The beret is a brimless, loose-fitting hat made of hand-knitted wool or felt. It originated in ancient times, but modern versions are associated with the Basque region of Europe. The beret has been popularized by French bohemian culture and is also associated with military uniforms. Today, military organizations are the largest customers of berets. The US Army replaced standard head coverings with berets in the 1990s, and recruits must spend two days preparing their beret for proper military service.
A beret, a name that comes from a word meaning “cap,” is a brimless, loose-fitting hat, usually made of hand-knitted wool or felt. This hat, or caps that were very similar, dates back to ancient times, but modern versions are often associated with the Basque region of Europe. To this day, the Basque beret design is considered the standard by which all others are compared. This hat is closely associated with the military helmet.
As the beret became popular in the 19th century, French hat designers tweaked the style a bit. On a typical Basque or French beret, a synthetic leather band is measured against the wearer’s head for a proper fit. Wool felt can be dyed in a variety of colors, from traditional black to burgundy and white. The hat itself is a slouchy oblong cap. The beret usually sweeps the cap to one side, creating a smart-casual line.
The beret became something of a trademark of mid-20th century French bohemian culture. French artists, poets and other free-spirited inhabitants adopted it as a symbol of countercultural identification. During the 1960s, the hat enjoyed a resurgence as a fashion item, prominently featured as Faye Dunaway’s hat of choice in the film Bonnie and Clyde.
The association of the beret with military uniforms has a very long history, but modern usage dates back to the Carlist wars in Spain in the 1830s and the French arm’s Chasseurs Alpins in the 1880s. The British Army commissioned a modified beret for use by specialized forces in 1918. Even guerrillas like Che Guevara adopted the beret as their headdress of choice.
The largest beret customers in the world today are probably military organizations. The United States military still has an elite special forces unit known worldwide as the Green Berets. In fact, many international armies wear different beret colors to distinguish themselves on the battlefield.
A US Army decision in the 1990s to replace the standard “ballcap” head coverings with a beret shape initially met with some resistance, but has now become accepted practice. According to the official Army training manual, each recruit must spend an average of two days preparing their beret for proper military service. This means using a lighter to burn off foreign wool fibers, a disposable razor to shave off all the lint, and a warm water bath to customize the beret’s fit.
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