Clothing & Hair Styles

The very early Romans wore a toga. It looked like a white sheet 9 yards long. Togas were arranged very carefully, in a stylish way. 

Togas fell out of style rather early. (The toga was inconvenient, and people felt the cold when they wore it.) To get anyone to wear them, even very early emperors had to legislate the wearing of togas by at least senators. Eventually, the emperors gave up. 

The Romans switched to comfortable tunics, which looked like long tee-shirts. They were far more practical. Tunics were made of cool linen for summer wear, and warm wool for winter wear. Sometimes, they worn trouser like affairs.

Roman Men: Rings were the only jewelry worn by Roman citizen men, and good manners dictated only one ring. Of course, some men did not follow "good taste", and wore as many as sixteen rings. Hairstyles and beards varied with the times. In early Roman times, men wore long hair and full beards. For a while, they were clean-shaven with short hair. About 1c CE, they had started to style their hair, and wear beards again. 

Roman Women: Women enjoyed gazing at themselves in mirrors of highly polished metal (not glass). The ancient Roman women loved ornate necklaces, pins, earrings, bracelets and friendship rings. Pearls were favorites. 

Women often dyed their hair, usually golden-red. They used false hairpieces to make their hair thicker or longer. Sometimes, Roman women wore their hair up, in carefully arranged styles, held with jeweled hairpins. Sometimes they wore it down, curled in ringlets. 

Parasols were used, or women might carry fans made of peacock feathers, wood or stretched linen. 

Women's street shoes were made of leather, like a man's. In the house, most Romans (men and women) wore sandals. Women's sandals were brightly colored. Some were even decorated with pearls.

Roman Boys: Boys wore a tunic down to their knees. It was white, with a crimson border. Once a boy became a man, he put aside his childish clothes, and wore an all-white tunic.

A boy became a citizen at age 16 or 17. The year was selected by choosing the date which came closest to March 17th. 

Coming of age, becoming a citizen, was quite a celebration. On a boy's sixteenth or seventeenth birthday, the boy dressed himself in a white tunic, which his father adjusted. The day ended with a dinner party, given by the father, in honor of the new Roman citizen.

Roman Girls: Girls wore a simple tunic with a belt at the waist. When they went outside, they wore a second tunic that reached their feet.

Bulla: Children wore a special locket around their neck, given to them at birth, called a bulla. It contained an amulet as a protection against evil and was worn on a chain, cord, or strap. 

Girls wore their bulla until the eve of their wedding day, when their bulla was set aside with other childhood things, like her toys. 

Boys wore their bulla until they day they became a citizen. Boys bullas were put aside and carefully saved. A boy's bulla could be wore by the owner again if he won special honors. For example, if he became a successful general, and won the honor of triumph, he would wear his bulla in ceremonial parades, to protect him from the evil jealously of men or gods.

Clothes

Roman Dress