appetite” (Coleman 51). In other words, creative and artistic choices for movies are often driven by more practical considerations, such as modern audience tastes and preferences or even convention in film. She explains that directors and costume designers are often guided by a “perception that the past has to be presented in a recognizable package." Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, for instance, conceived of the Romans in Pre-Raphaelite mode; his legacy as "the painter who inspired Hollywood" determines the look that makes the Romans familiar even today” (Coleman 50). Coleman explains that filmmakers often use costumes they think a movie audience will recognize or identify with, regardless of accuracy. For example, most actors in Ancient Roman movies are dressed in clothes of the Pre-Raphaelite era that came some 2,000 years after the height of the Roman Empire. Filmmakers make this choice because the public thinks this is what people wore in 30 B.C.E., largely due to the ubiquitous paintings of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema in which figures are set in classic Roman settings but dressed in Pre-Raphaelite style clothing. Once a historical inaccuracy like this becomes a cinematic trend, it persists as audiences mistake it for reality.
For me, looking at images of fashion shows or movies with beautiful costumes has often been a momentary escape into a dreamy world of the ideal. I have always been aware of that, to some extent. What sometimes slips into the subconscious, however, is a belief that parts of what I see, even in seemingly inconsequential details like clothing in a movie, is real. Over time I don’t even question an image of a Roman woman ca. 30 B.C.E. dressed nearly the same as British women of the mid 19th century. As I perused the images and articles chronicling the recent fashions on parade in Paris for the 2026 spring and summer season, I did not see any of the double vittae that made me think of Ancient Rome as I did when looking at images of Dior’s show from the previous year. What I realized after reading The Pedant Goes to Hollywood, however, is that I was looking for details not of the actual ancient Rome, but rather, reinventions of it through artistic liberties and imagination. That made me wonder ... what else might we misunderstand about Ancient Rome and the women who wore the true fashions of that era?
Model wearing gladiator sandals at Dior's Spring-Summer Ready to Wear show.
THE ROME WE FASHION · Winter 2025 · Torch: U.S.
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