Gun Legler - A Well Lived Life

Gun Legler lives in Sweden in a little village near Gothenburg. When she was 40, she left her job as a child psychologist and teacher, and went to art school where she learned graphic art for four years. 

A Well Lived Life, by Gun Legler

Besides in graphic art, she has worked much with textile and watercolor collages. After buying her first computer twenty years ago, she more and more concentrated on digital art. Now the computer takes all her time. She has no education in computer art, is self-taught in PaintShopPro and Photoshop. Gun works mostly from photos, her own and others. Textures are very important for her. Through her images, Gun tries to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. She portrays feelings and states of mind in an aesthetic, but not always pleasing way.

Clifton Campbell, a Jamaican Brigadista, Writer and Preacher

Cliffton Campbell's years as a student, brigadista, teacher and preacher inspired Badness: Psychology of Life, his first book.

Throughout the book, Campbell examines the pathways to crime in Jamaica. He links politics to crime and inner-city youth, and also looks at how poverty forces many young girls into prostitution.
He takes on the inequalities of the justice system, pointing out that social status determines the fate of defendants in the courts. Oftentimes, children of privilege are pardoned while heavy sentences are given to ghetto youth facing similar charges.

"This is no figment of my imagination, I lived these things," he said. Campbell began writing Badness immediately after the October 1980 general election. The self-described 'communionist' had been a political activist during the 1970s. He was among the first batch of 30-odd Jamaicans who went to Cuba in 1975 for the controversial Brigadista programme.
He said his 18 months in a Cuban training camp opened his eyes to Cold War espionage in the form of agents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which at the time was monitoring the close relationship between Jamaica and Cuba.
Campbell not only used his Cuban expedition to illustrate how Jamaican politicians exploited the country's youth, but gives an insight into the CIA's presence in the Caribbean.

Dylan Moran

"I have to make art or I’ll die. I’m like a shark in a beret."

- Dylan Moran

(Dylan Moran is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer, actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his sardonic observational comedy, the UK television sitcomBlack Books, and his work with Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. Moran also appeared as one of the two lead characters in the Irish black comedy titled A Film with Me in It in 2008. He is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival.)

Help! Gaucho Style

HELP! Gaucho style, by Guri de Uruguaiana.

Exkixu

Exkixu is a band from the historic town of Gernika, which became really succesful within the Basque rock scene in the first half of the 1990's. 

Good songs, Alex's special voice and the personal touch of traditional basque instruments like Alboka gave Exkixu the key to sucess. Exkixu released their only 2 records under the GOR-label ('Exkixu' -1993- and 'Gaua heldu orduko' -1995-). 

After leaving Exkixu, some musicians of this band created some of the most succesful Basque rock bands of the new millenium such as Ken Zazpi and Gatibu. 

Photographers with Beret

Practically all posts on The Beret Project are based around a photograph, but the beret is just as much 'subject' as 'leading' - many photographers wear a beret as their hat of choice.

  

André S. Solidor (aka Elliott Erwitt) Self-Portrait with Roach.

Au Jardin de Luxembourg, Paris. 1930

Robert Capa, again

Photographer Robert Capa featured many times on The Beret Project, usually for his well known photo's from the Spanish Civil War. But there are more beautiful works by Capa, from other countries, other era's.

Antwerp, Belgium. April/May, 1940. Unemployed men waiting for work in the employment hall near the harbour.

Galilée, Israel. 1950. Then nameless village for blind immigrants, funded by blind Pole, victims of tracoma.

Near Biarritz. August 1951. A village festival.

France, 1944. Children playing on a burned out motorbike. 

Monty Beret

Despite the fact that military berets are much, much younger than the 'parent' Basque beret, it is undeniable that the military version has had a great effect on (beret-)fashion over the years.

One of the main promoters of the military beret trend in fashion was of course Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, the vegetarian teetotaler 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and Field Marshall of the British Forces during WWII.

Montgomery himself wore a beret made by KANGOL and the brand re-invented itself really by creating the Monty beret in Montgomery's honour - a beret that is still very popular. 

General Montgomery with his pets, the puppies 'Hitler' (left) and 'Rommel', France (Date unknown)

Kangaroos and Berets

The combination of 'berets' and 'kangaroos' is best symbolized in the logo of (ex)British brand KANGOL. But, apart from the first 4 letters, their berets have nothing in common with these Australian marsupials. Kangol was founded in 1938 by Jakob (Jacques) Spreiregen in Cleator, Cumbria. The name was formed from a combination of letters; K from silk or knitted, ANG from angora and OL from wool –Kangol had a better sound to it than Olangk.

The kangaroo is also an unofficial symbol of Australia, and appears as an emblem on the Australian coat of arms, on some of its currency, and is used by some of Australia's well known organisations, including Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force. The kangaroo is important to both Australian culture and the national image.

And no, I haven't come across kangaroo-wool berets yet.

South Pacific Berets' 2nd Newsletter is out!

If you'd like to receive your own copy, or subscribe to this monthly Newsletter, drop me a line here.

Bretagne / Brittany / Breizh and Berets

Brittany (or Bretagne in French and Breizh in Breton) is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain). Brittany is considered as one of the six Celtic nations.

South Finistere, Commune of Esquibien, 30th September, 1973

Brittany occupies the northwest peninsula of continental Europe in northwest France. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the south.

Jean Gaumy: Finistere, Ouessant Island.

Although not traditional beret-country (and far away from the Béarn and Basque Country), Bretons have always been known for wearing berets, especially among the seafaring part of the population, large diameter berets (or Tartes).

Mending the Nets, Sardine Fishermen in Brittany

Brittany is seen as the "core area" of megalithic culture. The oldest monuments, cairns, were followed by princely tombs and stone rows. The Morbihan département, on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the Carnac stones and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in Locmariquer, the largest single stone erected by Neolithic man.

Finistere departement, Plouneour-Trez near Brignogan-Plages. 1973

Walter Martha, Old Fishermen, Brittany 

Britt Ekland with Beret

Britt Ekland became famous overnight as a result of her 1964 whirlwind romance and marriage to English actor and comedian, Peter Sellers, who proposed after seeing her photograph in the paper and then meeting in London.

 In the 1970s Ekland was one of the most photographed and talked-about celebrities in the world and in 1980 her best-selling autobiography, True Britt, was published.

She also had a much publicized romance with rock star Rod Stewart; from 1979-1981 she dated and became engaged to Girl frontman and future L.A. Guns singer Phil Lewisand in 1984 she married rock musician Slim Jim Phantom, who was almost two decades her junior. They divorced in 1992. A close friend of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, she is still a regular fixture on the rock'n'roll social scene.

Devil's Beret

Not in the collection of South Pacific Berets, but surely a most interesting beret!

 I found these berets on a Japanese web site, selling as "Toxic Star Devil Beret", around $45.00. 

Personally, I think the version in red wool looks more authentic. 

Kathe Reichel, with Baskenmuetze

Kathe Reichel (actually Waltraut Reichelt, 1926 - 2012) was a German actress and peace activist.

Without any training for acting, Reichel became an apprentice at theatres in Greiz, Gotha and Rostock.

In 1950 she joined Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble (BE) and joined in many productions of Brecht and Benno Besson.

Kathe Reichel died at the age of 86 in Buckow, on 9 November 2012.

Reichel became an uncomfortable voice to the government of the GDR from 1976, when protesting against the expatriation of Wolf Bierman.

On 4 November 1989 she took part in the Alexanderplatz demonstrations, while on 5 April 1990, she spoke at the Lustgarten (Berlin) for some 100 000 participants in a demonstration against the 2:1 exchange rate for the Mark of the GDR under the planned economic, monetary and social union.

In January 1991, she demonstrated again with a poster "mothers, hiding your sons" against the first Gulf War and in 1993 she supported the hunger strike by miners facing the closure of potassium mine Bischofferode, with an open letter to the President of the THA Birgit Breuel. During 1995/96, she criticized the war in Chechnya. At the same time, she was a supporter of Slobodan Milosevich...

Berets and Bras

"Blood, sweat and hard work has given me everything I want, except that is, the dangerous mercenary I'm in love and lust with. Until, one night, when my secrets are exposed, I discover, in the sweetest possible way that he's sinfully talented at handling more than just his armed weapon."

Back! (2)

Yes, back at the bottom of the world after 2.5 weeks of travelling, researching, negotiating and buying in Spain and France, meanwhile enjoying some great hospitality on both sides of the Pyrenees, meeting the friendliest and most interesting people.

Self portrait with my (youngish) mother in Holland

You'll see (photographic) evidence of the trip over the next weeks, here on The Beret Project, but with the enormous amount of work waiting for me at present (orders to be shipped, the pile of un-answered mail, boxes of berets that need sorting, photographing and listing on the web site), I am happy to have set up a few posts in advance for the next few days. "New" posts will follow.

At the Laulhere factory (with my brother/beret spy Emile) in Oloron Sainte Marie

Here some first pic's though - more will follow soon.

At the French/Spanish border with our fantastic rental Fiat 500, wearing a Limited Edition

Thanks for all those visitors and customers who sent kind messages and expressed their missing of a good daily dose of beret-stuff!
Now, first the orders. Everyone who ordered a beret over the last 2 weeks: I'll post today, so most customers should receive it within the next 10 working days.

The interior of a Fiat 500, with Basco Roma

I gathered a mega load of material. Scanned dozens and dozens of beautiful pictures from books and in libraries, collected vintage material here, there and everywhere, made pic's of the whole manufacturing process at Laulhere, etc., etc. It's all coming.

Breaking in my new maroon Casquette in the Belgian Ardennes

Thanks for staying with me and enjoy!

Back!

Back! well, at the time of writing, I haven't even left yet, but if all goes well, yes, I should return to Wellington and my berets today.

An update will follow soon and all berets ordered from South Pacific Berets over the last weeks will be posted today! Thank you for staying with me!

Away 18

Away 17

Away 16

Les Basques

Away 15

Away 14