OR HOW TO MAKE A ROMAN COSTUME
by Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries
Girl fans often ask me 'How can I make myself a toga so I can go to World Book Day dressed as Flavia Gemina or Nubia?'
First I set them straight. Only naughty women wore togas.
Roman men and boys wore togas, and they heartily disliked them. The toga was essentially a large blanket that had to be draped just so. You needed a slave to help put it on, so by the very act of wearing a toga you showed you were rich. If you are a boy and want to make a toga, you can use a big sheet. Good luck putting it on.
By the first century AD, when my books are set, the only women who wore togas were disreputable ones; and they had to wear them, to show they had been (or still were) naughty. Respectable women wore stolas and good girls wore tunics, usually long-sleeved for modesty.
If you are a boy and want to make a tunic, just wear a big tee-shirt, belted.
If you are a girl or woman and want to make a stola or girl's tunic, here is a simple way to do it. (below) I actually had to put this into practice once. I was on my way to an event in Newcastle and realised I'd left my costume in London. Luckily, a kind librarian donated a single sheet from her airing cupboard. I found one of those sewing kits you get free in hotels and frantically stitched it up in the back seat of the car as we drove to the event. When we arrived, my publicity manager Rowan loaned me her blue scarf and I used another scarf to tie up my hair. I added chunky ethnic jewellery and sandals and voila! I was a Roman lady...
Remember: the tunic is the tee-shirt thing, the toga or palla is what you wear over it. Of course you must always carry your sponge-stick (ancient Roman toilet paper) and your copy of a Roman Mystery with you!
For more information on Roman clothing, go to the article on ROMAN CLOTHING at vroma.com
And check out my blog over at The History Girls to see some of my other Roman wardrobe malfunctions.
P. S. These two extras from season two of the TV series based on my books are wearing lovely stolas, with pallas draped over their heads.
by Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries
First I set them straight. Only naughty women wore togas.
Roman men and boys wore togas, and they heartily disliked them. The toga was essentially a large blanket that had to be draped just so. You needed a slave to help put it on, so by the very act of wearing a toga you showed you were rich. If you are a boy and want to make a toga, you can use a big sheet. Good luck putting it on.
By the first century AD, when my books are set, the only women who wore togas were disreputable ones; and they had to wear them, to show they had been (or still were) naughty. Respectable women wore stolas and good girls wore tunics, usually long-sleeved for modesty.
If you are a boy and want to make a tunic, just wear a big tee-shirt, belted.
If you are a girl or woman and want to make a stola or girl's tunic, here is a simple way to do it. (below) I actually had to put this into practice once. I was on my way to an event in Newcastle and realised I'd left my costume in London. Luckily, a kind librarian donated a single sheet from her airing cupboard. I found one of those sewing kits you get free in hotels and frantically stitched it up in the back seat of the car as we drove to the event. When we arrived, my publicity manager Rowan loaned me her blue scarf and I used another scarf to tie up my hair. I added chunky ethnic jewellery and sandals and voila! I was a Roman lady...
Remember: the tunic is the tee-shirt thing, the toga or palla is what you wear over it. Of course you must always carry your sponge-stick (ancient Roman toilet paper) and your copy of a Roman Mystery with you!
For more information on Roman clothing, go to the article on ROMAN CLOTHING at vroma.com
And check out my blog over at The History Girls to see some of my other Roman wardrobe malfunctions.
 |
| lovely "extras" in The Slave-girl from Jerusalem |
Haha, love the ending :) Nice post.
ReplyDeleteCame to this post via The History Girls - I'm wondering, how did ladies of size cope? I could probably find a sheet big enough, but my top half would be rather unsupported... Did ladies bind? Also, did they wear underthings?
ReplyDeleteOh, the questions you find yourself asking when you contemplate fiction with a historical setting.
Salve, Jane!
ReplyDeleteLadies of size would get the cloth-merchant to cut a bigger bolt or, more probably, would weave it themselves.
For underneath, a woman of a curvaceous nature could wear a breast band or fascia, a sort of bandage. It didn't just squish you down but could be used as an ancient "Wonderbra" and give you a little lift. My go-to poet for everyday items writes this: Band, compress my lady's swelling breasts, so that my hand may have something to clasp and cover. Martial 14.134 (Loeb translation)
Ummm... except for one thing... "girls" did not wear the stolla. The stolla was the symbol of marriage, so young unmarried girls would not wear the peplos. And the stolla was normally worn with a tunic under it.
ReplyDeleteThe women's clothing is on this page of the article:
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2.html
Hilarious - I will have to remember that if I ever give Roman costume a try. Thanks for the answer!
ReplyDeleteYes, I say in the article: Respectable women wore stolas and good girls wore tunics, usually long-sleeved for modesty
ReplyDeleteI'm a devoted reader of the Roman Mysteries since I was eight and I have two questions about Roman stola; during the time period the Roman Mysteries took place, can the tunics have designs rather than solid colors? and how do you attach sleeves to the stola?
ReplyDeleteJudging from frescoes, the only designs tunics had were the vertical stripes for men (broad for patrician, narrow for equestrian). I'm sure women's/girls' tunics might have had borders but I haven't seen any with proper designs that wouldn't come from the weave. You don't attach sleeves to the stola. You sew a tunic with sleeves. You can wear the sleeved tunic under a stola, then it looks like a two-tone dress with sleeves.
ReplyDeleteHello! I pinned this on pinterest. I hope you don't mind...I will certainly be happy to take it down if you do.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering also if I could get permission to use your graphic of how to make a Stola in a hand-out we will be giving to volunteers at our Rome themed Vacation Bible School to give them costumes idea.
ecarian at yahoo dot com
Salve, Gale!
ReplyDeleteGo for it! Just make a little note that it's "by Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence"! :-)
this site is so cool it helped me so mutch with my school project!!!!!
ReplyDelete