Historic Replicas

Roman tunics

were not only worn by the men,  although a woman’s tunic was a lot fuller than a man’s, and was generally full length down to her ankles.  Women, of course, did not go to war in these times, at least not in the Roman army, and their dress was therefore more suited to their duties, which for a patrician lady would be very few since they had slaves to carry out all their work for them.If you want to try it yourself, a tunic is simple to make, and you could almost do it using a large pillow case, or bolster. Alternatively, do as the Romans did and simple cut two pieces of material into identical shapes and sew them together at the sides, and at the shoulders, but cut it long enough to go past your knees once it is belted round your waist.  Although the traditional material was wool, that is only because that was the most common fiber available to the Romans. You can use cotton or any other material, but make sure you can dye it red if you are using it as part of a Roman soldier’s uniform.