fleurs de bagne le bonnet matafs et forcats natural

Beanie – 100% Virgin Wool

• Tight 3x3 rib knit

• Warm & durable

• One size fits all

Each piece features a different identification number, hand-stamped on an aluminum plate.

Military inspiration — modeled after the Marine Commando beanie.

Made in Portugal in a family-run knitting workshop.

Numbers Stamped on a Tin Plate…

In the penal colony, the clothing made the man — or rather, it marked the criminal and the length of his sentence.

In the 20th century, the convict’s jacket was a scarlet-red smock, without buttons or collar.

A small upright collar and bone buttons were sometimes tolerated.

The headwear (the cap) indicated the time of expiation.

Prisoners sentenced to life wore a green cap; before 1830, they were also branded on the shoulder with the letters TP, Travaux à Perpétuité (penal servitude for life).

The red cap was the general mark of prisoners serving fixed terms — though for some, it was merely a transitional color.

From the red cap, they would soon pass to the green one, which they often kept until the foot of the scaffold.

At times, a change of warden at the head of the penal colony brought with it a new variation of the uniform.

From “Le Dernier Exil: Histoire des Bagnes et des Forçats”