Marble statue of a Roman toga. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

10 Things  you didn’t know about Ancient Roman Clothing and Fashion 


 

For a society that was not only deeply hierarchical but also obsessed with public image, clothing and fashion formed an integral part of life in ancient Rome. It was a means to showcase one’s status to others, besides the basic purpose of covering oneself. Indeed clothing was about practicality for most of the common folk, but the wealthy and nobles could bear adorning a heavy, expensive embroidery-filled ‘toga’ or shawl, for aesthetics.

The Romans were so particular about clothing that they even had rules! For instance, a slave could not wear certain types of clothing, and married women who disgraced themselves were sometimes forbidden to wear the ‘stolla.’ From the simple woolen tunics and mantles to the expensive silk shawls, leather shoes, jewelry from precious stones, makeup from ochre, and amulets to wade off bad luck, the Romans seem to have had it all. Here are the 10 things about their clothing and fashion you didn’t know.

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Most Roman clothing was influenced by the Greeks

Statue of a Greek orator in himation at the Egyptian museum. Photo by Brad7753. Wikimedia Commons.

The proximity between the Romans and Greeks in the Italian Peninsula allowed interactions and influences in almost every aspect of life. There seems to have been very few stark differences between Roman and Greek clothing, with the former having drawn heavily from the latter.

For example, the Greeks had the himation, a large wrap of clothing worn as a cloak or shawl. The Romans adapted it and added some shape to it to make the ‘toga’. The Roman toga and the Greek himation were almost similar. Interestingly too, the Greeks wore it to indicate freeborn status, and in Rome, only freeborn citizens were allowed to wear the toga. It is believed that the Etruscans, predecessors of the Roman civilization and earlier contacts with Greece, introduced the Greek himation to Rome.

Weaving was done by women

A woman weaving over a loom by Simon-Pixabay.

Generally, it was the role of women in Roman society to make clothes for their family members. They spun wool using a loom before taking the garment to a fuller for cleaning and shrinking. However, specialists in shaping fabric and making clothes soon became many and opened up shops. For those who could afford it, one could buy ready-made clothing. The wealthy often bought such, or expensive fabric from neighboring cities to have it woven by a specialist into their desired fit. Garments were often resold and recycled, down to the lowest class until they became rugs. People rented out clothes as well to make an impression.

Tunics were the most common clothing for Romans

Portrait of a Roman woman wearing a white tunic and red robe by Anselm Feuerbach. Wikimedia Commons.

Most Romans wore simple tunics made of wool since it was affordable. Tunics were mostly sleeveless and were made by sewing two pieces of fabric together, and leaving an opening for the neck and arms. It could be worn with a belt for a defined shape. Both genders wore the tunic, and for women, long-sleeved pieces were preferred. Other fabrics used include linen and silk.

Silk was imported from China around 3d century BC, and silk yarn was considered luxurious. Linen was produced from flax and hemp, and both were in plenty in the region. Roman traders also imported cotton from India, and this was more comfortable than wool. Leather was mostly used for shoes and military uniforms. Footwear was largely flat-soled, and most Romans wore sandals indoors.

Married women wore the ‘stola

Statue of Livia Drusilla wearing a stola and palla by Angel M. Wikimedia Commons.

The stola was a type of long dress, and it was usually secured with a girdle. It was worn by married and respectable women, and it was associated with modesty. For those who could afford it, the decoration was added around its neckline, with motifs or patterns of woven cloth. Initially, the stola was a preserve for the upper-class patrician women in the early Republic, but over time, the right to wear it extended to lower-class women. The palla, a rectangular shawl was worn over it as a cloak, draped over the left shoulder. Women who were convicted of adultery and female prostitutes were forbidden to wear the stola in public.

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Purple was the most expensive dye

Statue of a purple toga, usually won by Emperors by Ursus. Wikimedia Commons.

Dying clothes was done depending on one’s ability to afford certain types of dye. Most dyes were plant-based. Brightly colored garments were associated with wealth, and a majority of common folk wore white or off-white woolen garments. Purple, ‘Tyrian purple’ to be specific, was considered an expensive and royal color, and it was indeed a preserve for the wealthy. It was the most sought, and costly dye, and its hues varied from light to dark shades. For instance, only the Emperor could wear a toga entirely purple. Colors such as saffron yellow too were expensive. Saffron yellow was a fiery-yellow orange dye, which was associated with purity. It was used in veils for Roman brides.

The toga was worn depending on one’s status and occasion

The toga was a large piece of draped cloth, worn only by freeborn citizens of Rome. Slaves and freedmen were forbidden to wear it. It was mostly semi-circular, with no fastening. It was worn by draping it over one shoulder and holding most of the fabric in the crook of the arm. The practicality of such a heavy garment in day-to-day life proved difficult, hence most common folk abandoned it. It was also rather costly due to a large amount of fabric needed.

Nevertheless, for special occasions in Rome, it was required that freeborn citizens adorn the toga. That being the case, people wore different types of toga according to their status. The colors and embellishments differed. For instance, an undyed toga with a purple stripe was worn by sons of the elite. For occasions such as mourning, the toga pulla, a dark-colored garment, was to be worn at funerals.

Romans washed their clothes using urine

Ancient Rome did not have the luxury of soap and detergents as you and I do today. However, they still managed to keep their clothes pretty clean, and here’s where the science comes in. Since urine had strong amounts of ammonia on decomposition, an effective detergent, it was considered suitable to remove dirt. The Romans collected even urine from passersby by placing vessels on the street! Gross or not, it was effective.

From the wool to the finished garment, most Romans took their clothes to a Fuller’s workshop for cleaning. There, it was cleaned by being trodden underfoot in a mixture of water and urine. It was then rinsed and dried. Discovered workshops in Pompeii offer evidence of this process. White garments were often bleached using Sulphur.

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Children wore amulets for protection

Necklace with lenticular bulla, by Sailko. Wikimedia Commons.

Generally, children wore scaled-down versions of adult clothes, with girls wearing longer tunics than boys. Both also wore amulets as a form of protection from the ‘evil eye, and other immoral factors, including sexual predation. The boys wore a bulla, a kind of locket, around the neck nine days after birth. Girls wore a crescent-shaped version until they got married.

Depending on how wealthy a family was, amulets varied in the kind of material used on them. Most were metal, or cloth, while others could be made of gold in high-class families. Although the effectiveness of such amulets is uncertain, it was a revered Roman custom.

The Romans did not wear trousers

Save for military uniforms in certain instances, the Romans frowned upon trousers, and here’s why. Their neighbors, the Greeks, had for long associated trousers with their enemies, the Persians, who wore tapered trousers. Equally, the Romans had the same attitude towards trousers. They viewed them as clothes of the enemy, and garments worn by ‘barbarian’ tribes of Europe. As such, trousers were a rare sight to see in the streets of Rome. However, linen undergarments were worn over tunics and togas, although not much is known about that.

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Both women and men wore jewelry

Roman Gold jewelry at Altes Museum, Berlin by Gary Todd. Wikimedia Commons.

To add some variation and pomp to their attire, Romans wore beautifully crafted jewelry. While women wore earrings, hairpins, bracelets, and necklaces, men only wore rings. As Rome conquered new territories and increased its gold and silver depositories, jewelry from precious metals started to gain popularity in the 1st century CE.

Besides their prestige, precious metals were also believed to have protective qualities. For instance, amethysts, a variety of quartz, were thought to cure overindulgence in wine. Wealthy women had massive collections of jewelry, and some even wore unusual items such as hairnets made of gold wire.

The women also cared for their hair greatly. They could arrange their hair in various styles such as curls and waves, especially for wealthy women. The curls were made using tongs dipped in fire. They also clipped plaits and curls from slaves’ hair onto theirs.

Historical evidence from Pompeii suggests that hairdressing shops, known as ‘tonsores’, existed. For unmarried women, hair had to be bound up in woolen bands when going out, and the face was concealed with a veil or hooded cloak. 

Indeed, clothing and fashion in Ancient Rome was an intentional aspect of  life for most folk, and looking at modern day attitudes towards fashion,  it’s no surprise that it was.