What pirates REALLY wore.

[Dorian Lasseter]

Day-to-day fashion...

I would think very few prefered boots over shoes... A few years back we had an exhibit of 17th and 18th C paintings. I don't think I saw one set of boots on anyone...

I did learn alot on how stockings were worn... they weren't always the tight, form fitting style, some even looked like leg wraps and not stockings...

Back to boots... what is the purpose of the piece of leather where a buckle woud be that's kind of shaped like a butterfly?

I've never gotten an answer for that...

[Pirate Petee]

Well thinking practically, I would have preferred boots over the shoes. They would help keep your feet warm and dry, they would offer some protection from rope burns, splinters and just other ship type elements, and as with the shoe the heel could help you climb rigging. I don’t believe that they would have thrown them away either, these are poor desperate men, hunted criminals, they would have kept what ever belongings they had, make them last for as long as they could. I’m not saying that is all they wore, me myself would prefer a choice shoes, boots and barefoot. As for not seeing them in many illustrations and paintings, like I said earlier when one posses for a portrait, painted or drawn, they dress nice and boots were not as fancy as buckle shoes and stockings. You wouldn’t wear your work clothes to go get a picture taken would you?

[Pirate Petee]

Foxe,

I just found out where I got the second picture. It is from the "Pirates Own Book" as well.

[callenish gunner]

boots were a military option and for those who rode horses most well heeled gents owned boot if they rode ....in most portraits it was not fashionable to show a gentleman in his rough wear as he would wear in the country or into battle .........that butterfly looking piece of leather was a stirrup chap it kep the stirrup from rubbing a hole in your boots and offered a bit of cushion to your ankle from the rubbing and also allowed you to wear your spurs with out wearing a mark on your boots

[Dorian Lasseter]

Thankee CG....

Tha' makes sense...

[Fox]

The butterfly shaped piece of leather on the front of riding boots (called, I believe, the "butterfly") is to prevent the boot being worn away by the stirrup. The butterfly takes all the wear and is a lot cheaper to replace than the whole boot.

With regards to portraits and illustrations - we have portraits of people in all sorts of dress, from elegant court wear to hunting outfits. On the other hand many of the illustrations in question are not people posing for a picture, they are people in their working gear, the clothes they really wore. On the one hand, no I wouldn't pose for a photo in my work clothes, but on the other hand if I wanted illustrate a mechanic I would do him in his overalls, not his Sunday best. It all depends on the type of picture in question.

Pirates Own Book: As I said before, it was illustrated 100 years after the events it describes and the pictures certainly shouldn't be taken as evidence of anything.

[Dorian Lasseter]

Bloody hell Foxe!

How many hands does ye have???

Exactly... the paintings we had were just that, a whole mix of classes...

Yes, many look to be courtly... but alot were "scenes from the working man"

The butcher, the baker.... etc...

I just wish I had more time to study them, which I didn't while they were here....

[Fox]

At least 4 it would seem - perhaps I was borrowing someone else's...