Although today in the media sometimes there are reports of pirate attacks, for example, off the coast of Somalia, the times when they were masters of the seas and oceans are long gone. For obvious reasons, the adventures of the sea robbers left too little documentary evidence and almost no images taken from nature, so it’s hard to say what the pirates really looked like. Instead, anyone can read about their adventures and appearance in the novels of Stevenson, Daniel Defoe and other writers of the 18-20 centuries. However, historians argue that these works are 80-90% fiction, and true gentlemen of good luck never wore, for example, a bandana and ear rings.
Who were the pirates
Robbery at sea arose with the birth of shipping, as at all times there was a great temptation to take property or a ship from peaceful travelers or merchants. In addition, in antiquity and until the middle of the 19th century, trade in both white and black slaves flourished, which brought huge profits. A good business was to keep captured passengers of captured ships in order to obtain ransom from relatives.
Who became pirates? In the ancient era, as well as later, they were sailors who decided to engage in robbery and robbery. Moreover, often, when they met at sea with a better armed vessel, with a larger crew, the corsairs behaved like peaceful and honest merchants, and offered goods captured from other ships.
What did the pirates look like
First of all, it should be said that these robbers were cosmopolitan, and people of all races could get along in a team. Moreover, the leader was chosen based only on the personal qualities of the applicant, and estate and any other privileges did not apply. In addition, the captains changed as soon as a man appeared who the team considered more worthy. For the rest, these robbers were no different from ordinary sailors. And this is not surprising. After all, all day they were busy doing quite difficult and dirty physical work.
Thus, it is not so important how the pirates looked. In fact, they were no different from ordinary sailors of a particular era. We are not talking about manners, character and habits. Next, we consider the features of the suit of gentlemen of fortune in the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries.
What did the pirates of the 18th century look like
In the eighteenth century, sailors who sailed in the Atlantic Ocean, where it was pretty cool, preferred to wear linen shirts, wide pants to the ankles, and gray or blue jackets reaching to the hips. Dutch sailors dressed in much the same way. However, in cold weather they wore longer jackets and trousers.
Typically, pirates preferred clothes made of thick wool, but often they had to sew their own pants and a blouse from sails that had become unusable.
The usual attire of the free sea robbers was dark in color, as things were usually impregnated with resin to better protect them from the cold and damp.
What pirates looked like in the 19th century
According to historians, the era of American and European sea robbers, the so-called Golden Age, ended in 1720-1730. Thus, by the beginning of the 19th century there were practically none. However, piracy did exist, as the Berber sea gangsters continued to attack ships, as well as rob the people living in the coastal zone of many European states. Their actions even caused the two wars that the United States was forced to wage.
From what has been said, it follows that in response to the question of what the pirates looked like, you need to describe the Arab, and more specifically, the Berber sailor. Judging by the few testimonies and drawings of Europeans, in the warm season they walked to the waist and wore wide trousers of dark blue color or short trousers slightly below the knee. When it got cooler, the robe was complemented by a white shirt and vest.
How to dress up for a costume party
If the question "what should a pirate look like" interests you because you don’t know what to wear on a corporate theme or how to send your son to a New Year's party, then we can offer you several options for such an act, consisting of the following wardrobe items:
- bandanas of red color and the same sash;
- blindfolds ;
- a white shirt with wide cuffs and frills;
- elongated vest with golden buttons;
- any dark trousers;
- partupeys;
- treads with lapels and large buckles.
In this outfit, you or your child will look like a “real pirate”, and earn the admiring glances of others. It is easy to make such an option from old things that are in every house, and if you are too lazy to sew a camisole vest, you can exclude it by putting on a regular vest under a white shirt and unbuttoning the upper buttons.
Now you know what the pirates really looked like, and you can appreciate the imagination of novelists and filmmakers who were able to instill in their minds the image of a gentleman of fortune dressed up in a camisole, a hat-hat and wearing a black blindfold in place of the missing eye.