Color by Dulcia MacPherson, captions by me.

I recently presented my stola paper at An Tir’s Kingdom Arts and Sciences Championship as a single entry. You can see a video of my presentation here (20 min talk, 20 min Q&A). Since I know not everyone wants to read a giant tome, I’m going to break up important bits of my paper into a series of blog posts. 

The stola had four major identifying features:

• Worn as an overdress
• Made of lightweight wool
• Constructed as a simple tube, with straps, round pins, or fabric knots at the shoulders, that created a “V neck” with draping.
• Worn double belted, to create an extra folded layer at the hips

The stola was popular for about 400 years (mid-Republic to early Empire), and was integral to the Roman matron’s sense of self. It gave its wearer special social and legal protections.

Note: Click here for PART I: Why Wool?,    PART II: Color & Embellishment,  PART IV: Timing.

PART III: How do you make this darn thing, anyway?

I tried to find some Hollywood Roman stolae to make fun of, but nobody was wearing them at all! Even Spartacus, which takes place during the middle Republic and should be *lousy* with stolae… not a one. The costume designers made the same mistake many recreators do. They hit the eBay sari sales *hard* and then they put too much work into it. These garments are constructed, and trimmed… too many seams, too busy, not enough draping! Is…. that a CAPE coming off her left shoulder?! *boggle* 

Put your scissors and sewing machine down. This is shockingly easy.

Make a tube, about 1.5 times your height.

You’re done.

Seriously. 

Alternate method – if you like fabric dangling past your armpits.

Ok, if you really want to make it more complicated, you can add straps. Or a sewn-in contrasting color border at the hem (we talked about institia here.)

For you master seamstress / overachiever types, there’s one variation that has a pleated top, but otherwise… I say go easy on yourself!

Step into it. Pin it at the shoulders*. Now hike up the hem until it brushes the tops of your feet. Belt it. Smooth down the extra fabric into a flap around your hips (The Roman ideal of beauty was small breasts and wide hips – the folded flap gives a fertile look)… and belt again. DONE.

For lots of details on the varieties of straps, read my paper. But the take-home here is don’t overthink it. Don’t add seams down the center, or gores, or floopy ruffles. It’s just a rectangle. With maybe some straps. What makes this work is the draping of the very light wool. Put your effort into finding the right fabric, not sewing! 🙂 One SCAdian posted an experimental version with a center seam and it’s been taken up as historical by people who shared it. It’s not, and the original post makes that clear.

*Pins are usually round brooches, about 1-1.5″ across. The back goes over the front. You also have the option of sewing rosette knots to join the front and back. See the pic at the top of the page for an example.

Next is Part IV: TIMING aka do I really need to wear this thing?