To get dressed you have to start with underwear.  The Romans wore loincloths that were tied at the sides.  They were called subligar, subligaculum, campestre, and cinctus.  Some women wore bras called strophium or mamillare, which were bands of cloth tied around their bust.


     Next the tunic goes on.  Men and women alike wore the tunica almost to their feet. The men often pulled their tunic up over their belt so that the tunic would be at their calf.  If the men wore doing active work, they would pull it above their knees.  Women's tunics were tied at the waist with a cingulum and a strophium under the bosom.  The weather would determine how many tunics a person would wear.  The colder the weather, the more tunics they would add.
    There were many variations of the tunic. A tunic with a purple stripe on it, called a clavus, denoted the class from which the wearer belonged to.  Senators wore a latus clavus.  Equestrians wore an angustus clavus. A man who was celebrating his triumph wore a tunica palmata, which had palm leaves embroidered on it. 

 

          
                           Tunica                                  Angustus Clavus                             Latus Clavus

For men, the toga was put over the tunic.  It was difficult to put on so a servant was usually needed to help.  It was generally made of wool or linen.  It was draped over the left shoulder, under the right arm, and then back over the left shoulder.  It was then pinned, sewn, or draped into place. There was a large fold in the front of the body which was called the sinus and the material was draped over the sinus was called an umbo.  Senators wore a toga praetexta which had a purple stripe on it.  The emperor might wear a completely black or purple toga.  Black was usually worn in times of mourning though.  Men campaigning for office wore very white togas, some even used chalk to make them whiter.  The toga showed that the wearer was not a slave and of decent wealth. 
        The only time they did not wear a toga was during Saturnalia. 
Maybe this was so that partying could be done more easily. The toga was at first a military uniform but was replaced by the sagum which was a short cloak held in place by a safety pin, fibula, on the right shoulder.  Commanders wore a paludamentum, which was a larger, purple sagum.
 
Types of Togas: 
   toga virilis- (toga pura) off-white toga 
       made of wool that was usually worn 
       by the male citizens 
   toga praetexta- off-white toga with a 
       broad purple boarder; was worn 
       by senators and consuls; was also 
       worn by upper-class boys who would 
       eventually enter manhood and begin 
       to wear the toga virilis 
   toga pulla- dark colored toga made of 
       wool that was worn during times 
       of mourning 
   toga candida- super-white toga worn by 
       election candidates 
   toga picta- purple toga embroidered 
       with gold worn by a general after 
       victory
How to put on a toga:


     Women wore the Stola instead of the toga.  It was generally worn only by the married women.  It was a large rectangular piece of cloth with shoulder straps.  When put into place properly, it would reach almost to the ground.  On the edge of the stola was a purple stripe called an institia.
     Over the stola the women wore a palla, which was similar to a himation, when going outside.  It was a rectangular piece of cloth that was draped on similarly like the toga and could also be pulled over the head.

Men and women both wore sandals inside called soleae.  It had a narrow strap around the ankle and one between the toes.  When they went outside they wore calcei.  These were sandals with broad straps that covered the foot resembling shoes.  Senators wore sandals that had longer broad straps, which would wind up the leg to resemble boots.  The senators' calcei were black, magistrates' red, women’s' white or colored. 


Soldiers wore caligae, which were boots of leather.  Peasants, if they wore shoes, had sculponeae, which were wooden shoes.  Everyone also might have had a pair of socci, or basically house slippers.

Caligae

Time to party! 
When going to dinner parties, men would wear the synthesis, which was a colored tunic with a complementing pallium. The pallium was similar to the palla.		 Odds and Ins 
lacerna- felt cape safety-pinned on the right shoulder as a raincoat or overcoat 
paenula- large cloak for travel and weather 
cucullus- hood on the paenula

How did they clean that dirty toga? 
They sent their laundry to the fullers or fullones.  The garment would be cleaned using chemicals such as sulfur and human urine.  Sounds to me like they just made the clothing dirtier instead.

Here is my Latin class and me enjoying Festa Laeta in our togas.  I am the farthest on the left. You see, togas still are the fashions of the day.


 

This page has been brought to you by Holly Cutshall in

cooperation with South Aiken High School Latin III.

Proud sponsors of ThinkQuest.

Sources:
www.vroma.org
www.iol.ie/~coolmine/typ/romans/romans8.html
www-relg-studies.scu.edu/projects/spring97/~cramey/clothing.htm
www.roman-empire.net/society/soc-dress.html
"Jenney's First Year Latin."  Prentice Hall *Truly a great text book!*