More American Apparel

American Apparel. Their berets are made by Parkhurst, Canada; not my favourite brand of berets, but still a respectable old manufacturer with a good, long tradition of beret making. American Apparel is better known for their model shoots than berets and indeed, a new lot of beautiful beret pic's.

From the AA web site: "Founded in 1926, Parkhurst is one of Canada's largest and most diverse knitwear operations. 

Like American Apparel, they are vertically integrated, and oversee all aspects of their products from raw-spun yarn, to designing, processing, dyeing, packaging and shipping a finished product. 

The result is a consumer knitwear whose integrity is unmatched anywhere on earth. With this reputation and commitment to providing reliable top quality goods, American Apparel is proud to work with Parkhurst in helping share this beautifully crafted beret with the world." 

Tintin

Ah yes, we have seen Quick and Flupke here, on The Beret Project, but Hergé drew up a lot more berets for the stories of Tintin, his most famous character (since 1929).
Tintin is a young reporter who is drawn to dangerous international intrigues in which his quick thinking, bravery and chronic good luck save the day. Almost every adventure features Tintin sent off to investigate an assignment, but rarely does he actually turn in a story without first getting caught up in an adventure. Although the strip was Belgian, Hergé was inconsistent or vague about assigning Tintin a nationality, depicting him instead as broadly European.

Yiddishkeit: Jacques Lipchitz

Jacques Lipchitz (1891 –1973) was a Cubist sculptor, born Chaim Jacob Lipchitz, from a Jewish family, son of a building contractor in Druskininkai, Lithuania, then within the Russian Empire. At first, under the influence of his father, he studied engineering, but soon after, supported by his mother he moved to Paris (1909) to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian.

 It was there, in the artistic communities of Montmartre and Montparnasse, that he joined a group of artists that included Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso as well as where his friend, Amedeo Modigliani, painted Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz.

With the German occupation of France during World War II, and the deportation of Jews to the Nazi death camps, Jacques Lipchitz had to flee France. With the assistance of the American journalist Varian Fry in Marseille, he escaped the Nazi regime and went to the United States. There, he eventually settled in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Jacques Lipchitz died in Capri, Italy. His body was flown to Jerusalem for burial.

The World's Best Beret is Back!

Not only the 'World's Best Beret', but also the beret that broke a record in time of being sold out! The last lot of these berets lasted some three weeks on the shelves of South Pacific Berets. 
A new (and most likely last) lot has just arrived (all pre-orders will be shipped out today), but unfortunately NZ Customs weren't as 'friendly' as last time - a hefty import duty this time which I -partially- have to add to the price.

Still, you won't find a beret of better quality, anywhere. Feedback from an Australian customer was that he couldn't believe wearing a wool beret in 34oC! The insulation capacity of the 17 microns merino wool is truly amazing.

It is a steep learning curve for me too, learning about the properties of this merino wool. Following some more information on the benefits:
This merino wool ensures it feels smooth, soft and comfortable due to it's natural properties of breathability, thermoregulation, durability, stretch and drape that Merino fabrics provide, next to other benefits such as odour resistance, fire and static resistance, UV absorption and sweat and moisture control.

Merino fibres are strong and long, enabling a durable fabric and has excellent drape and wrinkle recovery. As Merino fibres are natural, and like human hair are made up of keratin proteins, they are very resilient - a Merino fibre can be bent 20,000 times without breaking. When a Merino fibre is wet, it can be extended up to 30% without damage. When the extension is released, the fibre then recovers completely to its original dimensions.

The specifics can be found on this information chart of the manufacturer:

Patrick Caulfield

Patrick Joseph Caulfield, CBE, RA (1936 – 2005) was an English painter and printmaker known for his bold canvases, which often incorporated elements of Photorealism within a pared down scene.

Caulfield's paintings are figurative, often portraying a few simple objects in an interior. Typically, he used flat areas of simple colour surrounded by black outlines. Some of his works are dominated by a single hue.

Patrick Caulfield's grave, Highgate Cemetery

KANGOL Concentration Camp Beret

I came upon this KANGOL "Stripe Jersey Beret" and couldn't believe it at first; thought it was a practical joke, but no, KANGOL really manufactures this beret that to my eye is pretty much identical to the caps worn by the prisoners of NAZI concentration camps. 

A review on www.hatsblog.com says: "There are no berets out there quite like this one.  Feeling more like your favorite t-shirt;  it won’t take long for this to become your favorite hat." 
Yeah, right...

Congratulations, Mr President

YES!

They're in, the 'Tartes - Field Version'!

Since the Good News post last Monday, things moved quickly. The first lot of Tartes Chasseur Alpin - Field Version has just come in!

A small number of beautiful 320mm berets, sized but without a headband; the solid wool rim is sized, guaranteeing an extremely comfortable and snug fit. I dare say, you can't find a better beret for winter use (and actually, it does very well in the Wellington spring too - haven't worn anything else for weeks!). 

With the pre-orders taken off, there are still a number in the sizes 59, 60 and 61, but only one in 57 and two in size 58.  The next shipment is expected by mid or late December. 

Tanja Nijmeijer

Tanja Nijmeijer (1978) is a former Dutch squatter and Trotskyist activist (she was briefly a member of the Dutch International Socialists).

Nijmeijer studied Romance languages and Romance cultures at the University of Groningen and in 2000 she went to Colombia as an exchange student. In November 2002 she joined there the Colombian guerilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), where she has become a leading figure since then.

Yesterday, Nijmeijer arrived in Cuba, as a member of the delegation to negotiate peace with the Colombian government.

She is charged with terrorism in the United States for holding three American citizens captive. If found guilty she faces up to 60 years in custody. Arrest warrants for Tanja Nijmeijer had to be suspended to allow her to participate at the Cuban negotiations table. 

Great Shots

Good News

Good news for those who share my passion for the field version of the Tarte Chasseur Alpin, or maybe I should say: those who'd like to be converted to the Tarte. 

Strange as it may sound, it proved almost impossible to get more stock in of these grand berets, but finally, I received confirmation that they are on their way! Post and NZ Customs willing, the Tartes should be in by the 15th of November. 
Top quality (200 grams!) winter berets, made by Beatex-Laulhère in Sainte-Marie-Oloron.

Meanwhile, there are still a few Tartes in stock in size 59-61. I dare say, if you happen to live in the northern hemisphere - you'd better be in quick! (Personally, I dread the time that it really turns to summer, down here in NZ...).

Paul Klee

Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, Guétary (France), 1929

Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.

Blaise Cendrars

Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1887 –1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss novelist and poet naturalized French in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the modernist movement.

During World War II, tragedy struck when his youngest son was killed in an accident while escorting American planes in Morocco. In occupied France, the Gestapo listed Cendrars as a Jewish writer of "French expression."

In 1950, he ended his life of travel by settling down on the rue Jean-Dolent in Paris, across from the La Santé Prison. There he collaborated frequently with Radiodiffusion Française. He finally published again in 1956. The novel, Emmène-moi au bout du monde !…, was to be his last work before suffering a stroke in 1957.

In 1960, André Malraux bestowed upon him the title of Commander of the Légion d'honneur for his wartime service. A year later, Blaise Cendrars also received the Paris Grand Prix for literature. Shortly after, he died. His ashes now rest at Le Tremblay-sur-Mauldre. His literary estate is archived in the Swiss Literature Archives in Bern.

Lev Kopelev

Lev Zalmanovich Kopelev (1912 –1997) was a Soviet author and a dissident.

Kopelev was born in Kiev, Ukraine, to a middle-class Jewish family.

An idealist Communist and active Bolshevik, he was first arrested in March 1929 for "consorting with the Bukharinist and Trotskyist opposition," and spent ten days in prison.

From 1968 onward Kopelev actively participated in the human rights and dissident movement. In 1968 he was fired from his job and expelled from the CPSU and the Writers' Union for signing protest letters against the persecution of dissidents, publicly supporting Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel and actively denouncing the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He also protested Solzhenitsyn's expulsion from the Writers' Union and wrote in defense of dissenting General Pyotr Grigorenko.

Lev Kopelev died in 1997 in Cologne, Germany.

Autumn

It is quite amazing, the photographs one finds when searching for something as innocent as 'autumn related beret pictures'...

And not only to find pictures like these, the young lady even wears a bright red boina Tolosa Tupida in cotton. 

Now, if anyone is inspired to get an original present for his spouse, this Christmas, have a look here!

Wilhelm Brasse

Last week Wilhelm Brasse passed away, on 23 October. Brasse was a Polish professional photographer and a prisoner in Auschwitz during World War II. 

Brasse was of mixed Austrian-Polish descent. He learned photography in Katowice at the atelier of his aunt. After the 1939 German invasion of Poland and occupation of Brasse's hometown Żywiec, in southern Poland, he was interrogated by the SS. He refused to swear allegiance to Hitler, and was imprisoned for three months. After his release, still refusing to capitulate to the Volksliste and forced membership of German Army, he tried to escape to Hungary and join the Polish Army in France but was captured, along with other young men, at the Polish–Hungarian border and deported to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau as prisoner number 3444.

Brasse was ordered by the SS camp administrators to photograph prisoners work, criminal medical experiments, [and] portraits of the prisoners for the files. Brasse has estimated that he took 40,000 to 50,000 "identity pictures" from 1940 until 1945.

Wilhelm Brasse (L) with writer Erich Hackl at his house in Żywiec

Although he had gone back to the State Museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau to talk with visitors about his experiences, and although he still possessed a pre-war Kodak camera, he would never take another photograph.

Thanks, Alex

More Pretty Labels

A few more samples from my collection; beautiful and elaborate pictures in their own right. A Basque farmer at his farm in the Pyrenees,

 A yacht at full sea,

A picture of parachutists jumping from an airplane (I love the way they hang on their parachutes) with, what seems to me to be the logo of the Gendarme Nationale

And this beautiful piece of artwork 'Nos Ailes'; a soldier in the uniform of the Chasseurs, in a trench behind bared wire, an (allied) airplane flying over... Don't see labels like this anymore these days. 

Labels, Pretty Labels

Sure, there are still berets made with very pretty, or interesting,  labels - the French NIEBLA for example, or  the Bakarra and PeBeO labels by the same manufacturer (Blancq Olibet). But, the Golden Days of pretty labels seem to be behind us.

Here are some scanned labels from my own collection. They are all French, 1950's - 1960's and all sending out the message how good these berets are for bad weather.

The latter two carry a strong resemblance to the NIEBLA, one of few berets that survived un-changed for many decades. 

Capital Punishment

After finding this photograph showing Eugen Weidmann’s execution in Versailles, 17 June, 1939 by a bereted executioner, I spent a few hours behind the computer looking into capital punishment and related issues. A sickening experience.
Of course, I knew very well that there are still countries (people) who believe in this form of 'justice' (the US comfortably nestled between countries like China, Iran, North Korea and Somalia), but delving deeper into the matter reveals a lot about the minds of these supporters - not uplifting revelations, to say the least.. 
Alas, it's not an issue for The Beret Project really, although it's interesting that executioners and supporters alike tend to wear kefiyah's or Stetsons - not berets (the proverbial exception -above- not taken into account). 

The Winter Tarte!

I have praised a variety of berets on this blog, from the little Radiovka, via the Basco Roma to the German Baskenmuetze and the supreme  Elósegui 150 Años Edición Limitada. 

And all are highly recommended berets, all in their own way. But, where the Edición Limitada may objectively be the best beret in the world (yes, I honestly believe this!), I find the winter version of the Tarte by far the best beret for myself to wear. To be honest, I wear nothing else (apart from my Basco Roma, inside the house at night...).

Not available to the general public, I struggle to get any for South Pacific Berets, but have just managed to secure a few more (and hopefully, get more in over the next few months).

These berets are 320mm in diameter and weigh almost 200 grams (!) and come in a dark navy-blue.  Made by Beatex-Laulhère in Oloron-Sainte-Marie (Departement Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Due to French Government regulations, these berets have to be re-fitted with a plain lining and with the military label removed before they can be exported and sold to customers outside the French military. Therefore, these berets have a plain black cotton lining and carry theSouth Pacific Berets label.

These Tartes  in 320mm diameter are not fitted with a headband, but the thick wool rim is sized. Presently available in size L (59-61).