In Praise of the Beret

When it's cold, I wear my Basque beret!

As winter approaches, it's time to dig out your Basque beret... or buy one.
The Basque beret is not Basque. Its origins lie in neighboring Béarn. The name comes from the Gascon (Occitan dialect of Béarn) berret, French for bonnet.
A real beret can only be made of wool and without a rim. It's the ideal headgear to protect you from the cold. To protect against rain and snow, the diameter has sometimes been increased. The all-time champion is the beret worn by the French army's chasseurs alpins.

The beret is dyed black, but red berets can be found in all 7 provinces of the Basque Country on feast days. In Spain, the Carlists adopted the red beret.
Spain is home to the largest number of wearers of the Basque beret, which has crossed the Atlantic and is also widely worn in Argentina.

This beret ended up covering heads in Eastern Europe, China and Japan, the countries where it's made. I own several berets, one of which comes from Yugoslavia. The country no longer exists, but I still use the beret, it's the one I prefer.
What does the future hold for the Basque beret? While farmers and stockbreeders are wearing it less and less, often preferring the cap, young urban men and women are showing an interest in it. It's also the headgear of many intellectuals and artists, which gives us the opportunity to talk about Luis Mariano.
He is buried in Arcangues cemetery, in his native Basque country.

Worn by Che, it even became inseparable from the iconic image of revolutionaries the world over.