Charting The Beret's History: From Protest To Catwalk

The beret has made an unlikely comeback this summer. Thanks to Adwoa Aboah's '90s streetwear turn at Glastonbury and Rihanna wearing Dior's leather number at Paris Fashion Week this past March, it's set to be your new headwear of choice. And though it was first worn as far back as Ancient Greece, the beret really entered popular consciousness as a political accessory — especially apropo considering the Trumpian state we live in today.

Worn by French resistance fighters during WWII, it was later adopted by Che Guevara, whose unmistakable dark beret is still preserved in Cuba's Museum of the Revolution. In the late '60s, Black Panther Party revolutionaries donned leather jackets with black berets atop their afros, a look Beyoncé paid homage to in her 2016 Super Bowl halftime show. Elsewhere, it was also associated with the Nouvelle Vague movement in France, with ingénue actresses Jean Seberg and Anna Karina sporting theirs with feline-flicked eyeliner and a cigarette in-hand. Of course, the beret has had its cinematic moments, too: Julia Roberts in Notting Hill, Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, Eva Green in The Dreamers and, more recently, Rooney Mara in Carol.

As is the way with iconic pieces, the beret has sometimes fallen into twee, costume, or hard-to-wear territory. But some of our favorite style stars are proving that there are countless ways to style the hat, from Beatnik- to military- to hip-hop-inspired. Here's five ways to wear the accessory du jour.