Le béret: French icon, military symbol, fashion statement

The original French Béret
Blancq-Olibet advertisement (1930s)

A friend of mine noticed that I have been covering quite a few French icons over the last few months. A very astute observation. I took my readers for a ride in the Citroën 2 CV; together we strolled along the Seine river; met Gustave Eiffel and traveled back in time to the 1889 World Fair; finally, we sat down and enjoyed coffee and lively conversation at a Parisian café.

Something was missing. When so many blogs are dedicated to fashion, I realized I had only written one story about la mode, a tribute to Coco Chanel and her eponymous fragrance, Chanel no. 5. Surely, there was more to contribute about the French sense of style... 


Eh bien, mesdames et messieurs, today I give you... le béret. "The beret?", you ask. That funny, round, flat hat, worn by the military - and a few revolutionaries ? 

John Wayne, The Green Berets (1968)

Have you ever seen a photo of Le Che without his faithful beret?

"Chasseurs alpins" - France
(elite French mountain infantry corps)

United Nations Peacekeepers

Oui. Le béret. One of the most famous couvre-chefs (hats) ever. Le béret, like the Eiffel Tower, the baguette, or Edith Piaf, is a symbol of France, instantly recognizable the world over. 

This MUST be a French cat!

A French poodle -- How perfect is that?

The French can't really claim they invented the beret. The Greeks, the Romans, wore beret-like hats. Classical paintings reveal that the beret was fashionable in Europe as early as the Renaissance. 

A young Henry VIII (England, 1509)

Rembrandt, self-portrait with velvet beret
1634

Young Lady in a beret
Jan Boeckhost, Flanders, mid-17th century

Two regions in France claim they are the home of the beret: the Basque country and the Bearn. They are both located in the Southwest, north of the Pyrenees and the Spanish border. The word "béret" comes from the old gascon dialect ("berret".) Both the Bearn and the Basque Country belonged to an ancient French province, la Gascogne (Gascony.) I wrote about it in this story. 

Pays Basque (in red) - Bearn (in blue)

As early as the Middle Ages, berets could be found on the heads of Spanish shepherds, watching over their flock in the Pyrenee mountains. It is likely that in the Basque region , French shepherds took notice of their stylish neighbors' warm and sturdy hat; started wearing it and made it their own. The famous "béret basque" was born, and commercial production  took off in the area in the 17th century, becoming fully industrialized in the 19th century. Mass production exploded in the 1920s, when the beret became the favorite hat of the working class. French boys started wearing berets at an early age. Groups of children could often be seen playing games involving a beret. 

Beret Boys

French children, Lyon, France (1940s)

Children playing "Le jeu du béret" (the beret game) in 1964

Making the perfect beret is a time-consuming and complex process. Top-quality wool is wetted and shaped until it becomes dense, soft, and 100% waterproof. The traditional beret also includes a leather headband, folded in, or worn outside (by the military for example.) 


There are only two beret manufacturers left in Southern France: Blancq-Olibet and Beatex-Laulhere, who claim they started production in 1850 and 1810, respectively. The traditional beret color in the Basque region was brown, but most berets manufactured today are black or navy blue. There is even a beret museum in Nay, a small town in the Bearn region!

Authentic "Béret basque"

The beret can be worn in a variety of positions, illustrated by a French language teacher in this entertaining video.

The beret was originally made for working class men. They worked and lived, their beret securely screwed on their head, and hardly took it off. It offered the perfect protection against rain and sun; came in handy to transport cherries or mushroom in the fields, and it was even used to "correct" children's bad behavior.

Spanking or punishment by beret? 

During World War II, the beret became an emblem of French patriotism when the French Resistance adopted it. 

French Resistance fighters ("Les Maquisards")

Women were wearing berets by then, as did artists and intellectuals.

Claude Monet, self-portrait (1886)

Hemingway, covering the Spanish civil war, 1937

In the 1930s, glamorous [female] movie stars helped popularize le béret. It became an instant fashion statement.

French actress Michelle Morgan
Quai des Brumes (1938)

The Great Marlene Dietrich 

Jean Harlow

Lauren Bacall

"B.B." (Brigitte Bardot)

Catherine Deneuve

Some foreigners may still think the average French man walks around wearing a black beret. The truth is that its popularity is waning. In Southwestern France, where it remains a symbol of the local culture, older men wear it proudly, while younger generations display bright-colored berets during traditional celebrations and festivals.

In the United States, most men stay away from the béret. President Obama is currently campaigning for re-election. I would venture to say the following picture is not going to serve his cause...

Maybe he should stick to one of these [more American] hats:

One option...

Better yet...

After all, this is a look that has worked very well for other presidents...

President Clinton, a very smart man, would not have been caught dead wearing a beret. Still, a cute beret was blamed for his downfall...

And here we are today. To the French, le béret stands as a symbol of France's rural past,  and remains in favor with fashionistas and Bobos (the "bourgeois-bohême," or bohemian-bourgeois.) To other countries, it endures as a symbol of France; so iconic there are websites and blogs dedicated to the funny round, flat couvre-chef (hat.)  And that, les amis, would really impress the old Spanish and Basque shepherds!

A bientôt.