Never before have I tried a piece of pirate clothing that seemed more “ready for duty” than the pirate slops from Flying Canoe Traders. It’s easy to imagine these heavyweight canvas breeches serving aboard a sailing vessel hundreds of years ago, and they could surely perform just as admirably today. A row of seven metal buttons adorn the crotch, while a piece of cord in the back can be used to fine-tune the size – just like the old days. The extra wide legs will allow plenty of summertime ventilation while maintaining that swabbylike appearance that only a good pair of slops can provide.

Straight from the box these slops seem durable and ready for action – the only thing they lack is a good bit of scruff to give them that “broken in” feel. I’m looking forward to remedying this come summer, when they’re sure to be worn aplenty!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve window shopped at the Center Stage website – they have probably the best variety of your pirate “basics” around – several styles of breeches and slops, along with a whole line of pirate sashes and socks. And that says nothing of their absolutely gorgeous hat collection.

The first thing (aside from their online catalogue) that impressed me about Center Stage was their willingness to answer customer questions. I know that sounds like a gimme, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve emailed a vendor basic questions (Do you have more photos of that product? Can you give me a better description of the size of that item? etc.) only to have it fall on deaf ears – or to receive a reply that only addresses half my questions. No such concerns with Center Stage, they were more than happy to answer my questions, both via email and by phone.

What I ordered was the start of a basic pirate outfit – a pair of drawstring breeches, a sash, and a bandana. All arrived in a very timely manner, and all seemed very well made.

The breeches are made from a cotton fabric that is just a tad courser than I’m generally accustomed to seeing, which gives it a more period look. The fit was good, but they didn’t fall quite as loosely around the legs as I’d expected – a more “pants” look than the baggy, slops look depicted on their website. If I was to order from them again then this could be easily remedied by ordering a size larger (note: in an effort to be fair to Center Stage, I’d like to point out that I made no attempt to exchange these pants for a larger size as I needed them that very weekend – they may well have been willing to remedy this issue for me, had I asked.)

The pirate sash is satin, and available in multiple lengths. As I lean towards the skinny end of the spectrum I ordered the smallest, which was more than enough to wrap around my waist twice and still hang to my knees. It adds a very dashing look, and is more than suitable for tucking a pistol away.

The bandana – well, what can I say? It’s a large piece of fabric, one size fits all.

All told, I was very happy with my experience with Center Stage – the merchandise was high quality, the service friendly and helpful, and everything was delivered in a timely manner. I do wish they had some color swatches on their website, but the woman on the phone was more than happy to entertain my nit-picky questions about just what shade of red my breeches would be. I would definitely order from them again, given the need.