Beret cool...

Think "beret" and an image of a sultry-looking French woman, smoking a cigarette and/or eating a baguette might pop into your head. It's raining, she's sitting outside a café overlooking the Eiffel Tower. She's wearing a black beret to shield her brunette locks from the slow drizzle.

It's me. I am the sultry-looking French woman.

(Even though I'm not French and don't smoke... but you catch my drift...)

If you know me, or even if you don't - and you've only taken one quick scroll down any of my social media pages, you'll know that I. love. berets.

In my opinion, they are the cream of the crop of the hat world - and the most versatile. It blows my mind that one small piece of wool with such a simplistic design can utterly elevate an outfit - that is in contemporary fashion, anyway. The beret itself was historically a peasant's garment, with the French later adopting the blue beret as a symbol for mountain warfare and were worn by high-ranking members of the French Army signifying elite status. Meanwhile, the black beret still remained a symbol of peasant status in most of Europe.

Who knows why or how the peasant hat became a fashion statement, but let's be honest, there's no denying the black beret looks chic as hell. At the turn of the century in France, this was realised at last, with both men and women turning it into a metropolitan staple.

Although this garment is usually reserved for the colder winter months, I must say there's something about it's versatility that allows it to be donned in all seasons. I travelled to Paris last year for the 5th time (yes I am obsessed), and absolutely made the most of every opportunity to jump into the French beret wearing, baguette carrying, onion garland hanging from my neck kinda stereotype which I shamelessly endorse.

This photograph was taken mid July, perfect weather for sitting outside a café on the River Seine - or catching a light breeze by speeding down the Champs-Élysées on a rented electric city scooter (and cause some near-miss traffic accidents while you're at it.... not talking from experience or anything...)

For the Summer months I lean towards lighter colours, pastel shades or warm camel's like the one I'm pictured wearing. Surprisingly, out of all my berets (and yes, I do have quite the collection), this is probably the colour I wear most. It's a brilliant neutral that goes with a surprising amount of outfits - and is again, very transitional. As you've probably figured out, darker beret's I wear in the winter - but that also goes for bright colours like red and cobalt blue - but there's really no rules here.

My mantra tends to be, if it looks good - who really cares about whether it's seasonally appropriate??

Fashion is PAIN my darlings, and if that means sweating your tits off in mid-June with a slab of wool on your head, then so be it!

At least you'll look bloody fantastic.