Everyone wore the tunic (tunica) - men, women and children. It was shaped like a T-shirt and made out of linen.

The sleeves were long or short. Long sleeves could be rolled up to make cuffs. Women wore full length tunics that reached their ankles, men and children wore shorter ones, which came to just below the knee.

Women don’t seem to have used belts with buckles but sometimes they tied woven bands called girdles around their waists to gather in folds of cloth.

A fashionable woman like Luna's friend Amelia would wear a peplos over her tunic. This was a tube of material pulled up under the arms and fastened on the shoulders with a pair of brooches joined together by a chain.

Did you know?
"Men and women wore shifts under their tunics and a piece of cloth wrapped round and tied at the waist instead of pants? Women used a strip of cloth as a bra."
(Adam, Malvin's Close First School)

This is the tombstone of Aurelia Aureliana.
She is wearing a Gallic coat. This piece of clothing was worn all over Britain and Northern Europe.

There was several different ways of making a Gallic coat. It could be open at the front like Aurelia's or made in one piece so it was put on over the head. Some coats had sleeves, others were like long waistcoats.

A Gallic coat made from very thick cloth with a hood could be worn in all weathers. Made from fine woollen cloth it was an 'everyday' garment worn by men, women and children over a tunic.