Pirate Fashions is be in its 6th year of operation.  When we started this website there be no shell phones looking at it, but now that a third of the traffic be on those magical devices, we have completed sunk the old website (GoLive) to dave jones locker.  This new responsive website (Shopify) automatically changes how it display based on the size of the viewing window.  

We will be adding lot of new features with time.  As with any major switch over there be bug n' mistakes, please sent us e-mail to notify us of any we have missed.

Jose Gaspar, known by his nickname Gasparilla (1756 – 1821), be a Spanish pirate, the "last of the Buccaneers," who is claimed to have raided the west coast of Florida during the late 18th n' early 19th centuries. Though he be a popular figure in Florida folklore, no evidence of his existence appears in writing before the early 20th century. His legend is celebrated every year in Tampa with the Gasparilla Invasion n' Pirate Parade Festival.

The first Gasparilla parade was held in May 1904, after Tampa Tribune society editor Miss Louise Frances Dodge and Tampa's director of customs George Hardee combined the legend of the dashing pirate and elements of a New Orleans Mardi Gras to give Tampa's relatively sedate May Day celebration a new theme. The festival was carried over into the evening with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla's First Coronation Ball held at H.B. Plant's Tampa Bay Hotel where King Edward and Queen Mary Lee were crowned. The first "invasion" was via horseback, with the first sea-based invasion coming in 1911.

As the festival grew, a US Navy ship would be attacked by small boats throwing Cuban bread and black bean soup. The Navy would respond with fire hoses but would succumb to the Ybor City Navy, and then surrender to the Alcalde of Ybor City. The sailors would be treated to an evening on the town. This was discontinued after the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, the invasion itself continues as "Capt. Jose Gaspar" and his crew of "Pirates" "attack" Tampa, surrounded by hundreds of other boaters as they sail the Gasparilla Ship through Tampa Bay, land near downtown and "take over the city."

Historically, Gasparilla was held on the second Monday of February. It was a holiday in Tampa, with schools and many businesses closed. In 1988, the main parade was moved to a Saturday in early February to allow more local communities to take part in the celebration. Since 2005, the event has been held on the last Saturday of January.

The Gasparilla Parade has grown to become the 3rd largest parade in the US, the largest being Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, followed by the Rose Bowl Parade. Annual attendance at the Gasparilla Parade currently runs about 400,000 people but has attracted 1 million attendees in some years. Attendance of Gasparilla is probably equal to the combined total of all 150+ pirate events through out the entire world each year.

In the 1970, the krewes of Gasparilla Pirate Fest begin throwing bead, which is a Mardi Gras tradition. Collecting beads is the main draw of Gasparilla, much more fun than just watching floats drive down the road. Most groups have a special krewe bead with their logo on it, which is very prized to collect.

There are 60 plus different krewe that particapates in the parade each year, about 25 of them are pirate krewes. Each of these krewes range from 50 to 200 members. Last year the YMKG decided not to allow any more new pirate krewe to join the parade. This year the Hard Rock Cafe will be sponsoring the 101st Gasparilla event again. Servicing these Gasparilla krewes is the main reason Pirate Fashions moved to Tampa.

---

This be arrrr 38th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Jan 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

In September, I be contacted by a prop house in need of a cutlass n' baldric. We ended up providing 4 of arrrrr Stage Combat Caribbean Guard Hangers and a dozen Custom Leather Baldrics. These items ended up being used in the up coming Spong Bob 2 Movie, which is a life action and animation film that includes one pirate, played by Antiono Banderas (The Mask of Zorro, Puss in Boots). They were filming in Savannah, Georgia in October of 2013. They were also filming on Tybee Island the week before the Pirate Festival, that I be vending at. I wanted to meet up with the prop house, but ran out of time.

Here be the story about arrrr involvement. The prop house first wanted soft leather fer the bladrics, even though I told them that is would not hold the cutlass well. I send off the 2 cutlasses in stock and had two more made. Once they got the baldric n' put the sword in, they figured I be right, so they order a set of stiffer leather one (I used a special water buffalo hide that be softer than cow hide but stronger).

The two new swords were different than the two old swords. So the prop house send the old swords back and had us made two more new ones exactly like the other two. The prop house told me that they would use the soft baldric in some of the scene and the hard baldric on others. Well they lost the first set of baldrics and had me make them another set. On the first day of filming, they needed to change something on the baldric, so they sent them back to us over night, we had to make a new set of them and send it out the next day, so they could go back to filming.

So that be arrr tail of what its like to work fer a feature film on the prop side of things. Things be stressful on movie project but rewarding to see arrr work in movies. SpongeBob SquarePants 2 is set for release on February 13, 2015. Here be the Offical Trailer fer the SpongeBob 2 Movie.

---

This be arrrr 37th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Dec 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

On Sept 21, 2013 the Mariner's Museum in Newport New, VA put on the Pirates Pack the Park event to try to break the Guinness World Record fer the largest pirate gathering. About 15,000 attended the event, but less than half showed up in pirate garb.

To qualify as a pirate, ye had to wear striped or white pirate shirt, pirate pants, headgear such as hat or bandana, along with an accessory item such as a eye patch, sword, parrot. I be expectin' some big photo op fer the event, but none was annouced. So I spent all day vending at the Pirate Fashions booth. I'm not sure how they figured out the count.

The final tally was 6,759 pirates, which be less than half of what was needed to wrestle the honor from the Town of Hastings, on Belham Beach, East Sussex, United Kingdom , only 22 July 2012, which holds the record of 14,231.

Fer a first time event, they did break the previous American record of 2007 & 2009, as well has the first Hasting record, set in 2010. I'm sure that the Mariner's Museum will try again next year.

---

This be arrrr 35th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Oct 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

One of the most popular game series be going on the account. Ubisoft will be releasing its 6th installment in the Assassin's Creed series on Oct 29, 2013. This be a game fer the Playstation 3 & 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and One, as well as a Microsoft Windows version.

The game will feature three main cities; Havana, Kingston n' Nassau. The main charater will be Captain Jackdaw who will encounter real life pirates such as: Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Jack Rackham n' Charles Vane.

The games action will include ship to ship battles n' boarding actions, as well as underwater action in addition to the standard long range and close combat assassinations. So if ye be a pirate n' a gamer, this be a dream. I have never been a gamer, but I can't wait to try this one out, arrrrrgh! To view the many trailer fer Assassin'g Creed IV Black Flag.

---

This be arrrr 34th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Sep 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

This book be a story of a young lad's quest fer immortality...eternal youth. He sets out on an adventure, chasing his dreams in search of that rare domineering breed, those colorful vagabonds known only as PIRATES, but what he finds is more...much more! With a roll of the bones he's mysteriously spun back in time. He awakens to find himself a stow away aboard one of the most notorious Pirate vessels to ever tread water. Take a ride with the Brethren of Caroline as they sail straight into the face of a hurricane in pursuit of a mysterious Island that doesn't exist. All for the love of Black Sam's Gold.

The author, Barnacle Bill Bedlam, a former rock n' roll musician will be holding a book signing at Pirate Fashions on Saturday, Aug 3rd from, 1 ta 3pm. Barnacle Bill be born into Piracy, as his grandfather be a rum runner in the deep south. "I learned all of my tricks of the trade from him."

---

This be arrrr 33rd issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Aug 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

n January 2014, the Starz Network will present the highly anticipated pirate adventure, Black Sails, centers on the tales of Captain Flint and his men and takes place 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island." There be 8 episodes in the first season of this Pirate program.

Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.

The executive producer is Michael Bay, who produced Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor. View the Black Sails Trailer, which looks like it should be a pretty good show. There be a special sneak screening at San Diego Comic Con on July 18.

 We provided some of the black powder firearms used on this fine pirate TV series.

---

This be arrrr 32nd issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Jul 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

I recieve a call from a costumer working on a documentary about the discovery of the new world. The production company named America Films LLC which makes films for the History Channel. They be in need of a crew of the conquistadors row boats, secure a beach landing, patrol uncharted lands, look for gold, kill native indians n' destroy villages. Funny, sounds alot like pirating. We took up the challenge of acquiring armour, period clothing, making matchlocks, weathering equipment, recuriting n' training volunteers in 10 days. We spend two days at Fort DeSoto filming. It will be next year before the documentry Americawill be release.

---

This be arrrr 30th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for May 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

For the past year, the crew of Black Raven, have worked very hard to get a reality show going. They have done pitches at the two largest annual TV conventions in US, the Realscreen Summit in Washington DC and Realscreen West in St. Monica, CA. These events have give a tremendous exposure to the industry but, not enough.

In order to sell the concept, they are producing a pilot episode. It will show what it takes to produce and deliver an interactive pirate show onboard our ship, in the store, n' show some of our late evening carousing in the taveren's of St Augustine. They have teamed up with a production company n' an award winning director to produce the pilot. They are raising the money through Kickstarter, view their promo video. Each pledge comes with rewards.

---

This be arrrr 29th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Apr 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.

What be a proof testing? Why be it important? Prooftesting is firing a gun barrel with a black powder charge that is well in excess of any load that it would see in normal use. If the barrel bulges, deforms or explodes, we fail it! It is important to assure that every gun is safe to use. It be the pirates curse to die in battle from his own gun that he fired himself, arrrrrgh!

At Pirate Fashions, we measure each barrel with digital calipers n' record all measurements. We proof test our guns using the old British standard of a triple charge and double ball load. This is loaded into the barrel and bolted into a test stand. It is then electricly fired, cooled, then remeasured. If the dimensions vary by more than .005, the barrel fail the test n' is destroyed. If it passes, we fill out a certificate of proof n' proofstamp the barrel on the tang. This be arrrr way of assuring the saftey of our customers and ensuring the enjoyment of our hobby for years to come.

Note we NEVER proof a barrel in its gunstock. This would destroy any stock n' risk injury to those nearby. If you are going to proof your own personal weapons, do so on a test stand well away from anyone. Allow at least 50 feet and put something solid like a concrete wall between you n' yar test. I don't recommend this fer anyone but a qualified gunsmith.

Proof testing has been in use since the 16th century. Currently there be no US standard for proofing black powder firearms. There are black powder proofing houses in Old World. We view this as a problem! We proof test every single weapons we sell. I am not aware of any other black powder gun maker in the US that proofs their weapons. The British standard be the toughest standard we could find, so that be the one we use.

---

This be arrrr 28th issue of the Pirate Fashions Newsletter for Mar 2013. In transfer the old website to the new one, we had issues transferring the newsletter. So we be reposing the feature article into this blog instead of losing all the past newsletters.