Features to Embrace

On this page I recommend what you should wear. Links to vendors’ web sites are on my Links page. In accordance with what I wrote on the What kind of pirate are you? page, I assume that you want to look like the dashing, romantic, adventurous type of pirate, rather than a sleezy, common criminal. And I assume that either:

a. You have a specific pirate from a specific period of history in mind, in which case you should research that historical figure and their attire (Wikipedia is a good place to start). Or

b. You have decided to dress as a typical pirate from The Golden Age Of Piracy, in which case you have a handful of general options:

1. Men: pirate captain.

2. Men: pirate crewman.

3. Women: dress as a man, i.e. a pirate crewman (the most authentic option).

4. Women: stretch the rules a little and dress mostly as a pirate captain, but wear a skirt and some other eighteenth century women’s wear (probably the nicest looking option, but try not to stretch the rules too far, and avoid the tacky clichés).

A note about materials

Try to avoid materials that look modern, cheap, synthetic or unrealistic. A crewman’s shirt and pants look best in linen, second best in muslin, third in cotton or cotton/poly. The captain’s coat, waistcoat and breeches should be velvet or similar. The captain’s shirt should be linen, silk or satin. I avoid satin and similar synthetics because they make me look like a heavyweight boxer. Material is less critical in the sash, bandana, socks, etc. A tricorne should be of real wool felt. Leather accessories should be made of real leather or suede. Jewelry should at least look real, luxurious, expensive and of fine quality.

Most important features

These are characteristic features of pirates, which should be followed either because they are realistic or simply because they look stylish if done well. For example, thigh-high bucket-top boots are not necessary, but they look great. What I consider the four most important features are, in no particular order: 1. appropriate footwear, 2. sash, 3. long hair, 4. moustache and beard. For the ladies: obviously the moustache and beard are not necessary, but the long hair, sash and footwear are.

Footwear Although pirates frequently worked barefoot on deck, this is not practical at most costume events, so shoes or boots are recommended most of the time. Captains are usually depicted in bucket-top boots, as are The Three Musketeers, and they look quite elegant in them. Boots are not practical on deck, so captains probably wore shoes with buckles while on deck and boots when they dressed up to go ashore. If you portray a crewman, you should probably wear buckle shoes whenever going barefoot is impractical. Several styles of boots are available from By The Sword. These are designed so that the tops can be folded down and worn that way most of the time. The tops are unfolded to full length if the wearer anticipates wading through high water.

I have a pair of bucket-top boots with rubber lug soles that I transformed into dance shoes by attaching sticky-back felt to the soles. This works much better than one might think, as the adhesive is very sticky. I used black, Prestofelt brand, 1 Piece Sticky-Back Felt, from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. One 9" x 12" sheet costs $1.99, can be cut to shape and is sufficient to cover two soles. The problem with felt, though, is that it is a little too slippery for dancing. Suede can be glued to the soles instead. Suede is available on-line from Tandy. Suede, however, is not quite slippery enough. Since gluing suede is far more difficult and time-consuming than pressing sticky felt, I opt for the felt and tolerate the extra slipperiness. Hopefully, with successive use, the felt will lose some of its slipperiness.

Sash

I bought my sash during a two-for-one sale at Richard’s Arts and Crafts. The material is 100% polyester but is of a coarse weave so it looks like cloth, even up close. Pirates typically wore sashes of bright, gaudy colors. The color and pattern are your personal choice. The sash belongs over a waistcoat (if worn), under a waist belt and usually under a coat (if worn). The sash should be folded to about eight inches wide, wrapped once around the waist, and tied snugly but not too tightly in a square knot at the hip, with the tails hanging. Check it occasionally to make sure it stays wide and does not bunch up into a rope.

Hair

If you do not have hair becoming of a pirate, you can fake it. The Wig Factory in San Francisco has a wide selection of realistic-looking wigs. If you live in another part of the world, you should be able to find something comparable.

Facial hair prosthetics and materials for creating your own can be obtained from FX Supply, FX Warehouse, Graftobian or Kryolan.

Less important

Some features of lesser importance but still characteristic of pirates are: 5. socks, 6. shirt, blouse, chemise, bodice, etc., 7. coat, 8. waistcoat, 9. breeches, slops or skirt, 10. bandana, 11. hat, 12. waist belt, 13. baldric, 14. weapons, 15. jewelry.

Socks Nothing fancy here. For the shoes, ordinary white knee-socks from the girls’ section of most any department store can be used. For boots, I buy boots that are one size larger than my normal shoe size so I can wear thick socks inside to cushion my toes. Wool hiking socks are available at outdoor equipment stores, e.g. REI. I wear a thin synthetic sock inside the wool sock to wick moisture away from my feet and to prevent the itchy feeling that some people experence from wool next to their skin.

Shirt and adornments

The shirts worn by crewmen were undergarments of the period. Traditionally these should be baggy. The best crewman shirt that I have seen is available from Paulette at her pauliepoos1 site on eBay, in linen or muslin. If she does not currently have an item for sale, you can contact her to ask her about her products and ask her to make one for you. She makes this shirt almost exclusively and does a fantastic job on it. It is designed to look like the shirt worn by Jack Sparrow but is a great looking general pirate crewman shirt. I have one and wear it with the sleeves rolled up past my elbows.

Captains wore the same kind of shirt as crewman. However, when they dressed up to go ashore, most of the shirt was covered by a coat, waistcoat and breeches, except for the neck and cuffs, which were luxurious and extravagant, with ruffles and lace. These often sported a jabot or cravat. If you dress as a pirate captain and your shirt is visible, then it should be as that of the cavalier: of fine white silk or linen. A good quality shirt with ruffled jabot is available in linen, muslin, cotton, cotton/poly, etc. in several colors from Misty Thicket. Optional lace on the sleeves and jabot is also available.

Warning: “pirate shirts,” “ruffled shirts,” “poet shirts,” etc. abound on the web. Except for the two shirts mentioned above, such garments look nice in the photos but are almost always of atrocious quality. Be careful of whom you buy from.

Blouse, chemise, bodice, etc.

At present I do not have much useful information for the ladies about these. Some women like to wear a short-sleeved blouse with puffy sleeves and ruffles (or possibly a chemise), a bodice, a short skirt, and some pirate captain items (e.g. bucket-top boots, sash, waist-belt with weapons, and tricorne). (See Skirt, below.)

Coat The coat worn by a pirate captain is a justaucorps, which is part of the habit à la française ensemble (coat, waistcoat and breeches). This is worn over the waistcoat. The best source of commercially made coats and waistcoats that I know of is The Pirates Cave, which appears to be of high quality. They are located in the Netherlands and accept payment in euros.

Waistcoat

(See Coat above.)

Breeches or slops

Linen (best choice), muslin or cotton for the crewman and velvet or similar luxurious-looking material for the captain. Traditionally these should be baggy. Several styles are available from By The Sword and many other outlets on the web. Long pants that are baggy can be “bloused” to look like pirate pants. Blousing is not necessary if wearing boots, as the pant legs will be tucked inside the boots.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6063934_blouse-bdu-pants.html Blousing by Using a Rubber or Elastic Band.

Skirt

Again, I do not have much useful information for the ladies about pirate skirts at the present time. Several styles are available at Misty Thicket, By The Sword and other outlets. Misty Thicket has a complete Anne Bonny ensemble. I cannot testify to the quality of any of these sites for ladies’ wear, as I have not done any extensive web searches for women’s clothing. You may wish to look at these sites for ideas and then sew your own. Do your best to look cute and piratey.

Bandana

As stated on my Questionable Clichés page, the authenticity of a bandana as pirate attire is uncertain, but it looks nice and practical. Do not wear a bandana if you are wearing a hat. Bandanas are available in various sizes and colors on eBay. Again, the colors and pattern are up to you. Modern or commercial-looking patterns should be avoided, e.g. paisley. Make sure it is large enough to fit your head. I use a 26" square bandana. Fold it into a triangle, wrap it around your hair (or wig) and tie it into a square knot behind your head.

Hat

A Monmouth cap for the crewman. Historians are not certain what this looked like. It evidently resembled today’s wool watch cap. Possibly obtain something similar from REI.

A tricorne for the captain. Several styles of tricorne are available from The Pyrate Trading Company. Make sure your tricorne is large enough to fit over a wig, if you wear one. Pirate captains liked to adorn themselves with luxurious and sometimes gaudy accoutrements. In particular, a long creamy-white male ostrich plume was often attached to the tricorne, with a belt or band. You can find out more than you ever wanted to know about ostrich feathers from Ostrich.com, but the large feathers are very pricey. Nearly every week someone in the United States has an extravagant wedding reception with centerpieces of ostrich plumes. When the reception is over, they unload the feathers on eBay for a significantly lower price. A tricorne looks stylish with braid along the edge, an ostrich plume hanging over the back, and possibly a button, jewel or cockade fixed to one cock and worn on the left side or in front. I do not recommend sticking anything else into or onto the hat, e.g. lodge pins, buttons with slogans, blinking lights, and especially not a Jolly Roger.

Waist belt

Belt material is available from Dangerous Threads via Amazon.com. You may be able to save yourself some money if you already have an old, wide leather belt. Approximately 2" is about the best width. I had an existing 1 7/8" wide belt, which was already old-looking. I replaced the buckle with a large brass rectangular ornate buckle from Joyce Trimming. The waist belt should be worn over the sash. The belt can be equipped with a frog and sheath for a weapon, or a suede or leather pouch for carrying modern items (wallot, keys, etc.) and keeping them out of sight. Frogs, sheathes and pouches are available from By The Sword. A belt with any of the accessories above is somewhat universal and can sometimes be used in other costumes for the same purposes.

Baldric and weapons

Commercial baldrics are available from many on-line sources of medieval clothing, weapons and accessories, e.g. By The Sword. Frogs and sheathes are usually available from the same vendors. You could make your own baldric from belt material, a buckle and a few other leather crafting supplies. (See Waist belt above.) Leather creafting supplies are available from their most well-known source, Tandy and also from a few other suppliers.

Three classes of weapons were typically worn by pirates: a cutlass (or sword or scimitar), a dagger, and one or more flintlocks (pistols). These were usually tucked into the waist belt, but sometimes were carried in a sheath attached to the baldric or waist belt. I use a juggling knife as a scimitar, as it has just the right look to it, but there is no commercial sheath to fit it, due to its unusual size and shape, so I am planning to make my own sheath to match. In the mean time, I wear it tucked into my waist belt.

Jewelry

As stated elsewhere, jewelry is okay as long as it is vintage-looking, but be careful not to wear anything that looks too modern, unrealistic or stereotypical. I prefer to wear only finger rings. Nice-looking silver rings with non-precious stones are available from various sellers for approximately $40.00 apiece on eBay. You can have your fingers measured for rings for free at some jewelry stores. Rings can be removed more easily by first spraying skin with window cleaner.

As stated on my Questionable Clichés page, pirates probably did not wear brass or gold Gypsy hoops, but they look nice.

Miscellaneous

If you attend a period event in the sun, make sure your sunglasses do not betray you. I bought a nice pair of round lens, Sideshow black Vintage Sunglasses, from Giant Vintage, for $20.00. They have a wide selection of styles from which to choose.