History Main / DressedToPlunder

* Vests are common on low ranking pirates, worn with and without shirts.
* Higher ranking pirates tend to wear [[BringMyRedJacket Red Jackets]] and [[BadassLongcoat Naval style blue coats]] in a nod to the [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships British Marines' and Navy's]] long love-hate relationship with [[InsistentTerminology Privateering]].

* In one series of ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'', a stereotypical pirate cries at the FBI's [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil anti-piracy warnings]]. The same pirate is also seen [[http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2009/08/24 running a dry-cleaning service.]] (He's not very good at it.)

* Gold hoop earrings, hair and/or a GoldTooth. Successful pirates tend to collect BlingOfWar, some of which may not be originally intended for wearing.
* [[SwordAndGun Cutlasses and pistols]] as weapons.
** Some pirates will upgrade to [[BlingBlingBang tricked out]] and [[ExoticWeaponSupremacy exotic weaponry]], given the chance. [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Blunderbusses]] are a common choice. [[ICallItVera A pirate may grow very attached to his weaponry]].
* Vests are common on low ranking pirates, worn with and without shirts. Those going shirtless often proudly sport a CarpetOfVirility.

* A tricorner hat, bicorner hat (as seen in the page image), cavalier hat, or a bandana wrapped around their head.

* Either a [[SeadogBeard large, bushy beard]] or a layer of {{Permastubble}}.
* Gold hoop earrings and/or a GoldTooth.
* [[SwordAndGun Cutlasses and pistols]] as weapons.

In most cases, no one individual will have every trait--they'll be spread around the whole crew, for variety. Expect the captain to get a fancier suit (perhaps a BadassLongcoat) and the most impressive hat; crew members are more likely to wear a bandana, breeches and a simple shirt (often striped). The most overt examples will be emblazoned with a skull and crossbones. Bonus points if they also TalkLikeAPirate.

* The ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' series puts its own spin on the costumes, but still hits the major notes: parrot, beards, eyepatches, hats, bandanas, everything short of a hook.

That's not to say it has ''no'' [[TruthInTelevision basis in reality]], with some notorious RealLife pirates wearing parts of the ensemble. Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, for instance, got his [[CaptainColorbeard trope-naming]] [[RedBaron moniker]] from his BeardOfBarbarism, and due the primitiveness of medicine at the time it was common to see sailors with missing appendages (amputation being a comparatively safer solution to severe limb injuries than trying to let it heal in one piece).

* The pirates in the various ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games all share parts of these traits. The GhostPirate in 3 looks pretty much as you'd expect him to, and Captain Coin from 4 has the hat, the eye patch and the hook hand among various other pirate traits. Captain Skull in Wario World has this look, except with a giant cannon in place of one hand and a grappling hook for the other. And while those three are the ones with the most traditional pirate garb, even the other pirates in the series have them to some degree. Captain Syrup has the clothes and sometimes the hat, the Badineros from Shake It have the bandanas and cutlasses and the Shake King looks like a mix between a pirate, a viking and a traditional EvilOverlord.

* Buckles and [[BadassBandolier sas]][[ScarfofAsskicking hes]].

* Buckles and [[BadassBandolier sashes]].

* Buckles and sashes.

* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' is the TropeCodifier thanks to Captain Long John Silver.

* ''Webcomic/FurryExperience'' has a restaraunt called Pirate Pizza Place, where the crew all dress as...all together now...Pirates!

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This image of pirates can pretty much be traced directly to Creator/RobertLouisStevenson, who single-handedly [[TropeCodifier codified]] the parrot and peg-leg[[note]]Despite that in the novel he didn't actually have a peg-leg, but rather supported himself with a crutch[[/note]] image with [[Literature/TreasureIsland Long John Silver]]. (The hook was popularized later by ''Literature/PeterPan'''s Captain Hook.)

This image of pirates can pretty much be traced directly to Creator/RobertLouisStevenson, who single-handedly [[TropeCodifier codified]] the parrot and leg amputation[[note]]Contrary to what some people think, in the novel he actually didn't have a peg-leg, but was actually supporting himself with a crutch.[[/note]] image with [[Literature/TreasureIsland Long John Silver]]. (The hook was popularized later by ''Literature/PeterPan'''s Captain Hook.)

This image of pirates can pretty much be traced directly to Creator/RobertLouisStevenson, who single-handedly [[TropeCodifier codified]] the parrot and peg-leg image with [[Literature/TreasureIsland Long John Silver]]. (The hook was popularized later by ''Literature/PeterPan'''s Captain Hook.)