In the age of Obama (eh oui), the béret comes back in reaction to the neverending delusion of US cultural imperialism

I have no problem with people clinging to their traditions and national or regional identity, on the contrary

comments Hervé, who brought notre attention to the return of France's béret.

But [Peter Allen's Daily Telegraph article] is yet an other example of how French are full of shit. 10 years ago the beret was laughed at as the ultimate symbol of le beauf (yokel, redneck), racist, bigot, chauvisnistic. Now it only comes back in reaction to the long-fantasized US cultural imperialism. Can't wait to see the return of the slip kangourou...

Notwithstanding the economic crisis, why now? Wasn't Obama's arrival in the White House supposed to bring an end to all kinds of anti-American speech, demonstrations, and manifestations? Without further ado, The Daily Telegraph's Peter Allen:

Now after years in decline, the Gallic headgear is back in fashion with manufacturers reporting a doubling in sales.

Young people in major cities including Paris are leading the revival, embracing the beret as a symbol of a rural past in an increasingly Americanised world.

Patricia Jourdain, a style commentator who runs a designer boutique on the fashionable Rue Jacob in Paris, said: "The beret is as far removed from the baseball cap and other manifestations of US culture as you can get. Following the collapse of the Anglo-Saxon economy young people are harking back to their roots, showing they're proud to be French."

…Stephane Jacquet, a milliner from Bourges, south of Paris, told the Connexion newspaper: …"The beret is perhaps synonymous with France's rural past where life was supposedly easier and simpler than today."