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Abstract
This article explores the British Olympic Association's adoption of the Kangol beret for both male and female athletes at the London Games of 1948. The Games represented a critical juncture in both Olympic and British political history. The article outlines the fashion historical development of the 'Anglo-Basque' beret as a context for examining how the beret came to function as the symbolic embodiment of shifting concepts of British sporting nationalism within the Olympic arena. In World War II the beret became synonymous with Lord Montgomery of Alamein (Monty), and by extension the fighting spirit of the British nation. The article questions to what extent the choice of the 'Monty' beret in London in 1948 can be seen as both a response to the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and the wider contemporary context of a nation at the crossroads between austerity and affluence, and new demands for wider democratic freedom and welfare reform.

List of Illustrations -- General Editor's Preface -- Introduction: Modern Hair in a Modern Age / Geraldine Biddle-Perry -- 1. Religion and Ritualized Belief / Yudit Greenberg and Hannah Cody -- 2. Self and Society Part I: The Social Dynamics of Hair / Elisha Renne -- Self and Society Part II: Fashioning Social Hair / Royce Mahawatte -- 3. Fashion and Adornment / Alice Beard -- 4. Production and Practice / Kim Smith -- 5. Health and Hygiene / Paul Deslandes -- 6. Gender and Sexuality / Kristen Barber and Chelsea Johnson -- 7. Race and Ethnicity / Shirley Tate -- 8. Class and Social Status / Geraldine Biddle-Perry -- 9. Cultural Representations / Nathalie Khan -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Notes on Contributors -- Index.