Transcript Roman Clothing

Roman Clothing
Clothing design and purpose
revealed social status
signified rank, status, office and authority.
Sumptuary Laws Dictated
type
of clothes and included
the types of material and fabrics,
the style of the clothes
the color that people were allowed to wear
only Emperor allowed to entirely purple toga
The
clothes that men wore, therefore,
immediately reflected their status in
society.
Basic garment
Tunica
made from spun wool
knee-length, short-sleeved shirt
belted at the waist
worn largely by the plebians, slaves, and freedmen
 undergarment for higher-class citizens
provided
more room to move
cooler in the hot summer months
Tunica
Gladiators
Slaves
Poor
Non-citizen
Undergarment
For citizens.
Used for warmth
Worn casually
Toga
Official
garment of Rome
Originally Etruscan for men and women
Roman Republic- exclusively male Roman
citizens
Several
types of togas
 worn by different populations of Roman
citizens
Toga
early toga virilis
late toga virilis
Toga continued
 large
single piece of cloth.
 ideal ceremonial toga was three times
the wearer's height plus his waist
measurement.
 Its width would be seven or eight feet,
also depending on the wearer's height
and girth.
 The corners were severely rounded
Oval shape (literally egg-shaped, with the
one end rounded less than the other
Roman boys
White, knee-length
tunicas
featured a thin purple border
wore
a bulla
pouch attached to a chain worn around the
neck
contained various protective charms
 Age
16 or 17
declared a man and citizen
changed into a solid white tunic -- toga virilis
Dressing in a toga
Difficult
with so much material
Two slaves helped Romans dress
Where to put pecunia or speeches?
Slaves carried items for masters
Sinus- folded part at right hip, rising in front
of body-acted as pocket
Sinus
The
elaborate
folds of
the later
toga
allowed
for a
substantial
sinus, used
as a small
pocket.
sinus
Toga style
 Usually natural wool color
 Political candidates bleach
with chalk
togas or whiten
easily seen and recognized in crowds.
candida (bright) aut sordita (dirty, worn)
Derivative "candidate
the brightened toga was the toga candida (candida = bright)
toga candida may help with election but
 also source of derision in drama and on streets
Derivative “sordid”
If wearer had disarranged hair and is messy
either wearer seeking big favor from patron or
appearing as accused in civil law court
“variation of "I am too poor and distraught to take
care of myself, so please have pity."
When a boy becomes a man…

Etruscans
◦ narrow maroon stripe added to one side
of cloth (never really purple)
 Toga praetexta –
 Young boys wore narrow-striped version
 Toga virilis- manly toga
 Around age 16
 feast of Liberalia usually in March
 Certain magistrates, priests also wore
narrow-striped toga
 but person old enough that not mistaken for boy
Toga praetexta
Roman Women
Early
Etruscan period and early prerepublican monarchy
 women wore togas (but this changed)
strategically draped so no male gawking
rapidly went out of style
some scholars connect it to Sabine women
loosely draped toga on woman became sign of a
loose woman -- only prostitutes wore them.
(story) Agrippina the Younger, Nero's mother,
appeared in public in toga
To emphasize her power and man-like authority
mob whispered "harlot" after she passed.
Roman Women
Unmarried
Roman women
 Wore a tunic similar to the Greek chiton
Shorter sleeves, belted, adorned with pins to shape
the garment into different styles.
Woman’s status determined color, fabric
married Roman women wore a stola,
looser tunic, long, sleeveless with straps at shoulders,
gathered at the waist.
 a pulla used to cover head and hair when out in public
First bikini?
Undergarments
strophium et subligaculum
leather, cloth
Female tunica
Two Styles of the Chiton
(Female Tunica)
Chiton
Fibula
The chitons could be secured with brooches known as fibulae
Stola and palla
Jewelry
More jewelry
Popular hairstyles
Footwear
Caliga- shoes worn by Roman soldiers
Footwear
Socccus were slippers without
upper work used for indoor
wear by both sexes
Solea were slippers with
upper work commonly worn
during feasts or banquets
very poor were barefoot
poor wore wooden shoes.
Signet ring
Dressing up!