03-10-2016, 03:55 PM
Hello, everyone.
I don't know if there is a definitive answer to this, or if what we know would just be an educated guess, but I wonder if anyone has any thoughts.
Let's take a Roman senator, for example. We know that his status is marked out by a white tunic with broad purple stripes running down from the shoulders to the bottom hem. Now, would a senator wear this style of tunic every day? I know that in the evenings he would probably wear a more casual, and colourful, dining tunic/synthesis, but for the rest of the day, would he always wear a white tunic with purple stripes? Also, do you suppose he would have a number of identical white tunics with purple stripes, or just one at a time? Would he wear a different white and purple tunic everyday, or just wear the same one continuously until it became dirty/damaged and required him to get a new one.
Presumably the poor would only have one tunic, but with senators/equestrians I would have thought they'd have more, but would they really all be the same (white with purple stripes)? When on 'holiday' for example, in their villas in the south, do you think they'd have a different tunic then? Or an off white one for travelling that wouldn't show up the dust.
Would noble-born children have one tunic that they'd wear until they grew out of it, or would they have a different one for different days of the week? I am so used to wearing a different outfit everyday that I struggle to get my head round the concept of wearing the same thing day in, day out.
Also, would noble women have more variety in the colour of their clothing, or would they too be restricted by the same rules that men were.
And finally, what would they have kept their tunics in? Would they have had wardrobes, or would they all have been folded into a chest? Would the rich have slaves who were specifically tailors?
Apologies if these are silly questions, and I realise it is quite broad and generic (a Republican senator's wardrobe would doubtless be different to a senator of the Tetrarchy, for example - or would it?) but the more I think about it the more I wonder.
Many thanks
David Hobday
I don't know if there is a definitive answer to this, or if what we know would just be an educated guess, but I wonder if anyone has any thoughts.
Let's take a Roman senator, for example. We know that his status is marked out by a white tunic with broad purple stripes running down from the shoulders to the bottom hem. Now, would a senator wear this style of tunic every day? I know that in the evenings he would probably wear a more casual, and colourful, dining tunic/synthesis, but for the rest of the day, would he always wear a white tunic with purple stripes? Also, do you suppose he would have a number of identical white tunics with purple stripes, or just one at a time? Would he wear a different white and purple tunic everyday, or just wear the same one continuously until it became dirty/damaged and required him to get a new one.
Presumably the poor would only have one tunic, but with senators/equestrians I would have thought they'd have more, but would they really all be the same (white with purple stripes)? When on 'holiday' for example, in their villas in the south, do you think they'd have a different tunic then? Or an off white one for travelling that wouldn't show up the dust.
Would noble-born children have one tunic that they'd wear until they grew out of it, or would they have a different one for different days of the week? I am so used to wearing a different outfit everyday that I struggle to get my head round the concept of wearing the same thing day in, day out.
Also, would noble women have more variety in the colour of their clothing, or would they too be restricted by the same rules that men were.
And finally, what would they have kept their tunics in? Would they have had wardrobes, or would they all have been folded into a chest? Would the rich have slaves who were specifically tailors?
Apologies if these are silly questions, and I realise it is quite broad and generic (a Republican senator's wardrobe would doubtless be different to a senator of the Tetrarchy, for example - or would it?) but the more I think about it the more I wonder.
Many thanks
David Hobday
David Hobday
