But you, by nature form'd in finer moulds,
Must wrap your tender limbs in silken folds;
Wear lawns and tissue, sleep in damask beds,
And with gay knots and wires adorn your heads:
Your ears with pendants, lockets on your arms,
Besides a thousand other nameless charms.
— Ovid, Art of
Beauty
Materials
Woolen and linen were the staple
fabrics in Republican and even in Imperial Rome. In the latter
periods, silk was worn with increasing frequency -- real silk,
brought from China. It was very expensive and proportionately
prized.
Sources: History of Costume,
Historic Costume for the Stage by Lucy Barton
