{"id":2684,"date":"2013-10-15T21:49:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T21:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/?p=2684"},"modified":"2014-06-25T16:12:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-25T16:12:58","slug":"5-things-you-didnt-know-about-roman-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-roman-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things You Didn’t Know About Roman Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/youtu.be\/_x6D3ABeBcY<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Not everyone wore togas<\/strong>. Only free-born\u00a0 men\u00a0 were allowed to wear togas<\/em> (as a sign of\u00a0 citizenship), while women wore stolas.<\/em> Prostitutes and adulterers\u00a0wore togas,<\/em> because they were not allowed to wear stolas and this male garment was a sign of\u00a0their female disgrace and shame. This is even reminiscent of Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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HBO’s Rome Series<\/p><\/div>\n

2. Hair dying was popular among women. <\/strong>Red and blonde\u00a0were the most popular colors. Dye colors were achieved through\u00a0ingredients\u00a0like goat fat, beech wood ashes, henna, saffron, and bleach. Even modern day women dye their different colors to achieve a new look.\u00a0There is even a popular scene in Rome, where Atia is choosing amongst her dyed wigs (only the extremely wealthy had wigs) of blonde, red, orange and even blue. Henna was used by the Egyptians\u00a0in 1500\u00a0B.C.E. \u00a0More on hair dying and other cosmetics can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Spiny dye-murex<\/p><\/div>\n

3.\u00a0Purple clothing was a high\u00a0status symbol; reserved only for emperors or senators<\/strong>. To achieve the color, a dye was made from murex seashells or the tyrian seashell. It was treason for anyone other than the emperor to dress completely in purple. However, it is often mistaken that it was a fine or royal purple as modern people\u00a0know purple; instead the purple was closer to that of a rich\u00a0maroon.\u00a0The science behind the seashell dye can be discovered here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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A strigil used to collect strigmentum.<\/p><\/div>\n

4.\u00a0Gladiator sweat was used as cosmetics. <\/strong>The sweat of gladiators and the fat from animals use to be sold in “souvenir pots” outside the arena to improve complexion. The sweat would have been\u00a0captured by means of a strigil<\/em> and the oily sweaty mixture known as\u00a0strigmentum\u00a0<\/em>would have been bottle and sold for cosmetics and even as an aphrodisiac.\u00a0The notion that gladiator sweat was good for one’s complexion or even their sexuality even not a difficult conception. The virality of the gladiator\u00a0continues to appeal to modern consumers as can be seen <\/a>with Le Male Gladiator Jean Paul Gaultier.\u00a0The BBC has an amazing website that discusses this at length; here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Bronze Phallic Wind chime( tintinabulum).<\/p><\/div>\n

5.\u00a0Phalluses were worn on necklaces and\u00a0considered good luck charms.<\/strong> They were worn as charms on necklaces or hung in doorways as wind chimes as a way to ward off evil spirits. However, this Roman\u00a0“fade” may be seeing a resurgence with Ke$ha’s newest “penis”\u00a0\u00a0jewelry line, as can be seen here<\/a>. Although, I doubt her phallic jewelry has any symbolic or magical properties other than being avant-garde to modern society’s standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

1. Not everyone wore togas. Only free-born\u00a0 men\u00a0 were allowed to wear togas (as a sign of\u00a0 citizenship), while women wore stolas. Prostitutes and adulterers\u00a0wore togas, because they were not allowed to wear stolas and this male garment was a sign of\u00a0their female disgrace and shame. This is even reminiscent of Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter. 2…<\/p>\n

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