[ASR142]

Roughly during 1935/6 KANGOL WEAR LIMITED BERETS ( KANGOL ) imported a beret making machine from France as they where a fashion icon of the time.This machine had a particular pattern of weaving starting in the middle of the beret a small knot would start the process as the weave got bigger it would create a circular spiral going in an anti-clock wise motion ( this is the same for all WD issue berets from WWII ) this is the outer part crown ( top ) part of the beret ( I reckon that if the spiral was to do a complete circle it would be about 12 ft wide ) These spirals disappear in post war examples and turn into complete circles a major item to look for this change took place with kangol during the 1951-52 period .
when the beret outer had reached the size required IE 6 3/4 the machine would stop adding more stitches and do 4-5 turns approximately the same to create a slight edge to the beret it would then remove stitches making the spiral turn in the opposite direction creating the brim of the beret once the size was reached the machine would then do a series of turns to make a slight ridge ( the part where the leather trim would be attached to ) this makes the leather trim stand up proud of the brim at about 1.5 cm this completes the outer section of the beret.
images
1 - 3 shows the spirals starting at the center of the beret and going in a outward motion
4 - 5 shows the way in which the brim normally stands proud of the beret
NOTES
1 The beret outer is made in roughly the same way for all of the government contracted beret makers during WWII and the weave pattern should be the same avoid any that are different to this weave pattern . This does not apply to private purchase examples which will be shown later in the thread.