03-14-2016, 02:45 PM
There were plenty of fulleries in Roman towns and cities, so people would have had no problem getting their clothes laundered. Plain white wool would be easier to wash, using lye as a bleaching agent, but paintings from Pompeii show ordinary people dressed in a wide range of colours, from yellow and red through to dark midnight blue.
This picture actually shows a scene in a fullery - the figure on the right wears a white tunic with reddish clavi, so clearly these were not restricted to the aristocracy even in the mid-1st C AD.
The traditional heavy white wool toga, worn with the white tunic and purple clavi, was probably worn only on formal occasions by the imperial era - a bit like the formal business suit and tie today. By later centuries it had slimmed down, with a lot of the bulk packed into a pleated band across the chest, and was probably worn even less frequently - a bit like black tie dinner dress today, perhaps?
In less formal surroundings, the rich would have worn whatever they liked. In later centuries embroidery and woven decorations became more common, as did more expensive cloth - linen, cotton or silk. Images of the Roman nobility from the 4th century often show very lavish multicoloured garments. Cloaks - sometimes also patterned - are far more common than togas as well.
As for storage - Roman clothing didn't need hanging, so folding the clothes in chests would probably have been usual. One Roman poet - Martial, I think, or Juvenal - just used to throw his cloak over a chair when he went to bed.
This picture actually shows a scene in a fullery - the figure on the right wears a white tunic with reddish clavi, so clearly these were not restricted to the aristocracy even in the mid-1st C AD.
The traditional heavy white wool toga, worn with the white tunic and purple clavi, was probably worn only on formal occasions by the imperial era - a bit like the formal business suit and tie today. By later centuries it had slimmed down, with a lot of the bulk packed into a pleated band across the chest, and was probably worn even less frequently - a bit like black tie dinner dress today, perhaps?
In less formal surroundings, the rich would have worn whatever they liked. In later centuries embroidery and woven decorations became more common, as did more expensive cloth - linen, cotton or silk. Images of the Roman nobility from the 4th century often show very lavish multicoloured garments. Cloaks - sometimes also patterned - are far more common than togas as well.
As for storage - Roman clothing didn't need hanging, so folding the clothes in chests would probably have been usual. One Roman poet - Martial, I think, or Juvenal - just used to throw his cloak over a chair when he went to bed.
Nathan Ross
