Berets and Marinières

Say ‘French’ and most people will conjure up a picture involving stripey tops, baguettes, a cigarette and yes: a beret.

A cliché that took hold in (especially the Anglo-Saxon) worldview and researching berets on the web, it’s the most common result I usually come across: a fashionable girl in a marinière with beret.

And although I quite like my own marinière, the constant questions “are you French/artist?” really put me off from wearing it.

Picasso is often pictured in cartoons or referred to in texts as wearing a beret and a marinière, but I still have to find a photo of him wearing both at the same time.

Then there's the image of Anthony Quinn and Anna Karina on the set of Guy Green's 'The Magus', from 1976:

For me, the combination is best to be worn "privately", sailing at sea far away from commenting speech...