well she seemed to indicate she was selling these. I actually asked her months ago. But I would assume your decent size order triggered it either way good on you

 

[Daan]

Very happy to now officially announce the release of the Auloronesa Bérets Merino d’Arles!

What more to say after yesterday's post here..?
It is fantastic to see (and wear!) the result of years of attempting to get these berets into the world - I wish Auloronesa's founder Denis Guédon could see and feel this achievement.
Apart from the specialized artisan work required to manufacture these berets, the raw Merino burel wool from Arles is hard to source and very expensive, making it hard to produce on demand.

The berets are now available online.

 

[Godfrey]

Here is a nice little warning on being gentle when stretching a beret. I've stretched many a beret in my time (using the Ron Greer method) so I think this was probably a lack of attention to the thickness of the felt in comparison to the force applied!

There may have also been a bit of a weakness in the felt. I'd already been around once without problems.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

View attachment 368408

Here is a nice little warning on being gentle when stretching a beret. I've stretched many a beret in my time (using the Ron Greer method) so I think this was probably a lack of attention to the thickness of the felt in comparison to the force applied!

There may have also been a bit of a weakness in the felt. I'd already been around once without problems.

Must have been old or a weak point. Wool is pretty strong. I know it dulls the best of knives

 

[alanfgag]

Very happy to now officially announce the release of the Auloronesa Bérets Merino d’Arles!
View attachment 366861 View attachment 366862
What more to say after yesterday's post here..?
It is fantastic to see (and wear!) the result of years of attempting to get these berets into the world - I wish Auloronesa's founder Denis Guédon could see and feel this achievement.
Apart from the specialized artisan work required to manufacture these berets, the raw Merino burel wool from Arles is hard to source and very expensive, making it hard to produce on demand.
View attachment 366863 View attachment 366864 View attachment 366865
The berets are now available online.

Received today and I love it. Redolent of lanolin in the best way. A little more of a shape holder than my other Auloronesa berets, which I also like. 10p

 

[NoHorse]

Alan…

kudos to whoever your photographer is. In fact, I’d be interested to know what lens was used.

More to the point - I got my Merino d’Arles today! Oh my oh my. This is a very different beret indeed. It may well become my daily wear, replacing the mix of Auloronesa and Elosequi that Are my habit.