ANCIENT ROME FASHION

WHAT DID WOMEN WEAR? In Ancient Rome, women wore a variety of things. These included the brassiere, tunic, stola and palla.  Brassiere; a long rectangular fabric worn under the tunic  Tunic; like a loose undershirt, it was worn over the brassiere and under the stola.  Stola; a long flowy dress, with two belts. One was worn under the bust and the other was worn at the waist. The stola was worn over the tunic and was pinned at the shoulders to secure.  Palla; a long rectangular piece of fabric draped over the shoulders like a modern scarf.

WHAT DID MEN WEAR? Men wore a tunic and a toga.  Tunic; a loose undershirt worn under the toga  Toga; a 6m long rectangle of wool that was wrapped around the body and draped over the left arm. The right arm was exposed.

SOCIETY RANKINGS In Ancient Rome, someone’s society affected what they wore. Typically there were three basic rankings, peasants, senators and the royal family. This is what they wore. Most clothing was made out of wool but some wealthier citizens may own a piece or two of cotton, linen or silk. Ruffles, layers, trim and other fancy embroidery was considered a luxury as only higher class people could afford them. High class citizens of ancient Rome would often adorn themselves with loads and loads of jewelry to make sure everyone knew that they were wealthy and often a senator’s child. A woman of high society getting a makeover done by her slaves

PEASANTS Most of the Roman population were peasants. They were like today’s working class and could not afford fancy embroidery and ruffles. Women: Women wore wool stolas and pallas of any colour. Men: Men wore plain white wool togas.

Senators A senator is someone who is part of the state council. You have to be over 30 years old and own an estate worth over 1200 sestertias to be eligible. Senators wore a tunic and a stola overtop. They are recognized by the stripes on their tunic and the coloured shoes they wear. The coloured border on his toga shows that he has held at least one curcule office.

The Roman emperor normally would wear similar clothing to what peasant men wear, except, of course, the materials are richer. Only the royal families were allowed to wear purple, for the purple dye was made my smashing over 10,000 shells to create, therefore it’s very expensive and represents wealth of the person when worn. There were Sumptuary laws to ensure that the people of different ranks get what they deserve. Since only the royal family members are allowed to wear purple the laws won’t let you have purple clothing no matter how rich you are. Royal Families also wore:  Toga Picta: A purple toga decorated with gold embroidery. Only worn on special events.  Tunica Palmata: A purple tunic with short sleeves and decorated at the borders of wrists, neck, and the bottom edge of the tunic with lots of gold embroidery patterns.  The Paludamentum: A cloak first worn by the by the Roman Emperor and his generals over their armor. It was then remade into the state dress to wear on special occasions. Usually dyed in purple, but other rich and expensive colours were used, such as red, violet, or dark blue. Royalty

Royalty Continued The cloak was fastened on the right shoulder with a ornamental brooch, called a fibula, which was made out of gold and decorated with precious jewels.

Materials Roman clothing was made from many different materials, the type of material you get depends on what your ranking is. A rich woman would wear silk imported from China, linen from Egypt, and wool from India. Women’s panties are made from lightweight silk. Romans clothing materials started off with being made from wool and leather. People whom are not so rich or has lower rankings would wear clothing made from the following:  Wool- Flax  Felt- Gauze  Cotton- Damask  Leather-Linen From the early years wool was collected from sheep on Roman farms, and women slaves had to fist spin it into thread, then weave it into cloth on a loom. Linen was made from flax, and flax grew easily along the River Nile. It must be combed into a rough, sack-like material then into the soft, almost transparent linen.

JEWELRY In Ancient Rome, Jewelry pieces were often functional as well as fashionable. One of the most common functional jewelry item was the brooch. The brooch was used to fasten things like clothing. Early Roman jewelry resembled jewelry from other cultures due to the fact that most of the jewelry was likely to have been brought from other countries as gifts. Ancient romans actually invented the hoop earring. Some of the commonly used gems were pearls, emerald, peridot, carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx and amber. Gold was often used by jewelry makers because of its pliable nature. The first jewel collector was named Marcus Aemilius Scarus.

MAKEUP Did you know that makeup existed in Ancient Rome? Makeup was first brought to Rome by Cleopatra, the queen of Ancient Egypt. These were the cosmetics that existed back then.  Eyeliner: Roman and Egyptian eyeliner was called kohl  Eye shadow  Foundation  Moisturizer  Lipstick  Perfume ~Dark eyebrows were considered beautiful

LOGO QUIZ  Chanel  Burberry  Versace