asmiv Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 I am new to the pirate scene and this is my first post on these boards, so you will have to forgive me ignorance. What hats did pirates wear in the 16th century. 1600 is the cutoff year for the reenactment group I am in. Also, there is a lot of media out there showing pirates wearing nothing on their head except the headwrap that you see under the tricorne frequently. Did those headwraps exist in the 16th century? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Asmiv, The tricorn was not worn in the 16th century at all. But I think you need to rethink your question a little bit. You shouldn't be thinking "what did pirates wear before 1600" but "what did seamen wear before 1600". After all, pirates didn't have a particular uniform for indentification (that kinda thing will get your neck stretched!). Here's Mr. Foxe's wonderful site of medieval and Renaissance pictures of sailors. Have a browse around and you'll see many different headcoverings. Don't be surprised if you don't see anything you think of as "piratical". Much of what we think of as "pirate garb" is fantasy. Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hand Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 1600 is the cutoff year for the reenactment group I am in. I'm guessing you are in the SCA... but if you are going earlier period, you won't look much like what we now think of as a Pyrate.... Elizabeathain Sea Dogs are kinda fun, but no one knows what the clothing is.... A thrum cap is period, but you get a lot of comments about having a "bad hair day"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnwilliam Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 1600 is the cutoff year for the reenactment group I am in. I'm guessing you are in the SCA... but if you are going earlier period, you won't look much like what we now think of as a Pyrate.... Elizabeathain Sea Dogs are kinda fun, but no one knows what the clothing is.... A thrum cap is period, but you get a lot of comments about having a "bad hair day"..... Aye, Asmiv, Mate Patrick there looks VERY Elizabethan seaman. :) Capt. William (once the Meridies' Nautical Guild Patron) "The fight's not over while there's a shot in the locker!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Jack Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Just to get a "mind frame" on the period, think "Spanish Armada," Francis Drake, Hawkins, and so forth. Film-wise, it is the period of "Sea Hawks" (Errol Flynn), though I can't say whether or not the film costumes are accurate or not. Hollywood-wise, that particular period of film making is actually better most give credit for. They had HUGE costume manufacturing departments and historians working with the producers and directors. Brief Aside: The accuracy for a particular film depends largely upon the studio's priority and where and when the film fell among the other productions. Some had a whole plethora of costumes created for them with incredible accuracy. They would then reuse these costumes on other productions. If the later films were higher priority, they got the good costumes. Another film made at the same time would have to make do. Additionally, the directors/producers could/would IGNOR the historians on staff and choose costumes for "look" rather than accuracy (so that varied WIDELY). Flynn's "Robin Hood" is actually considered one of the best of all time for repesenting the costumes of the late 12th C. and around 1200. Some of the Robin Hood costumes (I've been told) are still in circulation among costume houses and used for all sorts of periods where they were NOT correct. I'm sure the film experts among us could baffle and amaze us at what they know on current Hollywood, as well as the past. Most pop-culture pirates are MUCH too late for the period in question, so try and get them OUT of your thinking COMPLETELY! Morgan was latter 1600s, GAoP (Teach, Roberts, Rackham, Reed, Bonny etc.) was EARLY 1700s!!! -John "Tartan Jack" Wages, of South Carolina  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjohn Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 That pic of Mr Hand is close to spot on I'd say. Bravo, Mr Hand, bravo! Yes, welcome to the era of very tall hats! http://www.employees.org/~cathy/images/sailor.jpg http://www.employees.org/~cathy/images/lant_roll1.jpg And odd as this may sound, in an illustration of the Golden Lion some figures appear to be wearing hats like this! My Home on the Web The Pirate Brethren Gallery Dreams are the glue that holds reality together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Film-wise, it is the period of "Sea Hawks" (Errol Flynn), though I can't say whether or not the film costumes are accurate or not. Just FYI -- the costumes in "Sea Hawks" are wrong. They vary from a little wrong (wrong period or mixing periods) to VERY wrong (completely made up by the costume director). Don't use it as a visual reference. It's is very VERY Hollywood. But I love the movie... You just can't beat Errol Flynn! Here are some great pictures of my favourite Elizabethan living history group, Bonaventure: Click on Gallery and then on Elizabethan. Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Wow, they're you're favourite too?! Foxe"With this Fore-Staff he fansies he does Wonders, when, God knows, it amounts to no more but only to solve that simple Question, Where are we? Which every chi'd in London can tell you." - Ned Ward The Wooden World Dissected, 1707ETFox.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Yup! I'm a sucker for dashing men in trunkhose. Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Jack Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 (edited) Film-wise, it is the period of "Sea Hawks" (Errol Flynn), though I can't say whether or not the film costumes are accurate or not. Just FYI -- the costumes in "Sea Hawks" are wrong. They vary from a little wrong (wrong period or mixing periods) to VERY wrong (completely made up by the costume director). Don't use it as a visual reference. It's is very VERY Hollywood. But I love the movie... You just can't beat Errol Flynn! Here are some great pictures of my favourite Elizabethan living history group, Bonaventure: Click on Gallery and then on Elizabethan. Thanks, Like I said, I didn't know. The good/bad part of when it was made is that the costumes and set (sometimes just dressing on a "standard" set) is REAL hit and miss. Some are amazing, while other are as bad as Braveheart (one of my favs anyways) and Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves (proof to me that Cosner is NOT a great actor) and all in between. Kass, if you say it and unless I KNOW it to be wrong (yet to happen), I trust your statements.\ My point: don't THINK Blackbeard (OR MORGAN), THINK Drake. Edited March 10, 2007 by Wages -John "Tartan Jack" Wages, of South Carolina  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hand Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I somehow lost the link to a page on Sea Dogs..... So I searched for it..... Some other stuff that I found..... This as an E-book part of the Geutenburg project "of Elizabethan Sea Dogs", by William Wood http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12855/12855.txt Then I found this one.... A list of books but I don�t know if they are free to access or not..... http://www.questia.com/library/history/fra...ancis-drake.jsp This is the page I was looking for.....it has some information.... But only use it as a start.... (do you own research....) there is a lot of information that is really wrong...... http://privateer.omena.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 My point: don't THINK Blackbeard (OR MORGAN), THINK Drake. Precisely! Golden Hind not Queen Anne's Revenge. Put another way: Elizabethan period, not Georgian. Ruffs not cravats. Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Jack Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 My point: don't THINK Blackbeard (OR MORGAN), THINK Drake. Precisely! Golden Hind not Queen Anne's Revenge. Put another way: Elizabethan period, not Georgian. Ruffs not cravats. NOR the English Jacobean . . . (James I (VI of Scotland) through the Charlies and the numbskull James II (VII) -John "Tartan Jack" Wages, of South Carolina  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Jack Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 Golden Hind Guilding that rear end MUST have HURT!!!!! -John "Tartan Jack" Wages, of South Carolina  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 At least they used gold and not silver. Shining it would have gotten embarassing... Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster James Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 At least they used gold and not silver. Shining it would have gotten embarassing... Kass, I think they make pads for that... Anyhoo...while on the topic of hats... My character is undergoing something of a sudden evolution and I think I should add some trim to the unfinished brim of my tricorn. I am unsure as to finish it with a plain black trim or with fancy gold braid. Was the gold braid in fashion outside of the military? My character is turning out to be merchant turned pyrate, leaning towards high-end civilian clothing more than military based garb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kass Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 In that case, I think you'll find the black trim suits your purposes better, Jigme. Building an Empire... one prickety stitch at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster James Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Thanks (again) Kass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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