Ancient Roman garments are something that most people have had some experience in seeing due to popular culture. Fraternities often host parties which take the Roman toga and make them the fashion of choice. Modern toga’s though often overlook many of the important pieces of the traditional wearing of a toga.

With the widespread conquering that the Roman empire completed they had access to a wide variety of resources. Clothing in Rome was typically made of wool, linen or silk.1 The lengths that the clothing and dyes had to travel made certain clothing and colours exclusive. Purple is one of these colours as it is a time consuming process to create which added to its cost. Roman had sumptuary laws in place limiting the use of purple dyes.1 Men running for parliament would ware tunics and togas stripped with purple. 2

Tunics of one solid piece of fabric with a head hole that draped over the head of the wearer were worn under the toga to cover the torso. The length of the toga fabric allowed the wearer to wrap the garment in many designs which would expose different sections of the fabric allowing for the spreading out of wear.

1. Hayward, Laura. (2021, October 12). Ancient Roman Clothing: Fashion & Personal Adornment in Rome. , The Collector, https://www.thecollector.com/ancient-roman-clothing/
2. Hunter, E., (2024), Ancient Rome, Learning Ancient Rome, https://www.learnancientrome.com/what-did-senators-wear-in-ancient-rome/#Could_Roman_senators_wear_purple