Pirate Coats and Costumes

Starting making pirate costumes was an accident. I had streamlined my social media to include mostly arts, crafts, and culture groups, allowing me to see and share what was beautiful about what people were doing with their lives. Six or eight years ago, most of what people were beginning to see on social media at the time were people venting about spats and memes and questionable articles that didn't exactly foster much camaraderie. Many of my friends participated in internal posting movements to bring the sharing of art and comedy back into our daily exposure stream, and I did my part by sharing what my groups were posting that made my day better and not worse.

One of those groups allowed persons looking for help or suggestions about costuming, and I answered the call of someone looking to help their friend make their first pirate costume - their first costume of any kind ever. I offered to help. I had not previously gotten into the Baroque or later eras of period garb, but I looked forward to the challenge of working with something new and helping someone on their first time project. Working at a distance from two different states made collaboration very difficult.

She had seen a very lovely womens frock coat image online and wanted to make a period version of it that had a several different elements. So from the beginning, it wasn't as simple as picking out an existing pattern and running with it; it required finding what works with the pattern she had and making something that looked quite different.

We went through a trial frock with some inexpensive fabric in order to make sure that the final product we would make - and couldn't turn back on - was going to look right. Well, after some back and forth, the more traditional pattern route started looking a little more desirable. We decided to leave the shape of the original traditional look, and simply add to it. Often this is the quickest way to get the end state without having to reinvent and redesign the entire garment. I ended up altering the front panels of what would have been a vest into a not-quite-over bust cincher with a bit of a modern edge. An asymmetric design that has now become quite popular in daily fashion and period-inspired pieces.

Learning the hard way is sometimes one of the best methods for a couple of reasons:

1. you're allowed to be as ambitious as you want and it can push you to problem solve as much as possible

2. you learn the limits of your art and of your tools

3. you have an eye to find alternatives to what isn't working the best, because you now know what qualities would function better.

Keeping this style of problem-solving in mind can create a much more productive experimental stage. And having the resources to try and error more than once helps too.

Making period and pirate costumes has been a joy and a trial; not what I ever thought I would get into, but I am seriously happy that I did in the end. What happened when pictures of my creation got out was a bit underwhelming at first, but on a number of occasions in the years following, it got a bit too overwhelming. The response I've seen for frocks and peripherals far outweighs what I ever thought there would be. I thought I would be making dresses - elegant and elaborate medieval and period ball gowns - not pirate paraphernalia. But now it has become such an integral part of my existence that it even permeates my home and near daily conversation. 

... and it all started with a request for a little project help...

So, here I'll share some insight to and be a hub of links for Pirates, Period, Garb, and Cosplay - those who want to make, those who have questions, those who need help, those who are looking.