the ancients: rome

know the popular saying, 'when in rome, do as the romans do'? then there is the idea that 'all roads lead to rome' or how about 'friends, romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!' we may not have noticed it but the roman empire has deeply affected our contemporary way of life hence it is only right that when we take a look at the past, we glance back how fashion was during the ancient roman empire.

clothing in ancient rome generally comprised the toga, the tunic, the stola, brooches and breeches. the dress code of the roman era was, at times, complex because it had to reflect one's position accurately in the social order, one's gender and one's language.

the toga

Megan Fox

Jennifer Love Hewitt

toga dresses

the toga was the dress clothing of the romans, a thick woolen cloak worn over a loincloth or apron. it was taken off indoors , or when hard at work in the fields, but it was considered the only decent attire out-of-doors. free citizens were required to wear togas because slaves would wear tunics. 

the tunic

image from crystallinks

the tunics worn by plebians (common people), herdsmen and slaves were made from a coarse dark material. the tunic worn by patricians was made from white wool or linen. magistrates worn the tunic augusticlavia and senators worn a tunic with broad strips, tunica leticlavia. military tunics were shorter than those worn by civilians.

the stola

picture from latigrec

although the stola was a roman garment, it was inspired by the clothing of ancient greece. it was a staple of fashion in ancient rome spanning from the early roman republic through the roman empire and byzantine empire into the first millennium. probably the most noted image of the stola resides on the fact that it is the garment that the statue of liberty in new york city wears.

the statue of liberty

originally, women wore togas as well but after the second century bc, the toga was worn exclusively by men and women were expected to wear the stola. at that point, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to wear a toga; wearing the male garment was associated with prostitution and adultery.

brooches

roman brooches

breeches

image from francisshaw

breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate covering for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. the romans, who did not generally wear pants, referred to germanic tribes as braccati, 'wearers of breeches'. trousers - considered barbarous garments worn by germans and persians - achieved only limited popularity in the latter days of the empire and were regarded by conservatives as a sign of cultural decay. 

roman fashions underwent very gradual change from the late republic to the end of the western empire, 600 years later. in the later empire after diocletian's reforms, clothing worn by soldiers and non-military government bureaucrats became highly decorated, with woven or embellished strips, clavi, and circular roundels, orbiculi, added to the tunics and cloaks. these decorative elements usually comprised geometrical patterns and stylised plant motifs, but could include human or animal figures. now you know...

fash'on... BAM!