Roman Tribune or Consul\'s Tunic (first attempt be gentle:)

[Antonius Congianocus]

Hello,

I took my first step toward creating a high ranking Roman Officer impression with this tunic.

I used a silk and linen table cloth as the base, it has an off white, almost goldish look to it.

You can click below to see the steps, along with many photos, that I used to make it:
[url:2jk224rk]http://www.congiano.com/Extras/recreation/officerstunic.htm[/url]

Basically, the whole thing cost me less than $40.00 to make... not counting the 6 hours to sew it all together of course. :wink:

Any thoughts, comments, chastisements? :roll:

Thanks,
Anthony




Thanks to Jamie for providing the photo below, this an original... turns out the tunic is from a later period than I thought but, what the heck

[Virilis]

Awesome!

The tunic looks simply great! I especially like the off-white colour of the tunic. Where did you get that decorative trim? If I remember correctly, there have been one thread discussing about the availability of different decorative trims. This classical graeco-roman pattern is just the one!

Regards,

[caiusbeerquitius]

It was probably a lot of work. But on what original is it based on? As far as I know, there is no high ranking officer's tunic preserved.

As far as the trim is concerned: These were usually woven into the fabric at the same time the fabric itself was made. Not sewn on. The pattern seems to be of artificial fibre, and the pattern is... well, not Roman.
As long as you don't claim it to be a reconstruction, it makes a nice carnival dress, I suppose. :wink:



No offense intended, just a clear statement.

For information about Roman clothing, especially tunics, you should read:

M. Pausch: Die römische Tunika. Ein Beitrag zur Peregrinisierung der antiken Kleidung. Augsburg (Wißner) 2003.

This should help you with your further attempts.

[Tiberio]

Hmm and I thought only in the 15th century part of the hobby we where that direct! :wink:
Martin

[Matthew Amt]

The silk and linen blend is fascinating, I don't have any inherent problem with that. And of course a lot depends on just what sort of activity you plan to use this for.

It would be more accurate to have only the vertical stripes or clavi, and as Caius Tarquitius points out those were woven into the fabric (and would most likely be a rich purple for the upper class). That's just darn hard to find these days, for any sort of affordable price, so even I have to resort to sewing clavi onto tunics! I don't recall seeing any original depictions of men's tunics with trim around the neck, cuffs, or hem, though, just the clavi. The "Greek key" trim you used is pretty commonly seen on all kinds of Greco-Roman costuming these days, but good reenactors try to avoid it. At best, it's polyester!

A slightly simpler pattern is also more accurate, just two rectangles joined at the top and sides.

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/tunic.html

http://www.larp.com/legioxx/civcloth.html

Short sleeves are probably an option, not sure if they were "traditional" enough to be used on upper class clothing or not.

I hope that helps! I certainly don't want to sound discouraging or negative, since we all enjoy seeing new folks get sucked into this! And most of us took a few tries to get on the right track, too.

Have fun, and keep asking questions!! Vale,

Matthew/Quintus, Legio XX

[Theodosius the Great]

Since this tunic is meant for a 1st or 2nd C A.D. impression, the best thing to do is to remove all the trim and add two purple clavii.

even I have to resort to sewing clavi onto tunics!

I think Aitor has the best alternative to woving clavii into the tunic as you make it - paint them on. At least the color would become part of the fabric.

I don't recall seeing any original depictions of men's tunics with trim around the neck, cuffs, or hem, though, just the clavi.

Oh I don't know about that. I think the trim and clavii pattern is fairly consistent with Late Roman tunics. If this tunic had long tight sleeves I think it would pass as an officer's tunic from the Later Empire (4th to 6th C A.D.) And you would have to add roundels or patches onto the shoulders and lower areas of the tunic (six in total).

Here's an find from the 5th-6th C A.D. :

[Antonius Congianocus]

Hi,

I do believe that the photo above was the one that inspired me. I didn't realize it was from a much later period but, what the heck.

Also, a lot of inspiration came from reading about the HBO/BBC series Rome; and then later watching it. I had read a rather long article detailing how researched and hand made the wardrobes were. In the series they had concentrated on color and decor for the higher classes.

In a documentary I saw, on the Discovery or History channel, many of the experts spoke about that fact that Roman’s rarely wore brown dreary clothing; even in battle color was important. They did show many photos of original relics including actual tunics, along with paintings and mosaics… I think that’s where I saw the Tunic in the photo above.

Would it be okay, if I used the photo on my site?

Thanks,
Anthony

[Robert Vermaat]

Hi Anthony,

If the image posted by Theodosius was indeed your inspiration, don't worry about the decorations by woven with the fabric. In fact we see lts of occasions where such decorations (indeed originally woven with the tunic) were salvaged when the tunic was replaced, and sewn on the new one.

More of the pictures can be found here: The Basics of Byzantine Dress. Yours is Tunica 2.
I suggest you ask the site owner for permission.

[Theodosius the Great]

Antonius,

I myself made a similar tunic over a year ago, although I don't wear it anymore. I used a "Byzantine" trim instead of the Greek Key that you used.

Here's a picture :



[url:12xwjyar]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/RCasti998/temple3.jpg[/url]