What did ancient Roman women wear?
Ancient Roman women, like any women, loved to dress up. Roman fashion changed many times over the centuries — new fabrics, patterns, and styles appeared. Roman emperors tried to curb women who spent fortunes on clothes and jewelry with laws against luxury, but nothing helped. Initially, clothing was made almost exclusively from wool or leather, then linen appeared, and silk began to come in with the development of trade with the East. In late antiquity, they were able to make fragile, semi-transparent fabrics. We know their names — vision, sindon, morgan, and others.
As for colors, in the tough Republican times, when Rome was small, and there was little money, they mainly wore light woolen clothes; only the hem could be colored. But the further, the more often bright colors were used. Kos silk, known — as silk, was made from Chinese raw materials on the island of Kos and dyed in the color of a sea wave.
The basis of women’s costume was a tunic — something like a long simple shirt with sleeves or sleeveless. They walked around the house in it — it was just as indecent to show up on the street in a tunic as it is now in a bathrobe. Initially, the cut of the tunic was the most elementary:
