Women’s Pirate Costume – Party Like Mary Read This Halloween 2011

Female Pirate Costumes For Halloween 2011

With Halloween not far away, so to speak, possibly your thoughts are turning to what to wear at the Halloween party. You may go for the horrid or macabre costumes that fit the scary theme of Halloween or maybe a movie inspired outfit is more your style. An ever popular theme when it comes to selecting that ideal outfit is the pirate costume. This article will give you a bit of background, specifically to do with female pirates and a few garments which may go down well at the party. So here we go.

Sidebar : Check out all the new female pirate costumes for Halloween 2011, including angelica costume

Background To The Pirate Costume

Probably the most notorious time for pirates was in the so called golden age of pirates. This was around the 17th and eighteenth centuries. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are fictional although set in these times. The epoch has been extensively romanticized by books and films and this is partly why the stories have stayed with us for so long.

There is a certain charm to sailing the high seas and plundering gold and other booty from hapless Spanish galleons. The lighthearted nature of the swashbucklers, the seemingly bountiful opportunities for riches and the style of these ocean buccaneers appeals to us.

And while this time was mainly dominated by men, you might be stunned to hear that there were several female pirates at this moment in time.

Two of the most iconic were Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Their tales are all the more remarkable considering the fact that one of several unwritten rules of pirates was that no women were permitted on board a vessel (unless in port).

This may clarify why Mary Read disguised herself as a man initially and called herself Mark Read. She lived and fought alongside the lads for a few months and doubtless would have gotten away with it until Anne Bonny arrived on the ship.

Anne Bonny was the captain’s (Calico Jack Rackham) mate, first mate let us just say. Clearly the good captain made an exception to the rule for Anne and himself. Anne in next to no time sensed that the fine featured Mark Read was actually Mary.

The two, along with the rest of Rackham’s crew engaged in high seas piracy for a few months and captured spoils from a few ships however made a ill-fated decision to make a port call. On terra firma the Captain along with the two females were captured by the authorities. This is where the narrative gets rather hazy. Both women are thought to have died in jail or even been executed alongside Rackham. Other tales say that they were pardoned and went back to being ordinary citizens.

Some Womens Pirate Costumes

Pirate outfits which you can get in our day have little resemblance to those that Anne and Mary may have worn. They are more  designed to capture the attention of people at the party rather than any Spanish Galleon.

A classic ladies pirate costume that you may wear to a Halloween social gathering are one of two types. The first are skimpy, pretty outrageous, sexy and downright flirty. They usually have plenty of ruffles and a short skirt. They are a whole lot of fun. They are costumes to get you noticed pure and simple. Costumes like vixen pirate wench costume in fact.

The other type is a little more in line with a traditional pirate uniform (like this one wicked neverland captains mate costume). They would include the standard hat and buccaneers coat. Underneath might be a white peasants shirt to add a touch of femininity. If you do not want a lot of attention but still want to make an impact at the party this is the style to go for.