Above is a picture from a pattern book circa 1930. There are stylish representations of a Chinese lady, gypsy, clown and, in the lower left-hand corner, pirate wench. Click the picture to enlarge it if you need to and then come on back. See? Classy, right? No one would ever say it was “true to period” but it’s fun and sexy without being lewd.Fast forward to our “modern era” and you get this:
The website, Pinup Clothing, lists this costume as “Sassy Burgundy Pirate”. Sassy I’ll give you but girlfriend is going to have a hard time on the manropes in that thing. Well… You know what I mean. They also offer the “Sexy Pirate Wench” and, from the department of redundancy department, the “Sexy Caribbean Buccaneer Pirate”. Go ahead and click over; I’ll wait.Back? OK, then my question is, when did Halloween become ho-lloween? And why are so many of these kind of costumes showing up with a piratical focus? Seriously, some of Europe’s royalty were far bigger sluts than Bonny and Read ever thought of being. Look, I don’t want to be a spoil sport and some of the stuff over at Pinup is darling (I love the ‘40s inspired sailor suit) but it just grinds my teeth that ladies are wearing this kind of thing when real “pirate wench” wear is so readily available:
You want hot Golden Age pirate babe, there she is. And bunches more, well made and in every color imaginable, are available at Sofi’s Stitches. Add a belt, a sword and a head cloth and your ready for sexy, classy, authentic action. Guess what I’m wearing Sunday…
Ahoy, Pauline! As with so many things in life, when you keep it classy (as you always do, Pirate Queen) you are actually a lot more attractive than when you go the slutty "ho-lloween" route that seems so prevalant in our culture these days.
ReplyDeleteI won't even start on the message the ever present ads for these type of costumes send to young girls, but being a father of two of them it bothers me too. I know I sometimes joke about it, but it is pretty disturbing.
Ahoy, Timmy and thankee for putting it so succinctly.
ReplyDeleteYarrrr... the pattern book pirate [that actually has a nice ring to it!] looks pretty much like a variant of the gypsy in the lower right, with fewer bells n whistles.
ReplyDeleteMeantime, I hope you heal up and get feeling better, Pauline.
Best wishes [and do share your costume pics, eh?]
Ahoy, Charles! Great to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteThe first pirate costume does on both counts. If you'll notice, it has shorts (bloomers really) rather than a skirt. Still considered racy at the time, that would have raised a few eyebrows if Mrs. Smith showed up at the Johnson's Halloween cocktail wing-ding wearing bloomers so the costume definately has a piratical slant.
Thankee indeed for your concern. Fever's gone now so I think I'll be close to ship shape for tomorrow's festivities (we always have a house full of folks on Halloween). And I'll have someone snap a picture of me for upload. Darn camera died on me right before the best photo op day of the year :(