To wear to be beautiful from head to toe.
As the regional identity passes by the language and the clothing traditions, the fashion plays the card of the fun with a point of humor in its creations. Popular expressions are used on Tote bags, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sequined bags, tote bags... Here, "we roumègue as we breathe", we say "boudu", "putain con" or "chocolatine", we are "super capborrut" and in bad faith "je peux pas, j'ai pêche". These articles for the whole family are made at Pompon sur la Garonne (Toulouse) or Adishatz. If you are a rugby fan, the brand Aficionados rugby is made for you! "Men play soccer, gods play rugby": it attacks directly and it's 100% local in this family business from Haute-Garonne.
Wearing a beret is more fashionable than ever. Even if the production is done in the Bearn region, the Gascon goes out with his accessory and not only in festayres. Canotiers, panama hats, beach caps, capelines... since 1857, it is in Caussade (Tarn-et-Garonne) that headgear has become a fashion accessory. Shaped by the skilled hands of the formers, it is especially the straw hat that one comes to seek in this small corner of France.
Is the knitwear or the undershirt a grandma's garment? Absolutely not! Wool weaving is a growing activity in the Pyrenees and the Tarn: Maison Izard, Tricot à Luz St-Sauveur or Lainages de Val d'Arizes (Hautes-Pyrénées) have been weaving and knitting for over 40 years. Originally, the wool was hand-knitted and scraped with natural thistles to obtain a puffy effect. At the end of the 19th century, the "Pyrenean fabric" appeared in the valley, a pure wool material. The best-seller is without a doubt the robe. La Ferme du Mohair, in Mazères, works with the wool of angora goats. Solid, thermoregulating, it does not retain odors and can be worn in summer and winter. The company offers a wide range of soft clothing and underwear. Maille au naturel in Montredon-Labessionné (Tarn) works with Merino wool for its sweaters, scarves, vests... and the Manufacture Regain - Pic de Nore dresses men in top-of-the-range sweaters, inspired by those worn by many tradesmen - it has notably created the famous sweater for firemen.
Equally fashionable: clogs and slippers. Extraordinary Bethmale clogs with long tapered toes! An ancestral know-how and a tradition: a pair of clogs, dressed in leather and richly decorated with golden nails drawing a heart, must be offered at Christmas by the fiancé to his bride. "The longer the tip, the greater the love", says the sculptor who carves the wood with spoons. Isa's clogs in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, handmade, with pretty shapes and colors, are available in all seasons in a very folk spirit. A little cocooning at home also goes through the wearing of a pair of slippers from Collégien (Tarn).
Located in the heart of the "Pays de Cocagne", the Tarn is the country of leather. In Graulhet, leather has been tanned since the 17th century; at that time, the town turned to this craft in various forms: terrycloth spinning mills, hat factories... Atelier Faune in Sémalens is renowned for its leather belts; in Mazamet, Bertille, labeled Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, works in the luxury sector while Alran makes leather for leather goods, the shoe industry, furniture and bookbinding. In Lectoure, in the Gers, Bleu de Lectoure has been using a historical pigment: pastel since 1994. All shades of blue are used to tint clothing and accessories (scarves, aprons, sweaters, etc.) or household linen.
Made-to-measure as in the past, it's also possible! "Handmade for the foot" is the leitmotiv of Fabrice Poutrieux, installed in Daumazan-sur-Arize. Twenty-seven models designed on a moccasin base: the Sensiboot. In turn, the Toulouse-based shoemaker, Bottier toulousain, is reviving all types of models: derby, richelieu, moccasins, boots ... You can choose between a pair of St-Georges or Carmes, Capitole or Daurade. And if you want to accessorize your shoes: Frange'in (born from the collaboration between a Toulouse designer and a tanner from Graulhet) recovers leather scraps from the workshop to transform them into fun bangs for sneakers; into long necklaces, into tassels, into rushes... A great gift idea!
A new watch on your wrist? Although far from Switzerland, the Gers is home to an honorable and elegant watchmaking house, the LIP company created in 1867 by Emmanuel Lipmann. The company began its history in Besançon. Elegant design and resolutely modern, the LIP watch was the favorite of General de Gaulle!
To put on the table to please yourself
To begin with, a beautiful tablecloth. Three stores (Puygouzon, Mazamet and Labastide-Rouairoux) offer cloths woven in the Tarn, from local wools and natural products. Tablecloths, napkins, aprons, canvas by the meter... Then the beautiful dishes. The earthenware factories were very numerous in the past (Auch decorated with a fern leaf; Castres and its airbrush decorations; Valette pottery in Nègrepelisse). The porcelain known as "Valentine" was produced a few years in St-Gaudens (Haute-Garonne). For the amateurs, beautiful collections are to be discovered in the Museum of the Arts of the table in the abbey of Belleperche (Tarn-et-Garonne). Nowadays, Martres-Tolosane (with its wader, heron or ibis decor) perpetuates this tradition with 5 earthenware factories still in activity : Au Vieux Martres, La Renaissance Artisanale, Faiencerie Cabaré, Atelier Stéphanie Joffre and Faïencerie Jodra. Another possibility to find something to renew your tableware is the Contemporary Ceramics Market in Giroussens (Tarn) or the Poteries d'Albi, specialists in glazed terracotta since 1891.
And knives, indispensable. Cutlery is honored in Ariège with La maison Savignac in Foix. An institution whose origins date back to the second half of the 18th century. Master cutlers, they made capucins which evolved into a well-named model: "l'ariégeois". Drinking glasses, pitchers or vases to decorate: some craftsmen master the goblet in fusion. Glass blower in Agos-Vidalos, TIPII in the center of Toulouse, Hélicium in Palleville (Tarn) or Pavel Kirzdof in Mas d'Azil (Ariège).
Accessories and everyday objects
Combs in natural horn (Ariège); cauldron, copper pans from Durfort (Tarn); broom in sorghum straw (Tarn-et-Garonne): nostalgia when you hold us!
Wood is the most common raw material. Certain precious species such as cherry, rosewood or lemon wood make the prestige of the art furniture of Revel (Haute-Garonne) where dozens of markers and lacquerers reproduce historical pieces that are exported to the USA or the Emirates! More rustic, the agulho, a Gascon shepherd's staff close to the Basque makila, customizable and armed with a needle. It is made in Vic-Fezensac. Another beautiful object: the suberjoet or bejoet. Made of elm, beech, walnut, hornbeam or maple wood, originally a simple coil, this yoke ornament has become a real sculpted object. You can discover it at the museum of bell art in L'Isle-Jourdain (Gers). Today, woodworking is perpetuated by designers with an eco-responsible approach, such as Reine Mère, a design studio and object publishing house founded in 2006 and based in Toulouse. Nature inspires them for their kitchen utensils, their jewelry holders... The same goes for Cap dal Mas, in Saint-Amans-Soult, where small objects are made of oak, walnut or chestnut wood. Games and toys, table accessories, decoration, furniture...
Some delicacies to share
Here are some gourmet ideas to add to your gift basket. Confectionery first of all: montauriol, a chocolate candy filled with cherry and armagnac; Boulets de Montauban, a chocolate-covered hazelnut that evokes the siege of the city by the King of France, Louis XIII, from August to November 1621, and the 400 cannon shots fired; the Golden Grain of Moissac (candied Chasselas grapes covered with chocolate); the berlingots of Cauterets, the candy of childhood so pretty to look at, perfumed and multicolored; the cachou Lajaunie invented by the Toulousian pharmacist Léon Lajaunie in 1880 and sold in its round and yellow box which is inspired by the gousset watches (easy to put in your pocket!). Six million boxes are sold each year! Finally, the Toulouse violets created in 1818: fresh flowers crystallized in sugar bring back memories of yesteryear..
Cookies to nibble on: the croquants of Corde-sur-Ciel (Tarn), a fine tile covered with almonds; the Pyrenean shortbread at Védère in Montgaillard (Hautes-Pyrénées); the Petits Gâteaux of Mérens (Ariège) with hazelnuts, vanilla or oats. Another cookie factory in the Tarn, the Mirliflores resurrect historical recipes and old drinks dating back to the Middle Ages (cookies of joy, bridaveaux, balls of hair ...) - Talent d'Oc trophy of local produce in 2019.
To water all this, water: spring water from Montcalm (Ariège); mineral water from Luchon (Haute-Garonne) and Mont Roucous (Tarn); lemonades, that of Montestorbes, a tradition since 1885 or Maxara (Tarn); fruit juices pressed at all the arboriculturists of the sector; beer: no less than fifty breweries in the Midi-toulousain. The Blonde d'Etigny, the Ambrée des Pousterles, the Triple Monumentale... So many names typical of Auch that the Augusta brewery (Gers) offers; in Toulouse, you can taste a beer with chocolatine. Nothing Toulouse is its name. An idea of its creators, the Hopscotch Pub & Brewery in Toulouse and the Ice Breaker Brewing located in Montrabé (Haute-Garonne), brewed from unsold pastries that come from bakeries in the Pink City!
