How to Toga with Elizabeth Baughan, Associate Professor of Classics and Archaeology

This Thursday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. the senior class will be welcomed back to campus with a Toga Social at Jenkins Greek Theatre. Toga parties seem to be a right of passage for any college student, but what is the proper way to really wear a toga?

“Well you need more fabric than you think,” Elizabeth Baughan said. “Much bigger than even a king sized sheet, you would have to go to a fabric store and buy 4-6 yards of fabric.”

VIDEO: How to make a toga

Baughan (left) said the best way to wear a toga would be to wrap it around your waist as much as you can before throwing the rest over your shoulder.

“The border of the toga was purple for Romans of senatorial rank,” said Baughan. “There was a toga called the Toga Picta which is a toga that is entirely painted of color.”

There is a life size statue of Caligula, the Roman emperor, here in Richmond, at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“Statues of him were to be destroyed when the Romans decided to rid him from memory, so it’s rare that there is even a statue left to be had,” Baughan said. “The statue here in Richmond had evidence of purple coloring and he may have been wearing a Toga Picta.”

If you want to be someone of high rank, Baughan said she would add color, particularly purple, to your toga.

The toga was often worn with a tunic underneath.

“That's a common misconception among college students, the toga wasn’t worn over bare chests but more often than not, they wore a tunic underneath.”

For further instruction and information on how to make a toga, here is a website. Also, for more information on the statue of Caligula, see here.

Contact reporter Caroline McNamara at caroline.mcnamara@richmond.edu