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After Britons were granted citizenship they were allowed to wear togas. The Roman toga could be worn by every free-born citizen. Woven of one piece of cloth and worn over a tunic it was rather awkward to wear. Only the wealthiest Roman men consistently wore a toga; it was a bit like wearing a suit today. Pins and brooches were used to fasten both men's and women's clothes and although functional were also highly decorative. The less wealthy would have enamelled brooches, the wealthy gold. Toga colours were used for special occasions or to show people's rank. Only the Emperor was allowed to wear a purple toga. Rich women wore long tunics made from expensive cotton or silk and, like today, spent hours having their hair done. They also wore lots of jewellery and make-up. Red wine would be used to colour the cheeks and also as lipstick. Powdered chalk would be rubbed on the face and bare arms to make the skin look paler. The wealthy women had specially trained slaves to help them dress, do their hair and put on make-up and it would take hours. I guess the poor just put their face in a bowl of red wine and then powdered the bits they didn't want red. I may be wrong though. If women, and some men, wanted to curl their hair they would use something called a calamistrum. It was a hollow rod that was heated in a fire and then used to curl the hair. This is when the job of a slave could get tricky if they burned their mistress or master.
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