The following was written as answers to several questions asked on Livejournal regarding the type of costumes being worn in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Question:
Would anyone happen to know how pirates dressed? I am looking for a variety of dress: captain, bosun, crew, cabin boy, etc.

Answer:
Basically, there is no particular difference in clothing for pirates than for other members of society, it would just be more jumbled together or less 'acceptable'. There are accounts of late 17th c. pirates who dressed either extremely gaudily or distinctive (like Calico Jack), or for example Roberts who was always seen as being very well dressed, like a gentleman at the height of fashion.

The problem clothes-wise with PotC is that they did not specify any time period. Looking at Elizabeth's clothes, for example, nothing she wears is actually historically correct and it's impossible to pin down accurately, but as rule of thumb you can say mid 18th century for the 'good' dresses, the plum one from Barbossa is based on a mid 17th c. dress, only very lossely inspired by the actual fashion of the period, and her shift has never existed in any possible period. Well, it is vaguely similar to a 15th c. kirtle I'd hazard a guess.

Taking the military uniforms into consideration, I'd probably say 1730s at the earliest, but Norrington's looks later, more distincively 1760s. Not my period of expertise. However, I am expecting an article on Commodore Norrington's uniforms.

Looking at Governor Swann, he is very definitely dressed in 1720s, it could even be earlier, 1700 at the earliest, and so are his fellow society acquaintances. The wig gives it away, same for the cut of his coat, waistcoat, shoes. etc. It is funny for a costume historian to see 18th c. white wigs in a military context being worn, at the same time with the full periwigs of the very early 18th century. Would have never happened in reality of course! Then again it's a Disney movie and they never even tried to pin it down to a particular period in time, instead setting it in a general atmosphere, which works rather well.

I'd say to be safe for outcasts and underdogs like pirates, go for early 18th c. or even late 17th. Make sure you never use the American English word 'pants' (as for trousers, it really is incorrect) and use breeches instead. They wore stockings (or bare footed, most sailors would be bare footed on board during an ordinary day) and shoes if they had them. Jack's spiffy boots are complete fantasy, modelled after 1630s & 40s 'Musketeer' boots but never quite existed in the way they are shown in the movie.Nevertheless, they are very decorative.

Let them wear linen shirts and waistcoats, the latter are optional. Breeches were buttoned by that time, not laced as so often described in stories. Give them coats, most probably full skirted like Governor Swann's, but clearly second or third hand. You can give them sashes if you like, or leave out some articles of clothing altogether. After all they are a bunch of people who do not belong into ordinary society anymore thus they do not live by its rules anymore and that includes clothing.

Did you notice one of Jack's crew, the old chap, appeared to be wearing a ragged and old grey wig? They can have long or short hair, both existed in the period. They would have worn sword belts but heck, give them baldricks if you like. They went out of fashion towards the end of the 17th century (the British military changed from baldricks to sword belts in the course of the 1680s) but there is nothing wrong with giving them old fashioned clothes.

Back in England the second hand trade was flourishing, even the third and fourth hand trade. There are engravings by Marcellus Laroon the elder from the late 17th century, which show street vendors in London and some of their clothing is so torn and threadbare, they walk with huge holes in stockings and shoes and half torn off sleeves.

As for hats, tricornes are very safe, because the tricorne came into fashion from the later 1690s onwards, but big floppy hats... again, they are old fashioned, but it's pirates after all.

If you want some more info, have a look at my main site, which hosts this small part with PotC Fanfic Writer's Resources. It's on late 17th century period clothing and history:

Late Stuart Historical Resources

Information on late Stuart Military, mainly Infantry (until 1715, including the War of the Spanish Succession) can be found here:

Kirke's Lambs, The Queen's Regiment of Foot

I hope all of this helped a bit.

Question:
I never thought Jack dressed like a pirate. His clothes without the coat and the tricorne hat look sort of gypsy-ish to me. Or maybe it's just his looks. Any thoughts on this?

Answer:
Jack actually does 'in a way' dress like a pirate, because there was no such thing as pirate-dress. Forget the notion of gypsy dress, it's a 19th century invention. ;-) The point about Jack's clothing is, that it's very Hollywood (and effective in this!) as it mixes perfectly acceptable breeches with fantasy type bucket top boots, and puts a waistcoat on him that isn't actually bad either from a historical point of view.

His shirt, however, has cuffs I have certainly never encountered in anything historical and let's not talk about the constantly very conveniently open hanging shirt front. Not that I mind!!! Looking at the shirt's construction it was actually designed to gape open at the neck I believe. A period shirt wouldn't have quite gaped as much, it had a simple long slit and would be fastened either by buttons in the early 18th c. (paintings show white buttons, probably thread wound ones) or two buttonholes, one on each side and a ribbon threaded through them, closing at the neck with a bow. On top of that a man would wear a cravat of different sorts and styles according to one's station in love, available money and the year. Oh yes, fashion changed in the early 18th century almost as fast as nowadays! You'd be surprised.

(In the 1660s, for example, Samuel Pepys laments in his diaries that his wife's green watered silk dress was so out of fashion this year although it had been all the rage the previous year...)

Jack's coat is very nice indeed and quite historical, and so is his tricorne hat, except for the fact that it's made from leather. Oh well, looks nice.

The sash... now that's probably what makes it look so romanticised gypsy-ish. In fact, sashes were worn quite frequently in previous decades, but in a military context. A sash would denote a certain military rank, so in the English Civil War, for example, (first half of 17th c.) an Officer of a Royal regiment might wear a crimson silk sash around his waist and would be easily recognisable as an officer from afar.

Later on sashes were worn across one shoulder and tied with a bow at the waist (for example in the War of the Spanish Succession 1702-1714) and had the same purpose in a military context. Though by that time the sash was already becoming more a relic or symbol than an actual means of distinction between different ranks and who was in command. So in a way the sash had simply moved from the waist to the shoulder - across chest - tied at waist.

In the PotC context it simply shows off JD's lovely trim waist and looks piratey with the leather belt over it and the pistol stuck in it. Then of course his hair, now that is just complete fantasy and boy do I love it *G*

Question:
How much would the fashions of the (presumably European?) day be followed out in Port Royal? Not to defend Disney's presentation (which I'm sure reflects a mix of inadequate research & desire to fill the screen with flattering costumes), but I get the impression that it might be more plausible to mix different styles in the Colonies than it would in, say, London.

Answer:
The thing about styles of clothing is that they were remarkably consistent, certainly when it comes to England, France, Holland, the three greatest powers at that time. Spain, interestingly, retained its regional difference a lot more, but I assume that is to be explained with the different fashion in the 16th century, where Spanish fashion was distinctively different from England for example.

Also, there was not so much of a notion of European or not European, because in a way they all were. The people who had moved to the Colonies were English or Dutch or German or French or.. Etc. you get the point. They would dress - as far as possible - according to what they knew from the motherland. Which would be surely out of date and might have, especially with pirates, some regional influence of whatever the native population of the Caribbean might still retain as their own mode of dress.

I agree with your sentiment, the further removed the location is and the lower down the social scale (especially when it comes to pirates who are removed and out of the social system by being outside of the law), the more likely it is to mix styles in clothing.

An Governor's daughter would get the latest fashion (a few months out of date perhaps) from London, a tavern wench would certainly not, but she might aspire to look somewhat like the fashionable lady.

Email list for making your own costumes and general information on the actual costumes being made for and worn in PotC:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/potccostuming/