You Must Create

YMC (You Must Create) has spent nearly 20 years developing and evolving their unique signature look. Founded in London in 1995 by Fraser Moss and Jimmy Collins, YMC creates modern, functional clothing which eschew trends in favour of understated, wearable style.

Inspired by industrial design hero Raymond Loewy’s reply when asked how he saw the future of design, that ‘”You must create your own style.”  This call to arms is the driving force behind the brands identity which brings fresh inspiration to menswear and adds a subtle dose of femininity to their typically androgynous womenswear.

The ethos of taking a traditional item & reworking it to create something modern gives a timeless quality to the clothes meaning they will last for seasons ahead.

With a strong, directional approach which resonates with like minds, YMC has quietly evolved into a highly significant British label.

Girls in the Night (with Beret)

A family's efforts to move out of a slum area into a better neighbourhood is hampered when their son is accused of the murder of a local blind beggar.

A morbid and rugged look at life in the tenements of New York City. Chuck Haynes and his girl friend, Georgia Cordray, plan to rob a fake beggar of a supposed fortune, But Irv Kellener and his girl friend have the same idea also, and get there first, but end up killing the old man. And Chuck and Georgia are the prime suspects.

Lost: Raspberry Beret

Did you lose a raspberry beret? If so, Prince found it somewhere in Bernal Heights. It’s his beret now.

Balmorals, Caubeens & Tam o' Shanters

Close relatives of the Basque beret: the Scottish Balmoral and Tam o' Shanter and the Irish Caubeen. The Basques are keen to point out that all these are really Basque in origin, brought their by Basque whalers and fishermen on their way to their grounds of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia - the Irish and Scotsmen tend to think differently... 

Hard to find nowadays and when you do, often in very cheap quality (typically for parties and such), or extremely expensive. South Pacific Berets has now it's own range: good quality, affordable and in a good range of colours. 

Now at an introductory price of $ 40.00 (until Friday night 30 May, 2014).

The Beret Thief With The Rolled Up Sleeves

Comic book artist, illustrator, painter, poster and t-shirt designer Ermis Atzemoglou talks to Ough about his first illustrated book that just got out.

“The beret thief with the rolled up sleeves” is the title of an illustrated book whose story takes place in the filthy Athenian streets and trendy galleries of chic neighbourhoods, with all the nasty encounters included. The beret-thief has set his aims at the beret-wearing eggheads –the overeducated in art- and humorously takes his revenge in a noir story that reminds you a lot of past classic comics.

More Bank Robbers: Bonnie & Clyde

Another bank robber with beret: Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (1910 – 1934) and Clyde Chestnut Barrow (1909 – 1934) were American outlaws and robbers from the Dallas area who travelled the central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. At times, the gang included Buck Barrow, Blanche Barrow, Raymond Hamilton, W. D. Jones, Joe Palmer, Ralph Fults, and Henry Methvin.

Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. Though known today for his dozen-or-so bank robberies, Barrow preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and several civilians. The couple were eventually ambushed and killed in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, by law officers. Their reputation was revived and cemented in American pop folklore by Arthur Penn's 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the pair.

Even during their lifetimes, the couple's depiction in the press was at considerable odds with the hardscrabble reality of their life on the road—particularly in the case of Parker. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies during her two years as Barrow's companion, she was not the machine gun-wielding killer portrayed in the newspapers, newsreels, and pulp detective magazines of the day. Gang member W.D. Jones later testified that he was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers.

Parker's reputation as a cigar-smoking gun moll grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout, released to the press, and published nationwide. While she did chain smoke Camel cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.

Historian Jeff Guinn has said that the hideout photos led to the glamorization and creation of legend about the outlaws:

"John Dillinger had matinee-idol good looks and Pretty Boy Floyd had the best possible nickname, but the Joplin photos introduced new criminal superstars with the most titillating trademark of all—illicit sex. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were wild and young, and undoubtedly slept together."

Bonnie and Clyde in March 1933, in a photo found by police at the Joplin, Missouri, hideout

Bank in Dana Point Robbed by Man in Black Beret

It's hard to believe, I know, but not all beret wearers are trustworthy:

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Bank Robbery Apprehension Team are continuing the search for a man who robbed a Dana Point bank on Thursday.

According to OCSD spokesman Jim Amormino, a man who appeared to be in his late 30s, robbed the U.S. Bank at 33621 Del Obispo in Dana Point at about 9:30 a.m.

The man was described as 5 foot, 11 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing jeans, a gray sweatshirt and a black beret, presented a teller with a note demanding money. No weapons were seen during the hold up.

The subject fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

The FBI has so far been unable to match surveillance photos of the suspect with any known serial bank robbers, Amormino said.

The investigation is ongoing.

NZ Playwright Paul Maunder

Paul Maunder (1945) is a film director, playwright and "cultural activist" from New Zealand. He is best known for his 1979 film of the Albert Wendt novel Sons For the Return Home, and his 1983 play Hemi, about the life of NZ poet James K. Baxter.

Maunder studied at Victoria University of Wellington, the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney and the London Film School. He received a doctorate in Theatre and Film Studies from the University of Canterbury.

Returning to New Zealand, Maunder worked for the state-owned National Film Unit. In addition to directing a number of the documentaries the unit was best known for, he directed three drama productions which were screened on television: Gone up North for a While, One Of Those People That Live In The World and Landfall (the film debut of Sam Neill).

In 1971, Maunder formed Amamus theatre troupe in Wellington, staging protest plays.

South Pacific Berets customer Paul Maunder currently lives in the small town of Blackball on the West Coast.

Thatcher, with Beret

These beautiful photographs are by Dutch photographer Jetske van Beek, pictures of her father in 1984, cutting reeds in the Dutch province of Overijssel. 

The cut reeds are traditionally used for thatched roofs, still seen in some parts of the Netherlands.

The artisan job of harvesting reeds and thatching roofs is a slowly dying profession, but is still practised (and there seems to be a small revival; more people maintaining their "grass roofs" instead of changing to tiles). 

I wouldn't be surprised to find that many of these artisan thatchers wearing a beret...

Thanks, Jetske

Jan Voerman Sr.

Jan Voerman Sr. (1857 - 1941) was a Dutch painter and book designer. 

Early self portrait

His talent for drawing and painting manifested itself when he was very young . From his twelfth year he was drawing and painting and in 1876 started his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. In the period 1880-1881 Jan also studied at the Antwerp Academy. In Amsterdam , he lived in the former studio of Josef Israels . During this period he painted mainly Jordanian types (from the Amsterdam workers quarters "de Jordaan") and Jewish house scenes.

Jan Voerman by Salomon Garf

Around 1900 John Voerman Sr. painted the clouds above the Dutch river IJssel. Hattem and became known as "the IJSsel Painter". 
Many of his works on display at the Voerman Museum in Hattem (Netherlands). 
Hattem is also the place where he married Anna Verkade, the sister of Jan Verkade, who was at the end of the eighties of the 19th century for some time apprenticed with Jan Voerman. 
Voerman was the father of artist Jan Voerman Jr. (1890-1976).

New at the Gadget Department

New at the "Gadget Department" of South Pacific Berets: Key ring with embroidered beret in black or navy. 

Hand made in Oloron Sainte Marie, the very birthplace of the beret! 
In combination with any beret purchase @ $ 7.95. 

The Nazi and The Barber

The Nazi and The Barber is the famous story about the Nazi mass-murderer Max Schulz who after the war hides himself by assuming a Jewish identity. You will never forget this book, written by the well-known German-Jewish author Edgar Hilsenrath.

"Berlin was still a heap of ruins. ... One day they would rebuild the city again. I could see the day coming. And the rest of Germany, too. Yes. They would rebuild everything again. All Germany. And then ... yes ... perhaps they will bring back the Fuhrer from heaven."

Jean Piaget

Many beret customers will recognize Jean Piaget as the friendly old man recommending South Pacific Berets as the place to go for a new beret, on SPB's "propaganda" magnets and postcards. Thanks to Rick, I now know the name behind the man on his chair - thanks Rick!

Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology".

Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."

Piaget created the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until his death in 1980. The number of collaborations that its founding made possible, and their impact, ultimately led to the Center being referred to in the scholarly literature as "Piaget's factory."

According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget was "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing." However, his ideas did not become widely popularized until the 1960s. This then led to the emergence of the study of development as a major sub-discipline in psychology.

He was buried with his family in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière des Rois (Cemetery of Kings) in Geneva. This was, however, as per his request.

Professor Reuven Feuerstein

Iconic beret-wearer Reuven Feuerstein ( August 21, 1921 – April 29, 2014) was an Israeli clinical, developmental, and cognitive psychologist, renowned for his theory of intelligence which states “it is not ‘fixed’, but rather modifiable”. The idea behind this theory is that intelligence can be modified through mediated interventions.

Feuerstein was the founder and director of the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential (ICELP) in Jerusalem, Israel. For more than 50 years Feuerstein’s theories and applied systems have been implemented in both clinical and classroom settings internationally, with more than 80 countries applying his work.

Feuerstein’s theory on the malleability of intelligence has led to more than 2,000 scientific research studies and countless case studies with various learning populations.

In 1992, Feuerstein was awarded the Israel Prize for Social Sciences and in 2012, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At his funeral on Wednesday his body lay in the courtyard at the Feuerstein Institute, as he was lauded as a great man whose drive teach special-needs children changed thousands of lives around the world.

“He was the Einstein of education,” said Prof. Pnina Klein of Bar Ilan University, and perhaps that said it all.

Theun de Vries (The Girl with the Red Hair)

Theunis Uilke (Theun) de Vries (1907 - 2005), was a Dutch writer and poet.

De Vries was born in the Frisian town of Veenwouden. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the Communist Party of the Netherlands and a year later he moved to Amsterdam to pursue a career in journalism. He became editor of the communist newspaper De Tribune and De Vrije Katheder. After the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi forces he was arrested and imprisoned in Kamp Amersfoort. In 1971 he left the party without renouncing Marxism, which he continued to uphold until the end of his life.

De Vries wrote poetry and novels, both in Dutch and Frisian. Among his most acclaimed novels are Het meisje met het rode haar (The Girl withthe Red Hair) and the trilogy Februari (February), both novels about the Dutch resistance in World War II.

He died in Amsterdam at the age of 97 after having suffered from several bouts of pneumonia.

Enrique Carballeira

Enrique Carballeira is a Spanish writer and illustrator who has worked in more than a hundred editorial projects and specially illustrated children books. 

He has done lot of designs for brochures, posters, videogames, animations, newspapers, comic and comic strips and many of his comic characters are fitted fit a good beret.

Thanks, Simón