Pirates - Fame and Infamy
Thanks to the worldwide success of Hollywood blockbuster movies 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl', 'Dead Man's Chest' and 'At World's End' just about everyone everywhere now knows the name of the infamous fictional pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow.
His instantly recognizable pirate fancy dress, with his long untidy dreadlocks, coins and bones in his hair, red bandanna about his head, goatee beard and fingers bedecked with golden rings.
He wears the traditional Buccaneer pirate swashbuckling garb of flowing shirt and vest, a battered three-cornered hat, a fine pair of boots, a wide leather belt and a scabbard for his sword slung over his shoulder.
With guns and knives jammed into the cloth tied around his waist, Captain Jack Sparrow always looks so casual and yet he makes for a formidable sight, a figure not to be trifled with nor to be crossed and is the reason why the Captain jack Sparrow Costume is the popular Other fictional characters have also helped to create the imagery that we now recognize as the Buccaneer pirate, amongst them Long John Silver, known to readers from the classic novel 'Treasure Island'.
Seen on TV and movie screens for decades in a long, sweeping frock-coat complete with squawking parrot on his shoulder, his wooden leg and his crutch tapping ominously on the deck of his ship as he searches for buried treasure, he makes an unmistakable sight.
But pirates are not all fictional, and those who really did sail the High Seas long ago are just as infamous for their actions as their literary and movie counterparts are today.
They also wore distinctive pirate costumes as part of their reputation.
Many names stand out as ruthless and bloodthirsty, amongst them Edward Teach, better known as 'Blackbeard' who sailed the West Indies on his ship 'Queen Anne's Revenge' during the early 18th Century.
Already a formidable man to behold he enhanced his long, thick, black beard with smoking tapers that he might better intimidate all who saw him in battle.
Then there was Captain Kidd, whose very own legend claims he buried some of his treasures on a distant shore, never to be found.
Forever portrayed in popular paintings clothed in a dark, billowing shirt and pants, with a swathe of scarlet cloth at his waist he was instantly recognizable, for a Buccaneer needed an image, a form of pirate fancy dress, something that would make them stand out amongst their peers, for they wanted all whom they robbed to know exactly who it was who had done the robbing.
And so, pirate costumes, even those created from fictional romance and modern mythology, were often as bold and brash as the pirates themselves, a part of their image, enhancing their credibility and securing their fame.
His instantly recognizable pirate fancy dress, with his long untidy dreadlocks, coins and bones in his hair, red bandanna about his head, goatee beard and fingers bedecked with golden rings.
He wears the traditional Buccaneer pirate swashbuckling garb of flowing shirt and vest, a battered three-cornered hat, a fine pair of boots, a wide leather belt and a scabbard for his sword slung over his shoulder.
With guns and knives jammed into the cloth tied around his waist, Captain Jack Sparrow always looks so casual and yet he makes for a formidable sight, a figure not to be trifled with nor to be crossed and is the reason why the Captain jack Sparrow Costume is the popular Other fictional characters have also helped to create the imagery that we now recognize as the Buccaneer pirate, amongst them Long John Silver, known to readers from the classic novel 'Treasure Island'.
Seen on TV and movie screens for decades in a long, sweeping frock-coat complete with squawking parrot on his shoulder, his wooden leg and his crutch tapping ominously on the deck of his ship as he searches for buried treasure, he makes an unmistakable sight.
But pirates are not all fictional, and those who really did sail the High Seas long ago are just as infamous for their actions as their literary and movie counterparts are today.
They also wore distinctive pirate costumes as part of their reputation.
Many names stand out as ruthless and bloodthirsty, amongst them Edward Teach, better known as 'Blackbeard' who sailed the West Indies on his ship 'Queen Anne's Revenge' during the early 18th Century.
Already a formidable man to behold he enhanced his long, thick, black beard with smoking tapers that he might better intimidate all who saw him in battle.
Then there was Captain Kidd, whose very own legend claims he buried some of his treasures on a distant shore, never to be found.
Forever portrayed in popular paintings clothed in a dark, billowing shirt and pants, with a swathe of scarlet cloth at his waist he was instantly recognizable, for a Buccaneer needed an image, a form of pirate fancy dress, something that would make them stand out amongst their peers, for they wanted all whom they robbed to know exactly who it was who had done the robbing.
And so, pirate costumes, even those created from fictional romance and modern mythology, were often as bold and brash as the pirates themselves, a part of their image, enhancing their credibility and securing their fame.