What were the ancient Rome costumes and fashion history?

 What were the ancient Rome costumes

and fashion history?
By Richard Marrison
 
Ancient Roman clothing was simple and evolving. The fashion and costumes of this era mainly consisted of Toga, tunic, and Stola. Togas and Stola were the forms of official or outdoor costumes, while Tunics were indoor and informal costumes.

Wool, linen, silk, cotton, and hemp were the prominent clothing materials produced in the Roman territory. However, Silk and cotton were reserved only for the rich and were imported from India and China.

Like in most of the ancient Empires, clothes in ancient Rome represented the citizen's class and position in the society. Every individual had a specific statement attire to define who they were and what background they came from.

The most interesting fact about the costume and fashion of Ancient Rome was the Romans never wore pants as they found pants a ridiculous and uncivilized form of clothing.

Toga

Toga consisted of a single length of wool cloth, characteristic loose, cut in a semicircle, and draped around the wearer's body without any fastenings. It was worn outermost over a tunic. 
 
 
A portrait of a man wearing Roman Toga

The Toga was a complex form of clothing, and it needed much time and effort to drape it the right way. It was first pleated and draped over the left shoulder and passed across the body under the right arm.

Togas remained the statement garment for the higher classes throughout the Roman empire. Originally both genders wore togas, but gradually the women abandoned them for the Stola.

The Toga was the symbol of Roman citizenship; hence, only free male citizens of Rome could wear it at least sixteen years of age. Slaves and foreigners were forbidden to wear togas.

Based on design, coloration, and occasions, Togas were broadly divided into six types.

Toga Pura
 
This was A plain white toga worn by adult male commoners on formal occasions. Senators not having a curule magistrate also wore Toga Pura. This cloth represented adult male citizenship and its attendant rights, freedom as well as responsibilities.

Toga trabea
 
In ancient Rome, the elite groups of the society wore a toga with a stripe of purple or saffron called toga trabea. The distinct feature of all trabeas was their color. Religion specialists who interpreted the meanings of natural signs wore a toga trabea with saffron or purple stripes. Purple and white striped Toga was worn by Romulus and other consuls at essential ceremonies.

Toga Praetexta
 
The Roman magistrate or free-bourbon youth wore a toga with a reddish-purple border known as Toga Praetexta. Some free-born girls might have worn these as well. It marked their protection by law from sexual predation and bad influence. Boys wore this Toga until age fourteen to sixteen when they assumed the Toga Pura. The girls gave up the garment around the age of puberty.

Toga Candida
 
This was the bleached version of white Toga worn by senators and candidates for public office. The bright white color was achieved by rubbing chalk over the Toga.

Toga Pulla
 
Romans wore this darkened Toga for mourning at elite funerals.

Toga Picta

 
The most striking of all of the togas were the Toga Picta. Dyed all purple and given gold rim, it was reserved only for generals when they celebrated a Roman triumph and, in the later imperial period, emperors.

Stola
Another formal clothing of Romans was Stola. It was the traditional woolen garment of Roman women, considered the female counterpart to the Toga. Stola, the staple of fashion in ancient Rome, was a long pleated dress that sometimes hung from the shoulder with straps. It represented marital status and was worn only by married women.
 
A statue of Livia with palla and Stola
 
Another formal clothing of Romans was Stola. It was the traditional woolen garment of Roman women, considered the female counterpart to the Toga. Stola, the staple of fashion in ancient Rome, was a long pleated dress that sometimes hung from the shoulder with straps. It represented marital status and was worn only by married women.

The clothing didn't have many varieties like Toga as ancient Rome was highly patriarchal, and women didn't have a broad spectrum of careers. However, Stola was made in different colors, including red, yellow, and blue.

Necklines and hem were decorated with more details and embellishments for higher-class women. For commoners, these would be a simple band of color or pattern. Wealthier Roman women also used expensive jewelry and elaborate hairstyles with the stolas to advertise their social rank and luxury.
 
Tunic

The tunic was an essential garment for both genders and all classes in ancient Rome. However, it was not the official clothing for Romans and was worn only for indoor purposes.


A picture of Roman Tunic - 6th Century AD
 
The Tunic was designed differently for males and females. Males wore loose-fitting ones that began at the neck and ended right above the knee. For women, it could be either loose or fitted, beginning at the neck and extending over a skirt.
 
The male wore a tunic under a toga, whereas it could be worn plain or belted at the waist. Tunic represented the wearer's class in Roman society.
 
Roman senators wore a tunic with broad purple stripes. Members of the equestrian class wore it with narrower stripes, whereas soldiers, slaves, and manual workers generally had tunics to a little above the knee.
 
Women generally wore a long tunic that reached the foot or instep. It was worn underneath the Stola or could be belted at the waist and very decorated.

What kinds of undergarments did the Romans wear?

Under the Toga or Tunic, ancient roman men and women wore an undergarment made up of linen. Men wore a loincloth called perizoma. Women had their version of activewear similar to today's bikini, Strophium being the top piece and Subligaculum being the bottom one.

What were the colors of the Roman clothing?

The prominent colors worn by ancient Roman were white, purple, blue, scarlet, red, yellow, green, brown, and black. Organic dyes were used to produce the required colors and their different shades. Wine, salts, shells, beetroot, sheep urine, lentils, fungus, mosses, flowers, barley malt, insects, and vinegar were the most used organic materials for dyes.
 
Purple was considered as the royal color as mainly emperors wore it. The purple dye was expensive, which was obtained by crushing thousands of shells of Mediterranean murex.

Crimson(extracted from the dried bodies of female insect Kermes ilicis), indigo (extracted from indigo plant), and saffron yellow( extracted from the bright red stigmas of the Saffron crocus) were the expensive dyes. The most common and cheap dyes were yellow( extracted from a European plant called weld), green( extracted from lichens), and black(produced by burning the crushed remains of grapes).

What kind of shoes did ancient Romans wear?
 
As with clothing, footwear too indicated the wearer's social class, rank, and power. Senators wore a unique sandal with four black thongs, whereas the emperors wore the same style but with red thongs. The poor and the slaves wore low-quality footwear, and the prisoners had to wear wooden slippers.
 
Romans primarily wore sandals indoors with socks. While venturing outside, they preferred shoes that entirely covered feet. Roman-style footwear for both genders was similar. Boots were typically made of leather, designed to cover the feet correctly, and fastened in front with thongs.
 
 Roman soldiers wore durable boots called Caligae, which were open-toed boots made with hobnails that gave extra traction.

Accessories of the Ancient Rome
 
Ancient Roman necklace made up of carnelian stone and gold
 
The commonly used accessories in Ancient Rome were jewelry, beads, hair accessories, breast chains, and makeup.

Jewelry
 
Roman jewelry was renowned for its complex design made from colorful gems and glass beads. Diamonds., Sapphires and emeralds were the expensive gems used by the higher ranks alongside gold and bronze. The other materials used were pearl, bone, fossilized wood, and glass.
 
For wealthy men, wearing a single or several rings was remarkable enough. However, they also wore bracelets, collars with pendants, torcs, and brooch pins to secure their cloaks.
 
In contrast, women had more collections of jewelry as it was the expression of power and luxury. Necklaces, amulets, rings, earrings, anklets, and armlets were the classic pieces of jewelry worn by women. Brooch and fibula, a kind of cloth fastener, were also very popular among women.
 
Hairstyling and hair accessories
 
Romans gave hairstyling significant importance in Ancient Rome.
 
Men kept their hair long in early times, but it gradually changed over time. Elaborate curls that frame the face. Sideburns were famous among Roman men. Wearing wigs and dying varieties of dark and light shades became a significant fashion fad among men. 
 
For women, the simpler the hairstyles, the better it was. They allowed their hairs to fall freely, confining only with bands or pins. Buns were also in practice among young women. Wigs were additionally a part of hairstyling fashion to enhance the beauty of women.

Makeup, Cosmetics, and Beauty Care
 
People in ancient Rome were highly conscious of their looks and beauty. They were highly influenced by the beauty trends of the Greeks and Egyptians.

Cosmetics were only concerned for women and applied in private rooms where men did not enter. Wealthy women had easy access to quality cosmetics, whereas working classes were limited to knock-off products.

Christian women avoided cosmetics as they believed in being happy with how God created them. The cosmetic products were made from a rational blend of chemicals and excrement.

Kohl, the critical ingredient for eye makeup, was made up of ashes or soot and antimony. Roman women used colored eyeshadows to enhance the eye.
 
To whiten the face, women opted for chalk and white lead pigment.
 
Red lips were achieved either using bromine or beetle juice. For blushes, women used pretty rose petals, preferably darker red ones.

Roman women also loved to smell excellent and desirable. To overcome the strong smell of the chemicals used in cosmetics, deodorant made from alum, iris, and rose petals were common.
 
Costumes and fashion in ancient Rome were more than a basic need. It was the expression of liberty, a symbol of luxury, advertisement of social rank, and validation of power.
 
Conclusion
 
Ancient Rome was the epitome of progressing modern language, religion, law, art, and architecture. And most importantly, the costumes and fashion of this beautiful era were some of the fascinating aspects of this civilization. 
 
In conclusion, their clothing and fashion were simple, elegant, and practical for the era. Based on the social hierarchy and status, people had to dress appropriately. Clothing was not just a basic survival need, but also the identification of one's gender, status, rank, and social class. Ancient Roman fashion reflects a lot about the social construct and ideology of the people in the era.
 

Roman Clothing and Fashion

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There is plenty of information about military dress in Roman Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire, but the evidence for civilian dress has not been comprehensively looked at since the 1930s. In this richly illustrated survey, Alexandra Croom describes the range and style of clothing worn throughout the Western Empire and shows how fashions changed between the first and the sixth centuries. After a short introduction to the evidence (from archaeology, art and literature), and to the manufacture of clothing and its use in status display, she systematically treats male and female dress, looking at the tunic, toga (for men), mantle (for women) and cloaks; underwear, footwear and specialist wear; hats, hairstyles and jewellery. The book concentrates on the clothing work in the Mediterranean region, but includes a section on provincial fashions. A fine and varied corpus of illustrations (including colour plates) helps to bring the everyday world of the Roman Empire to life.
 
The Toga and Roman Identity
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This book traces the togas history from its origins in the Etruscan garment known as the tebenna, through its use as an everyday garment in the Republican period to its increasingly exclusive role as a symbol of privilege in the Principate and its decline in use in late antiquity. It aims to shift the scholarly view of the toga from one dominated by its role as a feature of Roman art to one in which it is seen as an everyday object and a highly charged symbol that in its various forms was central to the definition and negotiation of important gender, age and status boundaries, as well as political stances and ideologies. It discusses the togas significance not just in Rome itself, but also in the provinces, where it reveals ideas about cultural identity, status and the role of the Roman state. The Toga and Roman Identity shows that, by looking in detail at the history of Romes national garment, we can gain a better understanding of the complexities of Roman identity for different groups in society, as well as what it meant, at any given time, to be Roman.

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