---
node: fashion_roman_britain
type: fashion
slug: roman_britain_fashion
title: "Fashion in Roman Britain"
lead: "Under Rome, Britons wore the tunic and cloak of the empire — most famously the birrus Britannicus, a British hooded wool cloak prized across the Roman world — over persistent native dress."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section (britain region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

Roman clothing — the tunica, and the draped toga worn by citizens on formal occasions — spread among the Romano-British elite, alongside imported textiles and dyes.

## Key garments and style

Everyday wear was a belted wool or linen tunic with a cloak; women wore a longer tunic and the palla. Britain was famous for two woollen exports named in Diocletian's Price Edict: the birrus Britannicus (a hooded cloak) and the tapete Britannicum (a woollen wrap or rug).

## Transition

As Roman authority ended around 410, Mediterranean dress faded and Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) styles took hold.