Berets, Anyone?

[Babbo Philipe]

awe yes just got a new 10 pouce marine Auloronesa, also have a 11pouce for sale

 

[Nico]

awe yes just got a new 10 pouce marine Auloronesa, also have a 11pouce for sale
View attachment 73510

Look sharp Philipe

 

[Babbo Philipe]

thanks yea blue turned out very pleasing

 

[GrayEyes]

I wanted to share with you gentlemen something that I saw on television. At an anti-Putin demonstration in Moscow on 6 May, one of the protesters was wearing a small-diameter beret, though I don't see a cabillou.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

still have an 11 pouce ( 12 " ) beautiful auloronesa if anyone is interested, brand new in Marine (dark blue)

 

[Yarbles]

Tell me more please about the Deer linens ....how much .....sizes .....where from etc

 

[RJR]

Tell me more please about the Deer linens ....how much .....sizes .....where from etc

The Deer berets from Japan are becoming very scarce because the mfg has ceased making them.I assume that Simon (1280 Almas)will see this and add more information.

 

[Nico]

First day day of my holidays, cold and wet. Great beret weather.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

Last Deer summer linen berets for sale, green, gray, wine, dark blue & beige.

is there a seam on the linens, or wools

 

[Nico]

Very cool in Hobart, wearing my bordeaux B A today.
Antartica is About 3430km south from here.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

looking great Nico

 

[Nico]

A rather wet day today. Wearing my green B.A whilst enjoying a steam train ride through Tasmania's ruggered west coast wilderness.

 

[Daan]

Nice, Nico. Makes me realise though that within a week I'll be back in the southern winter; just heard that the first snow fell on the mountains surrounding Wellington (while I sit here enjoying breakfast at a hotel in Bizkaia, Basque Country).

However, lots of interesting beret news to relate; my trip has been extremely successful, meeting with the new owners of Boneteria Auloronesa, a day at Boinas Elosegui in Tolosa, meetings with historians in Bayonne and Balmaseda and much more.
Once back behind my desk in Wellington, you'll read all about it, including some good visual material that I can't post from this phone...

One thing that became very clear to me, is that the beret is much more alive than I imagined! I have perfectioned the art of spy photography, catching many boineros in the wild. Again, more on this soon.

 

[Nico]

Couple more mug shots.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

wow nice Nico,

 

[Nico]

One week down and one to go holidaying in our island state. I have seen plenty of blokes wearing caps, hats and beanies but no berets. I am doing my part to change that.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

i need a vacation too

 

[Nico]

In Taroona at altitude looking down to the Derwent river.
Wearing my B.A

 

[Daan]

After 3 weeks of travelling Les Landes, Euskal Herria, Navarre and Béarn, meeting with historians in Bayonne, Balmaseda and Bilbao, manufacturers in Oloron Sainte Marie and Tolosa and searching for (and finding!) loads and loads of interesting beret related material, I am now jet-legged sitting behind my desk in a wet and wintry Wellington, sorting and posting, replying to messages, unpacking new berets...

Time to get back to The Fedora Lounge, so here a first impression of these last weeks:
The plan to start working on a second book about berets got more shape, or better, I can't wait to start working on it. More than a general history book like Basque Berets (presently reduced in price...), the manuscript will focus on a number of individual boineros and give a more in-depth background to some brands and regions. The Musée Basque and University Library in Bayonne have been fantastic in letting me find details I have long been looking for!

Visiting Boneteria Auloronesa again was great! Seeing all the improvements, talking through new ideas and most of all, being able to say goodbye to former owner/initiator Denis Guédon and meeting the new owners Sara Goupy and Tué Tam Pham Ti. The new owners are most dedicated to continue in the same artisan way as set up by M Guédon and I look much forward to working together. Not just good news though; to actually make a living of the business, prices will go up (and some quite drastically too). The Auloronesa and Aotearoa berets are already among the more expensive berets to be found, but when understanding the process of making these berets, the hours of handwork that go into every single one of them, it makes one realize that that quality has to come at a price too.

The good news is that I have a reasonable stock of both labels and won't raise prices until my next order!

Next on the program, as far as beret manufacturing was concerned, was meeting the people at Boinas Elósegui in Tolosa.

This was my first visit to the factory and not only was it fantastic to see this last, and only, Basque manufacturer, it was a real eye opener for me to see how they work and what they are capable of. Too much to relate here in a few words, but much more will follow over time.

For me the essence is that, like Boneteria Auloronesa, these are people with a true and genuine dedication to the product they manufacture; I was incredibly impressed with their eye for detail in the whole manufacturing process (eg. look how every individual beret is checked for holes and irregularities over a lighted globe).

And despite having machines with the latest technology, the machines that do the "real work" are over a century old and still going!

Other places visited included the old beret factory in Balmaseda and a number of small museums. What it showed, overall, was the incredible importance of the beret; omnipresent in daily lives of farmers and peasants, wailers and skippers, the bourgeoisie and the workers.
And despite so many claiming that no one wears berets anymore, I found more "berets in the wild" this time than ever before!

Following in my brother's footsteps, I took up the art of beret-spying and made dozens and dozens of photo's. Many already posted on Facebook it tells the story of an ongoing tradition and habit, as well as a rediscovered headgear for new generations.

 

[Babbo Philipe]

Nice ,
yes Sara goupy is a fine person , she helped me out a lot, very attentive,