1, 2, 3, 4… These round hats are everywhere near the tourist attractions of Paris: berets are truly essential! And this is not new, this headgear associated with French chic, never seems to go out of fashion on the Parisian streets. But who really wears them? Well, a lot of it is tourists who are adopting them.
But are the French fans of the beret or is it just another cliché straight out ofEmily in Paris ? To answer these questions we called on an expert in the field, Aloïs Guinut, author of the advice book Dress Like a Parisian and stylist, in order to unravel the origin of this association between beret and capital of love.
A reputation straight from the big screen
From the 1930s to this day, the beret has built a reputation straight out of the cinema, but its history began well before, in French customs, far from the cameras. “Shepherds first wore it, then soldiers, schoolchildren, and then golfers, mountaineers, and cyclists adopted it,” explains Aloïs Guinut. It was popular among athletes, then it became popular in the streets. The beret, in fact, became an essential accessory of the French resistance in the 1940s.
From the city to the countryside, it embodies style and tradition. A witness to French identity, it is as much associated with its Pyrenean roots as with the Second World War, where it took root as a strong symbol of the French southwest. Known and worn throughout France, it is exported internationally via cinema and fashion. “Gabrielle Chanel was one of the first to use it as a fashion accessory in the thirties”, as a fashion accessory for female characters such as Michel Morvan in The Quay of Mistsnotes Aloïs Guinut.
Popularized by luxury houses such as Chanel, the beret has entered the club of elements purely associated with France, in the same way as the baguette or the Eiffel Tower. And in the capital, it shows! Tourist shops stock up on headgear in all shapes and colors. In a round beret or with its little tip, in neutral or red color, as tourists love it, it has even become an accessory that allows tourists to be identified according to their color and the way they wear it. And as proof, an Instagram account inspired by the series Emily in Paris, “UnJourUnBeret”, dedicated itself to sharing the red berets encountered in Paris in one day. So the accessory is a real must-have!
Who is wearing it today?
“There are still Parisians who wear berets, I see them regularly,” says stylist Aloïs Guinut. But it is true that tourists love to wear berets when they come to Paris. So that means that the beret has a bit of a tourist accessory connotation. » Parisian and fan of headgear herself, she explains the reasons for her appreciation for the accessory: “It’s very tight wool so it protects from the rain. Even though it is small, it is very dense and therefore waterproof. » Still very present in pop culture, the DNA of the Parisienne is still included in series like Emily in Paris or during fashion shows like the 2017 Dior collection.
It goes to show that the myth of the beret still has many good days ahead of it.