... are the earrings and gypsy-style head rags commonly thought of as pirate garb. It's speculated that these items became erroneously and irrevocably associated with pirates thanks to Howard Pyle, who incorporated them into his famous illustrations. Pyle's Buccaneers and Marooners of America was published in 1890, more than 100 years after the "Golden Age" of piracy ended, and for unknown reasons, he depicted his pirates wearing the Spanish styles of his own time period.

Other 19th-century authors and artists adopted the "gypsy pirate" look, and thus myth has become an inaccurate historical reference to us today. If you see engravings of pirates wearing bandannas and earrings, it's most probably a Victorian-era or later drawing.

(As always, I invite corrections and additions, so if you find a credible 17th-century source that shows pirates wearing headrags and earrings, please let me know so I can make this site more historically accurate.)