Pirates were most definitely known for their outlandish style, especially when it came to flaunting themselves while in port. Unless a person belonged to royalty or had a particular public stature, certain dress codes were often in effect, and that meant normal, practical attire. Obviously, pirates had no intention of following the rules of any given nation or government, and therefore took great pleasure in dressing up for trips ashore, often arriving in splendid coats, tricorn hats, fine linen shirts, and gold earrings. The better a pirate dressed, the more likely it was that local populations were both in awe and fear of him.

Hooks and Peglegs

Pirates who lost a limb either by accident or in battle were lucky if they even survived their bout with their ship's “surgeon,” who was typically the crew's carpenter (see Chapter 9). Given that useful artificial limbs were nonexistent at the time, a disabled sailor had very few options. The idea of having a hook instead of a hand or arm likely evolved from J.M. Barrie's 1904 novel Peter Pan and his villainous Captain Hook. Historic accounts suggest that some pirates did indeed have hooks after losing a hand or arm. It's uncertain whether pirates would have cheaply fashioned their own hooks out of available materials or whether the only hook worthy of being a prosthetic device needed to be expensively made.

Surviving the loss of one's leg wasn't that common for a pirate or any seafarer. If the loss of blood didn't kill them, inevitable diseases such as gangrene likely would. Long John Silver is, of course, the classic one-legged pirate, and it's probably because of Treasure Island that pirates are stereotypically assumed to have peglegs.

Another infamous pegleg was Captain Cornelis Jol, a Dutch privateer for the Dutch West Indies Company during the 1630s and 1640s. Feared by the Spanish, he was given the Spanish name for wooden leg, Pie de Palo. Together with Captain Diego de los Reyes, a mulatto and former Cuban slave, Jol's rampages in 1635 included almost a dozen Spanish ships. It wasn't until 1636, after a brief time served as a Spanish prisoner, that he returned to privateering. Five years later, however, Jol's luck ran out and he died while attempting to overrun a West African Portuguese slave station.

Earrings and Eyepatches

Eyepatches are another stereotypical fact of piracy. Indeed, it is said that some pirates did wear eyepatches, if for no other reason than to hide the loss of one eye. Others might have worn them strictly for intimidation. One logical use was that gauging the sun's horizon while onboard ship meant staring into the sun either with or without a sextant. This would eventually lead to loss of sight in an eye that the pirate would then cover with a patch. Also, if a pirate were attacking a ship and needed to fight both on deck and below deck, it could be argued that wearing an eyepatch would help him adjust to the sudden change of light to dark. Of course, it could also act as a hindrance when it came to swordplay.

Pirates wearing gold earrings could have meant several different things, and there are more than a few amusing theories floating about. If a pirate wore a large gold earring, owners with as many slaves. It also could have been for the simple reason that various taxation laws allowed pirates or privateers to keep whatever jewelry was on their body at the time. It has also been said that piercing one's ear and wearing a large gold hoop would provide a bit of acupressure necessary to help prevent seasickness. Further speculations surmise that pirates could even have worn earrings to gain an edge during battle. If the sun hit his earring at just the right spot, the glint could provide distraction, allowing him to defeat his enemy.

Hats Off!

Some form of headgear was extremely important to pirates, whether it was a small brimmed hat or a type of scarf or bandanna, primarily to keep their head safe from the beating sun as well as limit sweat from running into their eyes. They also might have worn a type of linen neck cloth or sash to curtail sweat around their neck. Sailors and pirates alike also typically wore knitted or woolen caps, called monmouths, that fit tightly on their head. The most commonly recognized pirate hat is a tricorn or tricorne, which hit the peak of its popularity during the eighteenth century. The tricorn is a three-cornered hat that has a trio of upturned brims, one on either side and one in the back. Today, tricorns are commonly worn during formal occasions and military re-enactments.