50s Claude Saint Cyr Beret, Tapestry Hat, Lavender & Gray

A rare chance to own a Claude Saint Cyr beret.

Saint Cyr Beret Details

• Stunning beret from noted milliner Claude Saint Cyr.
• Woven tapestry with a lavender base with an overlay of white, gray and black abstract fern print.
• Black fabric lining.
• This hat is part of a collection made with traditional French Aubusson tapestry. This innovative collaboration between Saint-Cyr and her husband, interior designer Georges Martin, was inspired after Martin used tapestry to re-cover chairs in Saint-Cyr’s salon. 
• Saint Cyr named the first collection Aubusson.  Only 160 hats were produced over the next four years.
• The weavers, accustomed to making carpets,  learned how to build a hat and use finer weaves.

Who was Claude Saint Cyr?

Claude Saint Cyr was one of the most important milliners of the 20th century. She was known for her innovative materials and designs and her label was worn by the most fashionable women of the day. Born Simone Naudet in 1911 in Paris, she began her millinery training at the age of 18 and worked working with notable Paris designers, including Jean Patou, Marie-Louise Carven, and Rose Descat. Saint Cyr later trained in London, where she changed her professional name to Claude Saint-Cyr. 

She established her own millinery salon in 1937 in Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honor̩, Paris, and later opened another shop in London in 1950. In collaboration with British designer Norman Hartnell, her designs were favorites of the British royal family in the 1950s and 1960s and made hats for Queen Elizabeth for her 1953 coronation and the 1960 wedding veil of Princess Margaret. Saint-Cyr closed her salon in 1964 but began working with French milliner Jean Barthet, a supplier of hats to celebrities such as Princess Grace of Monaco and Maria Callas. Saint Cyr retired in 1972 but continued to act as a consultant to bridal design houses until the mid-1990s. Claude Saint Cyr died in 2002.

NOT SHIPPABLE TO ITALY due to Italian customs prohibition.

Here’s a video on the making of French Aubusson tapestry courtesy of (c)Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine.  You can view their entire playlist here.