Romans clothes were really beautiful! Let’s discover five comfortable Roman clothes facts for kids.
Tunics were the most common type of clothing for men and women in Ancient Roman times. The tunic was a long rectangular fabric similar to a shirt that we would wear today, but much heavier. Tunics were originally made from wool material. Tunics varied in length and could have been knee-length or to the ankles. Some men wore a belt around their waist to keep the tunic tight.
The tunic would have been worn by the poorer in society and by unmarried women. The women’s tunic was typically longer than the men’s tunic. Working men usually wore a special type of tunic called an exomis, which went over the left shoulder.
Roman children didn’t have specific clothing, instead they wore smaller versions of what their parents would have worn. Children would have worn tunics with cloaks over it to keep them warm during their winter months. Roman girls would have tied their tunic with a woollen belt around their waist. Children’s tunics would go below their knees and if a child came from a wealthy family, their tunic would be decorated with a purple border.
Togas were only allowed to be worn by Roman citizens. Since men were only considered Roman citizens and not women, this meant that they were the only worn by men. The toga was a large piece of cloth that was wrapped and draped around a man’s body. Togas could be quite difficult to put on and usually needed assistance.
Togas were quite uncomfortable and heavy to wear. They were usually worn for special occasions such as state processions. The stola was the female version of the male toga. It was seen as a traditional form of clothing and it was worn by married Roman women. The stola was a dress made from wool and was long in length. Stolas could be tied with belts and they were worn over tunics.
Roman children were given a “bulla” at birth which is like a “birth-pendant” to protect them from evil spirits. Roman girls would give their bulla back to their father on the day of their wedding and Roman boys would stop wearing their bulla once they became citizens. On the day of their 16th or 17th birthday, they would become a legal citizen of Rome.
On this day, according to Roman law, Roman boys would have to change their clothing as they were now adults and wear a toga. In Ancient Rome, the only jewellery a Roman man could wear was a ring. Depending on his status the ring was either made from iron or gold. Women would have worn earrings, bracelets, rings and brooches to decorate themselves.
Wealthy people had their clothing made from different exotic materials such as linen which was typically sourced from Egypt, silk sourced from China and cotton sourced from India. These materials would have been a luxury for Romans. Clothing was also dyed to show a person’s status in Ancient Roman times. Purple dye, in particular, was quite expensive and was usually only worn by Emperor and Roman generals. Plain white clothing was the most common colour worn by Roman citizens. Romans also wore dark coloured clothing when someone died.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about the Roman clothes as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic this historical culture is, you can move on to learn about ancient people: Roman Daily Life and Ancient Rome.
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