What Kind of Pirate Are You?

The first thing we need to decide is what kind of pirate you wish to portray: golden age or other; male or female; captain or crew. [A] pirate is a person who attacks and robs ships at sea. Such robbers also have been commonly called buccaneers, corsairs, freebooters, and sea rovers. Pirates differ from sea raiders known as privateers. Historically, pirates preyed upon any vessel they encountered. Privateers, however, were licensed by a particular nation during wartime to attack enemy ships. Privateers generally were not considered pirates, but the difference between the two was often a matter of perspective (World Book Encyclopedia, Piracy).

Piracy has occurred in all stages of history. In the ancient Mediterranean, piracy was often closely related to maritime commerce, and the Phoenicians appear to have engaged in both, as did the Greeks, Romans, and Carthaginians. In the Middle Ages, Vikings from the north and Moors from the south also engaged in piracy. At the conclusion of European wars during the Renaissance and after, naval vessels would be laid up and their crews disbanded. From among these men, pirates recruited their crews (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Pirate).

What the pirates looked like depends upon time-frame, locale, nationality, nationality of stolen clothing, etc. Pirating on the high seas has been recorded from about 500 B.C. to the present day and there is evidence of piracy as early as the 1300s B.C. When people speak of pirates, however, they usually refer to the Golden Age of Piracy, which was generally from the 1650s to the 1720s, specifically from 1715 to 1725, or roughly from 350 to 300 years ago. Pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy mostly wore the style of clothing peculiar to that period. This web site addresses mostly the Golden Age of Piracy. If you wish to dress as an actual historical pirate, see the short list of pirates on the Topics for Further Research page, or look up some others in the resources listed on the Bibliography and Links pages. Otherwise, be original. Instead of copying a well-known actor or actress from a recently popular performance, or a fictitious pirate, find out what a real pirate should look like, select your own role, choose your own style of clothing and accessories, and be yourself.

If you are a woman you have several options. While piracy was predominantly a male activity or occupation, there was a minority of female pirates and a few of them became famous. “Two of the most notorious pirates of the Spanish Main were women – Anne Bonny and Mary Read.” (Encyclopedia Americana, Pirate). If you would like to dress as one of these two women, you should look up as much information about them as you can and try to replicate their costume. However, their costumes do not look like what most people would think of when they hear the term “pirate” and most women who dress as a pirate usually dress in more common eighteenth century style anyway. So, what you can do is dress as an eighteenth century woman, possibly with a few pirate accessories, e.g. bucket-top boots, sash and waist-belt with optional weapons, tricorne, etc. This web site addresses primarily male costume, but some of it applies to women. Most of the links to male pirate costumes and accessories also feature corresponding items for women.

The male pirates fell mostly into two classes: the pirate captain and the pirate crewmen (seamen). On land, the pirate captain typically wore fancy clothing stolen from well-to-do people: shoes with silver buckles, a fancy linen or silk shirt, coat, waistcoat, breeches and tricorne. They also liked to violate the sumptuary laws and wear bright forbidden colors and luxurious fabrics. Pirate captains are often depicted wearing tall boots which came up to their thighs, usually with the tops folded down. On ship, they would dress more like a crewman. A crewman would wear clothing suitable for shipboard chores, usually what they brought with them from the navy, or what they made by recycling old sailcloth. They frequently were barefoot, but if they wore shoes, they probably wore the shoes of the day: low and flat with square buckles, with long wool stockings. They also wore sailor slops, which were short full breeches, and a Monmouth or montero cap. Pirate crewman are often depicted wearing a sash and waist-belt, and a shirt or tunic. Any accessories that they wore, e.g. weapons, jewelry, feathers, were optional.