My Beret Collection

I wear a lot of berets. They're one of my style signatures from autumn onwards, although I don't even notice how many berets I'm wearing until I look back on my posts. Yep, those are a lot of berets collected through the years. My collection also achieved a milestone recently. I added three berets that are actually from France—from a company named Le Beret Francais no less! I dare you to get more French than that. It’s funny though, I never really thought of my berets as a French affectation (although I suppose I was always vaguely aware of their origins) until more recent years because my beret collection began more personally…as I’m starting to realize all of my clothing collections—personally and accidentally.
My first beret was my father's. He wore it in the army and when it came time to trade colors, he gave me his old maroon beret. Wearing it made me feel tough, because it was a soldier's beret. Before long I had a new connotation for a different beret--school. A navy wool beret became part of my school uniform in high school; something we had to wear on Mass days. After high school I ditched the uniform, but hung on to the beret. Slowly from there I kept adding to my collection. I started with the basics; cherry red and classic tan, but now have added more flair to the collection--striped ones and embroidered designs by Beauxoxo. Although my collection is already substantial (I squeeze them all into a little round hat box when they're not being worn), I still see a few gaps--a mossy green and burnt orange would be at the top of my list to acquire...