Figure 1.--The photograph here shows two onion sellers in Plymouth, Deveon during 1907. The boy on the right appears to be aiming for a Breton look with a natty beret. I am not sure why he is wearing a beret, but there used to be a tradition of itinerant French onion sellers in Britain. |
The beret was commonly perceived as a French fashion and thus not widely worn by English boys. While the beret was not widely popular in England, some wealthy families thought it fashionable to adopt stylish French fashions. These families were likely to adopt French
childrens clothing, including berets and smocks. One such family was the Llewllyn-Davies family of Peter Pan fame. Few English boys, however, would wear berets after leaving for boarding school, usually at age 8 years. The English appear to have begun the military fashion of wearing berets. The beret gained considerable fame during World War II, especially after Monty adopted it. The English Boy Scouts adopted it as part of their uniform in 1969.
The beret was commonly perceived as a French fashion and thus not
widely worn by English boys. While the beret was not widely popular
in England, some wealthy families thought it fashionable to adopt
stylish French fashions. These families were likely to adopt French
childrens clothing, including berets and smocks. One such
family was the Llewllyn-Davies family of Peter Pan fame.
Few English boys, however, would wear berets after leaving for boarding school, usually at age 8 years.
The English appear to have begun the military fashion of wearing berets. The British Tank Corps adopted the black basque beret in, I
believe, the 1930s. They appear to have been the first non-French unit to wear the beret. The reason was entirely pragmatic: they were looking for a cap that would help to keep grease out of the hair. Later, Montgomery popularised their black beret and other forces such as the early SAS, the partatroopers ("paras") and the commandoes adopted it in their own colours. Ironically, Dorman-Smith, Auchinlek's brilliant staff officer, was the one credited with coming up with the idea. Dorman-Smith and Auchinlek were sent on their way when Montgromery and Alexander came in at the behest of Churchill. Smith's career was over. The irony is that there would have
been no 2nd Alamein or Viscount Montgomery of Alamein had not Smith and
Auchinlek stopped the German advance at 1st Alamein. And Montgomery's
'brilliant' plan for Alamein looks suspiciously like Smith's drawn up before he and the Auk were sent on their way. Montly of course appeared it also sorts of military headwear. It is the beret, however, that he is most associated with. The beret as a rsesult gained considerable fame during World War II.
The English Boy Scouts adopted it as part of their uniform in 1969. The English were one of many natiional Scout associations that adooted the beret after World War II. Before the War, HBC has only note French Scouts wearing berets.
HBC has never noted English boys wearing berets as part of their school uniforms. English schoo girls, however, have worn berets, HBC has noted girls at some schools wearing them in the 1980s, the fashion, however, probably began earlier.
The photograph here shows two onion sellers in Plymouth, Deveon during 1907. The boy on the right appears to be aiming for a Breton look with a natty beret. I am not sure why he is wearing a beret, but there used to be a tradition of itinerant French onion sellers in Britain. Presumably this was most common along the southern Channel coast. Perhaps this was his or his parrent's idea of giving the onions a little international flavor--a little 1900s marketing. His little brother seems less interested in the Breton look.
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