Stola

Statue of Livia Drusilla wearing a stola and palla.

The stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. In ancient Rome, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to wear a toga; wearing the male garment was associated with prostitution.^[1]

The stola was a long, pleated dress, worn over a tunic (the tunica intima, the Roman version of a slip). A stola generally had long sleeves (but not always; occasionally it was held up by straps), but the sleeves could either be a part of the stola itself, or part of the tunic. The stola was typically girt with ribbons. It was frequently accompanied by a long shawl-like garment called a palla. Use of the stola continued through the Byzantine period.

This is the garment worn by the Statue of Liberty in New York.

See also

• Clothing in ancient Rome

References

External links

• Stola (article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities)
• How to make a stola