This article gives information on Ancient Roman Fashion for Women, clothing, and accessories.
Ancient Roman Women’s Dress Fashions:
Similar to Roman men, the basic item of clothing was the tunic (tunica), though women’s tunics were fuller and longer, usually extending to the feet.
The more common sleeved tunic worn by women was similar to the Greek chiton. A cloak fastened with buckles on the right shoulder completed the outfit for wearing.
The woman pulled this garment over her head and used several pins or buttons to fasten it at intervals over her shoulders and arms, forming a dress with sleeves which could be belted under the breasts, at the waist, or at the hips.
The difference between the tunic of a man and a woman is that the tunic was worn by a woman often had sleeves fastened with buckles. The over-garment was often sleeveless and a cloak would be worn over it.
Ancient Roman Fashion Accessories for Women:
The ancient Roman woman wore varieties of accessories such as:
1.ornate necklaces
2.armlets
3.anklets
4.breast chains
5.brooches
6.and jeweled buttons
Ancient Roman Women’s Fashion:
Fashionable upper-class women wore considerable amounts of jewelry. One design that persisted from a very early period to late antiquity was the fibula, a pin whose basic design resembled our safety pin. It was a useful clothing fastener and was often beautifully decorated.
Roman stola
At the time of her marriage, the Roman woman donned the stola, a long, sleeveless tunic, frequently if not always suspended at the shoulders from short straps, which was worn on top of another tunic.
It is probable that the stola was typically made of undyed wool. The stola was a symbol of marriage, and by the late Republic, all women married according to the Roman law were entitled to wear it.
Roman Women’s Clothing
Women also wore hairnets made of finely woven gold wires; this gold hairnet from Rome mirrors the hairnet shown on this Pompeian fresco portrait of a girl (often mistakenly labeled “Sappho”).
Women also had many creams, cosmetics, and perfumes; this cosmetic box belonging to a woman in Pompeii was made of bronze and beautifully carved bone (wood portions have been restored). Cosmetics and hairstyling required mirrors, which were made of highly polished bronze or silver in rectangular or round shapes.
Women’s cosmetics
In terms of makeup, a woman’s face powder was a mixture of powdered chalk and white lead. Rouge for cheeks and lips were archer or the lees of wine. Eyebrows and eyelashes were blackened with ashes or powdered antimony, and teeth glistened with enamel.
The Roman Fashion continues to exist today throughout the modern designs of the Italians, French, and Americans. Many of the hairstyles of today are simple makeovers of actual styles worn by the women of ancient Rome.
More info on- Roman men clothing, Roman clothes, soldiers wear
