Historic textile costumes- Rome (1).pptx

Historic textile costumes- Rome

1. Textiles and Costumes of Ancient Rome Presented by: Ms. Saheba Shaikh

2. Textiles The most   common fabric found in ancient Roman clothing were wool, linen, and silk. Leather was only used for shoes and sandals, with the exception of military uniforms. Wool was produced in Italy, but linen and silk often came from the eastern parts of the empire. Greece provided an excellent climate for the flax plant and some of the best silk came from the island of Kos . It is also likely that by the 1st century CE, some linen and silk were imported from Syria and China, respectively.

3. Wool  is made from the coats of animals and in ancient Rome, it primarily came from the fleece of sheep that were bred for their wool. Wool production was very common in Italy and other parts of Europe because the fiber was so versatile. It was durable, easy to clean, and because it came from animals, it was also temperature-regulating which was ideal for the cool European winters. Tunics for both men and women, togas, the palla , and blankets were mostly made out of wool . Cotton , a natural plant-based fiber, has primarily come from India since ancient times. The Roman Empire highly coveted this luxury item that only the wealthiest citizens could afford.

4. Like wool and linen, it could be dyed in different colors, and Romans typically blended linen and cotton threads to create more vivid colors in their fabrics. Cotton was an ideal fabric for the warmer summer months. Silk , produced in China, was another luxury good that was purchased by the ancient Romans. The lighter and more luxurious fabric was very expensive and made the wealthier citizens stand out even more. At first, the only way to purchase silk was to travel to China. Once the silk road began, everything changed. It contained many different routes and stretched thousands of miles from China to Rome. Rome also had access to Coan silk, raw silk that was produced on the Greek Island of Kos and was easier to obtain.

5. Most fabric was not dyed as this was an expensive process. The most luxurious color of dye was purple, which came from crushed sea snails and was known as  Tyrian purple . By the Imperial era, purple was closely associated with the emperor. Roman sumptuary laws stated that only the emperor could wear a toga of solid purple. Clothes were cut and sewn from large pieces of woven cloth that had been produced using a loom. In ancient Rome, women were traditionally  weavers of cloth . It was considered part of the role of Roman women to participate in making clothes for their household .

6. The Roman women were very skilful in their art of weaving, spinning and embroidery. Many of the designs on the Roman costumes resemble that a Greek designs.

7. Mostly women did the weaving in ancient Rome. The two-beamed loom was one of the two preferred looms.

8. Toga The Toga was the national garment of Rome, only male citizens were able to wear the Toga. The Toga was made of a large woolen cloth cut with both straight and rounded edges; it was not seam or pinned but rather draped carefully over the body on top of the tunic. The large over fold in the front of the body was called a ‘ Sinus ’, and part of the material under this was pulled up and draped over the sinus to form the ‘ Umbo ’. The back of the toga was pulled over the head for religious ceremonies.

9. The toga was worn often during state occasions. Consuls and senators wore a toga edged with purple. Some roman senators wore white toga’s that were 10 m long. Some emperors togas were made entirely from either purple or black cloth. Black togas, though, were usually only worn in times of mourning. The color of the toga was significant, making differences in age and status. Initially toga was worn by only women and then it was also used by men and so the “Palla” was introduced for women.

10. Toga Praetexta white with a broad purple stripe on the border, worn, historically, by the kings of Rome , by the the curule magistrates as well as by freeborn boys and some freeborn girls as a sign of protection against evil, worn also by some priesthoods. At the end of adolescence, a free male citizen put on the white  toga virilis  or  toga pura .

11. Toga Pura Plain white toga, called toga pura or toga virilis. Any citizen of Rome might wear the  toga pura , a toga made of natural, undyed, whitish wool. Worn by men when they first came of age (14 -16) or lower members of the senate.

12. Toga Pulla and Toga Candida Toga Pulla: A dark toga worn when someone was in mourning . Toga Candida: If a citizen wanted to run for election, he would bleach his toga extremely bright to stand out from the crowd (the word candida means bright). he made his  toga pura  whiter than normal by rubbing it with chalk. It was then called  toga candida , If he got elected as a magistrate, he’d wear a toga praetexta again.

13. Toga Picta Toga picta :  used by generals in their victory and later by consuls and emperors during the Empire, it was dyed purple and decorated with embroideries in golden thread. Because purple dye was very expensive, the Emperor would wear a very special toga picta that was all purple with gold embroidery.

14. Toga

15. Tunic A  tunic  is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the  Latin  tunica , the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome. The tunic was worn by common people, herdsmen and slaves was made from a coarse dark material. The tunic worn by patricians was made from white wool or linen. Tunic angusticlavia : had a narrow purple stripe and was worn by knights. Tunic laticlavia : had a broad stripe and was worn by senators Soldiers , slaves and manual workers generally had tunics to a little above the knee; those in more sedentary occupations to about the ankle

16. Women’s Costumes in ancient Rome Roman women's costume consisted of three simple garments, TUNICA ( under dress ), STOLA (overdress), and PALLA (wrap ). Romans' clothing for women also included a short-sleeved or long-sleeved tunic. These tunics were longer than those that the men wore; they were at least knee-length but usually floor-length. 

17. Stola and Palla The stola was a long, pleated dress, worn over an undergarment called a tunic or tunica intima. The stola was generally sleeveless but versions of it did have short or long sleeves. These sleeves could belong to the stola itself or be a part of the tunic. The traditional sleeveless stola was fastened by clasps at the shoulder called fibula . It was worn as a symbol and represented a woman's marital status. The stola typically had two belts, and was typically girdle with ribbons. The first was worn just below the breasts creating a great amount of folds. The second and wider belt was worn around the waist.

18. The stola was frequently worn with a a long shawl-like garment called a Palla . It was worn when women went outside and typically went over one shoulder and draped across the body. It could also be pulled up over the head as a shawl. T he Palla, a large square or rectangular piece of cloth, folded lengthwise and held on each shoulder with a fibula. Fabula

19. Cingulum ( breast girdle) Succincta (waist girdle)

20. Headdress The romens usually went about without using head dress but even then there were two kinds which were very common, these were known as “ Petasus ” which were similar to a felt hat. The other type of head dress was worn during festivals like bull fighting and horse race. This was known as “ Pilens ”.

21. Women, in R ome, just as in any other civilization to this day, wore far more elaborate hairstyles than their men. Young women simply gathered their hair into a bun at the back of the neck, or coiled it into a knot a the top of the head with help of simple red and purple band; Tutulus . Married women’s hairstyles were more complicated. False hair, wigs, hair lotions and dyes were all known to the Romans.

22. Footwear Sandals and shoes that were used by the Romans was similar to that of the Greeks. The only difference is that the Roman shoes had many nails according to the class and position of the person. The most primitive and commonest model, worn in Rome over a long period, was the ‘ carbatina ’ made, it seems, from a piece of ox-hide wrapped round the foot and laced on over the instep.