Costume by Rajendora for Greek God Hades…

I finished the green chiton and burgundy stola.

I made this outfit several years ago so consider it a restyle. I was sure to have talked about this project on the blog after wearing the d...

I wore the new Roman for half a day at Sapphire last weekend, but it got a proper first-day-out this weekend at our local Baronial Birthday event. I still need to make a tunica interior, and I think I am going to turn the Pink-Palla-of-Doom I wore at Sapphire with a silk palla. The smaller silk veil I wore this weekend was much more comfortable and moved better. Plus I don't look like Hello Kitty Roman Matron. Overall the gown did very well. I had some problems with my mamillare (the bust band that keeps the girls from going all free-range on me, like chickens). I found this page today, which is from a class at Pennsic a couple of years ago, and I think I've been wrapping it backwards. This morning I decided to test out the start in front method and so far it working much better. The girls can't get out the top of the band and nothing seems to be shifting downwards, which was the problem over the weekend. Yay! For the stolla, I want to get some better hardware for the straps. The current version just has purchased trim sewn on, some of the artwork looks like there is jewelry of some kind holding the gown together at the shoulders. One looks like large round buttons or small brooches, which would be a nice option and give me different ways of wearing the stolla since I could pin the pleats however I wanted that day. The Pink Palla of Doom is going to become a tunica I think, which I could wear as a stolla if I wanted to go the Hello Kitty route. Once I make a couple of tunica interiors I will have pretty decent Roman wardrobe for those hot humid events!

Kevin McKidd & Indira Varma in ‘Rome’ (2005). x

OR HOW TO MAKE A ROMAN COSTUME by Caroline Lawrence, author of The Roman Mysteries Girl fans often ask me 'How can I make myself a toga so I can go to World Book Day dressed as Flavia Gemina or Nubia?' First I set them straight. Only naughty women wore togas. Roman men and boys wore togas, and they heartily disliked them. The toga was essentially a large blanket that had to be draped just so. You needed a slave to help put it on, so by the very act of wearing a toga you showed you were rich. If you are a boy and want to make a toga, you can use a big sheet. Good luck putting it on. By the first century AD, when my books are set, the only women who wore togas were disreputable ones; and they had to wear them to show they had been (or still were) naughty. Respectable women wore stolas and good girls wore tunics, usually long-sleeved for modesty. (Technically the stola was a kind of apron-like garment that went on over the female tunic, with a strap over each shoulder, but I'm using the umbrella term stola here for a girl's or woman's tunic.) If you are a boy and want to make a tunic, just wear a big tee-shirt, belted. If you are a girl or woman and want to make a stola or girl's tunic, here is a simple way to do it. (below) I actually had to put this into practice once. I was on my way to an event in Newcastle and realised I'd left my costume in London. Luckily, a kind librarian donated a single sheet from her airing cupboard. I found one of those sewing kits you get free in hotels and frantically stitched it up in the back seat of the car as we drove to the event. When we arrived, my publicity manager Rowan loaned me her blue scarf and I used another scarf to tie up my hair. I added chunky ethnic jewellery and sandals and voila! I was a Roman lady... Remember: the tunic is the tee-shirt thing, the toga or palla is what you wear over it. Of course you must always carry your sponge-stick (ancient Roman toilet paper) and your copy of a Roman Mystery with you! For more information on Roman clothing, go to the article on ROMAN CLOTHING at vroma.com And check out my blog over at The History Girls to see some of my other Roman wardrobe malfunctions. lovely "extras" in The Slave-girl from Jerusalem P. S. These two extras from the TV series based on my books are wearing lovely stolas, with pallas draped over their heads. [The Roman Mysteries are perfect for children aged 9+, especially those studying Romans as a topic in Key Stage 2. Carrying on from the Roman Mysteries, the Roman Quests series set in Roman Britain launched in May 2016 with Escape from Rome.]

Roman Woman's Garb & Hairstyle