Straw hats for Caribbean pyrates?

[BCarp]

I'm going to a fest this weekend,and thinking of doing a mid-1600s buccaneer look: sleeveless short doublet, petticoat breeches, etc. It's going to be hot, and am wondering about the appropriateness of a straw hat for the occasion. Working men have been depicted in straw hats since the Middle Ages, and in the Caribbean slaves, planters, etc. must have worn them as well. What about seamen of the period?

Anyways, I have one similar to this (not quite so wide a brim) that I added a black twill tape hat band to:

It looks pretty good on, but somewhat 'cowboy-ish.' What do you think..?

[Mission]

I was just looking at hats on sailors from period art for an article I wrote and I don't recall seeing any straw hats. However, they existed and are definitely seen on farmers and slaves, so why not sailors?

We did have a discussion about straw hats in this thread that might contain some material of interest you. It focused primarily on whether straw tricorns were in use (which is doubtful given that period images of sailors only show officers in tricorns), but it also discussed general straw hats.

[BCarp]

Thanks for the link to that very good thread. My own opinion (for what it's worth!) is that straw hats were worn a lot, and even by seamen (especially ashore), but that cocked straw hats are a "reenactorism." Cocking a straw hat defeats its purpose: to keep your face and neck from frying in the sun....

[michaelsbagley]

I'be seen more straw hats in depictions of women than men (thinking particularly of the Laroon sketches here). If memory serves, did someone not post a painting that clearly showed a straw cocked hat... It might have been slightly post period for GAoP, but I think it was really close. The painting was of two street vagrants

[Jib]

Thanks for the link to that very good thread. My own opinion (for what it's worth!) is that straw hats were worn a lot, and even by seamen (especially ashore), but that cocked straw hats are a "reenactorism." Cocking a straw hat defeats its purpose: to keep your face and neck from frying in the sun....

Interesting idea Carpie... cocking a straw hat defeats the use of the hat for it's intended purpose (protect the wearer from the sun). Today we have people who wear baseball caps backwards and wear their pants low to show boxer styled underwear. Fashion defeating the purpose of the clothing.

DId this happen in the GOAP?

I seem to recall a type of short coat worn by horsemen in the Napoleonic wars that was draped over the shoulder. It had no real purpose other than to look good. When I first saw this my thought was that it must hinder the horseman. Evidently they simply adapted to the coat to keep with fashion.

[Mission]

Fashion was mostly the province of the upper classes. Sailors were near the bottom of the social ladder and some wore the same clothes day after day. (Some period accounts note that they sold their clothing when in port so that they could buy drinks, which might help to explain this.)

Even so, they would have a hat; hats were considered a necessary article of clothing during the time. (This is unlike today where hats are an accessory - you must be always cautious in trying to understand society 300 years ago by comparing it with modern society.)

A straw hat seems to have been primarily associated with the lowest classes, so a sailor might have one if he was really down on his luck. However, most period illustrations seem to show sailors who are working wearing felt hats either uncocked or cocked on one or two sides.

I could go on, but it would be easier to just direct you to my last article, beginning on the 3rd page where I discuss this in some detail and provide loads of images from the period.

[ozgurksahin]

My take was that seamen would usually wear something less cumbersome and less likely to be blown away while on deck (hence the handkerchief/do-rag), but it is by no means a rule, and they would be about as likely as anyone else to wear them on land (though it is easier to store kerchiefs in your belongings than to store hats while aboard, so that would be a slight disincentive).

[ozgurksahin]

Also the taste for finery is higher with pirates, and straw hats don't really qualify. The less physical labor they have to do, the more likely they are to want fancy clothes and hats. Some pirate ships (notably Bartholomew Roberts' ship, as we have a good deal of evidence about that) were run mainly by black crews, while the white pirates did very little actual work and basically lived like officers. This might have been more the case in the early 18th century than the mid 17th, but I'm not sure. Many would wear them even if they were cumbersome in battle because it was part of the image they wanted (who they felt they were, or who they wanted to be), but it is less likely with extended physical labor. Small cloth caps are more likely.

[Mission]

I'm no expert, but I think I've read most of the various accounts of Robert's crew and I didn't come away with the impression that his ships were "run mainly by black crews". What's your source for that?

If you look through the images of period sailors at work, you will also find a lack of sailors wearing kerchiefs on their heads. (I believe there is limited evidence of this in period images, but it is more unusual than usual.) This may reflect the artist's bias for more formal hatware, but it is pretty consistent across various period artists.

[Mission]

Here are a couple of threads on head kerchiefs. There is some evidence, but as I said in the previous post, it is limited. This suggests they were around, although probably not as common on GAoP period sailors as we represent them today. (One note... be cautious with the older posts. We've gotten much better at accurately documenting things over the years.)

Aye the kerchief!

bandannas

Kerchief under your hat

[jendobyns]

Just a practical note from a long time straw hat wearer. On the water and along the coast there tends to be a fair amount of wind nearly all the time. Straw hats are difficult to keep on your head when there is a good breeze, even when tied and skewered to the hair with a big ole' hat pin. It's just a tiny sail sitting on your head. Probably one reason these are hard to document on sailors is that they aren't practical in your average seafaring environment and given up as a waste of money by anyone who couldn't spare the free hand to hold it on all the time.

[Jib]

So Jen do you think that by "cocking" a hat it might make it a little more wind tolerant on the open sea? I believe I recall Mission making note of how easily "The Patrick Hand Original tm" took flight when he was on a bike. Big wide brimmed hats maybe not so good near the open water.

[Mission]

In general I would agree that broad-brimmed hats make no sense on the water. (I don't even bother to bring mine any more when I go sailing in garb.) However, period images show them quite consistently being worn there.

My conclusion is that there are other factors at work of which we aren't aware. (Maybe the style amongst sailors was to wear them - amongst peers, style frequently holds more sway than practicality. Maybe it was the most affordable, respectable hat for a sailor. Maybe it was the easiest hat for a sailor to procure while in port. Maybe they they put ties on the hat to hold them on. Maybe hats weren't worn when sailing. (I can't think of any images of regular sailors on a ship under sail from period. It's hard enough to find images of them in port.) Maybe something else of which I'm not thinking.)

[jendobyns]

So Jen do you think that by "cocking" a hat it might make it a little more wind tolerant on the open sea? I believe I recall Mission making note of how easily "The Patrick Hand Original tm" took flight when he was on a bike. Big wide brimmed hats maybe not so good near the open water.

It may. Straw is fairly light, so it would also take less to make it airborne than Mission's hat.

Edited July 14, 2014 by jendobyns

[Jas. Hook]

I was sitting on the front porch yesterday reading Greg F's At the Point of a Cutlass and I had all I could do just to keep a straw panama hat on and I'm not that near to the water.

[jendobyns]

Yep, I can practically skewer mine to my head and on a breezy day it wants to blow away. I suggest that anyone who really wants to justify having a straw cocked hat, take it for a test drive on a windy day and see what happens. Sure, it's a great look, but does it work? The only success I have had with keeping all in place has been when it was anchored to my wig, which has a lot of heft. And not likely a look a common sailor would sport. ;-)

And for what it's worth, a somewhat later 18C community went through a discussion about these when "Longitude" was first aired some years ago. I don't recall the results of that discussion beyond the difficulty they had in documenting them, too. It's apparently a tough nut to crack