Aye ! what a site this is!!

[kingofshooters]

I'm new to the site , but old to the love! Everyone here seems like a fine sailor , I only hope to make a decent hand. There are so many questions I have , and so very many have already been answered. Thank you for putting together a wonderful and informative site!

[William Brand]

It's a community effort. Keep asking questions.

[peglegstrick]

Welcome aboard Mate

[Jas. Hook]

King -

Welcome! I'm sure our host Stynky will be pleased by your comment.

Jas. Hook

[kingofshooters]

When assembling your impression , what should you buy first? I'm assuming that in collecting garb it should be quality over quantity , but technically to do an impression of a pirate does one need to lay out $1000 for a greatcoat right away? Or can one get by with buying boots , pants , shirt , bandana , sword and baldric ?

[Mission]

I think it sort of depends on what you're going for. Since you said "boots" instead of "shoes" I'm guessing you're going for fantasy/Hollywood pirate. Flash is big part of that for a lot of people, so if that's your goal, you probably do need to focus on the bucket boots, coat and hat. (Alas, none of those things are cheap. You could plunk down your whole thou' on those three things alone if you spent a bit lavishly.)

Now if you're going period correct, you can get by with just a shirt, slops, rope sandals and perhaps a kerchief or two and still have quite a chunk of change left at the end of it. Then you could add a waistcoat, hat, socks and buckle shoes over time. (Actually, you could buy all of that for under a grand if you shopped prudently.)

[Jas. Hook]

King -

1st I'd be askin' ye self do I want authentic or hollywood????

Most basic for either look is slops, shirt and two neckerchief (neck and head) after that... perhaps a weskit/vest.

A greatcoat or frock coat still ain't in me purse and I've been puting a kit together for three years but I'm going for authentic linen and hand sewn when possible.

Jas. Hook

[kingofshooters]

Thanks Mission and Hook! I definitely want to go authentic over hollywood!! I feel dumb now for being duped into thinking I need all that.....can y'all point me toward some pictures I should study for period authentic garb and how it should look versus Hollywood? I used to do some WW2 re-enacting and there are darn sure some similarities and darn sure some differences.

Edited August 31, 2011 by kingofshooters

[Dutchman]

head down to the sewing room threads. you will find lots of information. before you get your heart set on any one thing, take a while and digest what you are looking at and as mission, hook, and others have said- don't be afraid to ask questions. thats why we are all here.

shoes will probably be the most expensive item you start out with. if you are handy with needle and leather you can find suitable modern shoes that can be tweeked with a bit of work at a thrift store for just a few dollars. actually- a lot of goodies can be found at thrisft stores and yard sales that can be converted to suit your needs.

[William Brand]

This is not an effort to tout the Mercury, but since the topic of getting started was thoroughly discussed there, I offer this link. Some very good links were added throughout the thread for shoes, slops, shirts, etc.

[kingofshooters]

William Red Wake....thank you for the link! Dutchman.....I will seek the thread. It probably gets tiresome dealing with newbs LOL

[William Brand]

It never gets tiresome. We want the newcomers to take the time to become entrenched in the hobby, and through sharing and their own research, they sometimes discover what has eluded us. Just one example. If Mission was not so well read and had not become so involved, we should have a lot less material here. He reads so much that he trips over new information all of the time, often touching on such a wide range of topics never before discovered or overlooked. There was a time when he was just the new guy asking a few questions and then he jumped in with a vengeance. Jas Hook, Peglegstick, Mission, Dutchman and I all started out as novices. Now we need professional help and a wealthy benefactor.

[kingofshooters]

WRW , Thank you! this was exactly what I was looking for :

The question of "How to get started?" has come up numerous times and will come up numerous times again, but for the interest of helping first time attendees to PIP, Lily and I thought that a thread was in order. Now we could approach the questions from various points of view, but I think a pragmatic start is best.

Now, what are the questions? Generally people ask about requirements first and the only true requirement is attendance. Everything else is secondary. I repeat...everything else is secondary. However, since it is assumed that anyone reading this is already planning on attending let's talk kit, because if you're going to attend a pirate event you'll probably want to look like one.

[Mission]

Aw shucks. Now if only I wouldn't fall each time I trip over new info.

I would think if you're buying it, the waistcoat would be your most expensive purchase. I got a great pair of shoes from Robert Land for $100 or so (I got them at a show so they were cheaper than the ones in the link). Very, very comfortable and I'm picky on that front. Add buckles and you're probably looking at $140 or so. Decent waistcoats I've seen for sale at events run $200+. Of course, the nice thing is you don't really need a waistcoat to be a common sailor. You can add that as you go along.

I think this is one of my favorite shots of a group of fairly period-looking sailors in various types of garb. (I'd post it here, but the forum doesn't like the Facebook extensions on it. You should be able to see it via that link as it's on my Surgeon's Journal public Facebook page.) I should note that Kenneth - the guy with the tennis shoes - was not re-enacting at this point so his garb is modern. But we still like him. Well, sort of.

[Jas. Hook]

King -

"...the nice thing is you don't really need a waistcoat to be a common sailor. You can add that as you go along."

I'll disagree with Mission on this one. From my experience, evenings and blustry days will require something more than just a shirt. I'll admit that I'm sorely press for a vest as I'm not an off-the-rack size and have two on order for awhile. The vest were common apparel of the time and look far better than a windbreaker at an event. If your going GAoP there is a difference in early 1700 period and the Revolutionary War era vest which are more commonly available.

For a warm, period correct cap, William Red Wake can put you in touch with Knit Kricket who makes a super Monmouth Hat.

Jas. Hook

[Mission]

I agree with Jas in principle, but in practice if you're just starting out and trying to conserve costs you can get away without having a waistcoat as I suspect it is one of the more expensive things you will buy. From a comfort perspective, you're much better off spending your money on a good pair of shoes that you'll be standing/walking/running in all day. I bought pretty cheap shoes to start me off and was suitably punished for that choice. This is why you'll find photos of me in tennis shoes during the evenings at events: my feet hurt from wearing the cheap shoes all day. Being a diabetic, I have to watch my feet more closely than most people probably do, so I went for the tennies once we were off-duty.

My rationale is thus: Most of the evenings at events where it gets cool aren't open to the public and the accuracy standards are often relaxed to the point where you could wear a modern jacket. It really is more fun to be able to wear period stuff, but I've donned a modern coat at night when needed one and I was just hanging around with the crew. I am damned lucky to have Michael Bagley making my clothes as well as being at many of the events I attend. So I can sometimes borrow his coats and maintain my PC-ness.

Now if you're making your clothes, a waistcoat is an item you should have on your to-do list. If I had any talent or interest in sewing, it would be the sort of challenge I'd like. Then I'd want to make a coat with a hundred buttons like this one of Michael's (Hmm. You can't see the buttons here. There are dozens and dozens of them):

[kingofshooters]

So I guess for all intents and purposes boots = Hollywood and shoes with buckles are correct

[Ivan Henry aka Moose]

oh here we go! KOS - there is a good deal of debate and many threads on this forum about boots. Bottom line (IMO) is that Golden Age of Piracy 1680-1730 = shoes. A good bit of advice that I got from someone is that dressing for the common rather than the exception is a good idea. If everyone's character was the exception to the rule, the overall impression of a group would not be an accurate representation.

[kingofshooters]

LOL....didn't mean to stir up trouble Ivan....that's pretty much what I'm able to infer also...shoes with buckles are more correct for that period. At least the illustrations and paintings I've viewed tend to bear that out....even the drawings I've seem of Black Bart and others show them wearing shoes with buckles.

[William Brand]

Aw shucks. Now if only I wouldn't fall each time I trip over new info.

Did I say trip? I meant discover through hours of reading what other could not discover.

[Dutchman]

latchets will work too. shoes with ribbons done from a single lace- not laced up like modern shoes. i found a $4.00 pair of rockports i turned into latchets and unless im doing a fancy thing- thats my most common shoe.

[kingofshooters]

I'm going to have to google that Dutchman.....The pic that Mission posted helps a great deal in presenting what period garb should look like....I wanted to go fancy with something I found here for breeches

but not sure if that be correct per se......also I assume with buckle shoes these are worn bare legged right? so stockings or socks?

[kingofshooters]

Ok...these are latchets ...right?

http://www.mcssl.com/store/fug1/1758s/1758-rough-out-shoe

[Jas. Hook]

I'm going to have to google that Dutchman.....The pic that Mission posted helps a great deal in presenting what period garb should look like....I wanted to go fancy with something I found here for breeches

but not sure if that be correct per se......also I assume with buckle shoes these are worn bare legged right? so stockings or socks?

I'd go with stockings. With those pants bare legs would look underdressed.

Jas. Hook

[Jas. Hook]

Ok...these are latchets ...right?

http://www.mcssl.com...-rough-out-shoe

King -

Sorta, latchets are the straps on the shoes that are tied or a buckle added. Jas. Townsend & Son's web page has some helpful video clips, one of which shows installation of a buckle on the latchets. It'll give you a good idea how they're set up.

Jas. Hook