A very different style that we see some of the women wear is the style of the marooners - Madi and her mother, though it is also worn by Ruth and Eme. From a costumer’s perspective, it makes sense to differentiate each of these women; in terms of accuracy, it makes no sense for these women to be wearing a style any different to the other women of Nassau.
The accuracy of these outfits, like the pirate garb, is completely made up. It is clear the designer went for a vaguely “African” look with little regard to what these women should be wearing. We are told Madi and the other marooners have their clothes mostly provided for them by Mr Scott, so why is she not wearing similar dresses to Max and Miranda? One could argue that the marooners are making their own clothing so it stands to reason their clothes would be different than European styles, however we see Eme and Ruth wearing the same fashion as the marooners. Eme lives in Nassau with Eleanor so why does she not dress similarly as well? Ruth is a more difficult story. There are very few accounts of what slaves would have been wearing, however what we do have shows that they would have been wearing simpler versions of the clothing of everyone else, not an entirely new style of clothing.
In terms of that vaguely “African” look I mentioned, Madi, along with her mother, comes the closest to wearing actual African styles of the time. Obviously Africa is a monumental landmass with many different cultures. However, by the early 18th century, the majority of the continent was colonized and African traditional patterns, cloth, and accessories were merged into the styles of Europe. We can see in many of Madi’s shawls and outerwear similar styles to what would have been worn by African women historically.
Unfortunately these blouses we see the women wear are something that never would have been seen around this time period. They are closer in style to modern “peasant shirts” than anything worn by women of the 18th century.
All in all the shawls and jewelry of the marooners is the closest thing to accurate that we ever see any of the escaped slaves wearing throughout the show.
