You are staging Peter Pan or some other show featuring pirates.
Captain Hook is a pirate, and everyone knows what he looks like. But what about Smee, or other pirates with
less name recognition? How does the audience know for sure that they are
pirates, too? The obvious answer is that they look like pirates. Here are some hints on how to make that
happen, even if you are on a tight budget.
Most pirates- and their costumes- are a form of
historical fiction. While there is some truth in this image, there is more that
is the product of the imagination. If you do it well, your show should carry its audience off into the world you have created. Bad costumes are a
distraction and an impediment to this. Since most Americans think “Disney Captain
Hook” or “Johnny Depp” when you say the word pirate, sticking to this sort of
imagery works well. Without buying cheaply made and expensively
priced commercial costumes, how do you accomplish this?
Start by looking at pictures of pirates and visually dissect
what they are wearing. Some of the
things I noted were blousy shirts, open at the throat, knee breeches or pants
tucked into boots, heavy belts, sashes, vests, long coats, things that lace up,
ragged edges, stripes, eye patches, bandanas, earrings, and hats. I also used billowy skirts and corset style
belts for some of the lady pirates.
Go thrift store shopping and start looking for these
elements. Almost all of the guys wore something from the ladies rack, because
in our culture, women generally wear more varied and interesting clothing than
men do. One day I went looking just for
pants. I found stretch leggings with pleather on the front of the thighs, loose
fitting heavy knit pants with faux diamond trim down the sides, and flared
capris with eyelets and lacing on the outside of the leg. The leggings and
blingy pants were worn with high boots or boot tops, and the pirate wearing the
leggings also wore a coat that covered his thighs.
The next time I hit pay dirt on belts- most of them heavy
leather, studded with metal brads. Another day I went looking for vests. I was amazed at what I found when I walked
through the store thinking “pirate vest.”
Bandanas can be cut,
raw edged, out of suitable fabric. I
made a lot of hats (that is a blog entry unto itself) but I was also able to
turn dollar store straw hats and a couple thrift store wool felt hats into
pirate hats with minimal work.
Once you
set your mind on the pirate channel you begin to see pirate in clothing items
you might not have considered before.