Editing Vestal Virgin (section)

== Attire ==
[[File:Sculpture in the Atrium of the Vestals - Rome.JPG|thumb|Statue of the Vestal Virgin Flavia Publicia in the House of the Vestals]]
Vestal costume had elements in common with high-status [[Weddings in ancient Rome|Roman bridal dress]], and with the formal dress of high-status Roman matrons (married citizen-women). Vestals and matrons wore a long linen {{lang|la|[[Palla (garment)|palla]]}} over a white woollen {{lang|la|stola}}, a rectangular female citizen's wrap, equivalent to the male citizen's semi-circular [[toga]].<ref>Valerius Maximus, ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium'', I.1.7; Dionysus of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Questions''. II.68; Pliny the Younger, ''Letters'', IV.11; cited in William Ramsay, ''Vestales'', article in Smith, William, pp.1189‑1191 in "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities", John Murray, London, 1875.</ref> A Vestal's hair was bound into a white, priestly {{lang|la|infula}} (head-covering or fillet) with red and white ribbons, usually tied together behind the head and hanging loosely over the shoulders.<ref>Wildfang, R. L. (2006) ''Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Empire'', Routledge, p. 54. {{ISBN|9780415397964}}</ref><ref>Croom, Alexandra, ''Roman Clothing and Fashion'', Amberley Publishing, The Hill, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2010, p.135, ISBN 978-1-84868-977-0</ref>

The red ribbons of the Vestal {{lang|la|infula}} were said to represent Vesta's fire; and the white, virginity, or sexual purity. The stola is associated with Roman citizen-matrons and Vestals, not with brides. This covering of the body by way of the gown and veils "signals the prohibitions that governed [the Vestals'] sexuality".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gallia |first=Andrew B. |date=2014-07-01 |title=The Vestal Habit |journal=Classical Philology |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=222–240 |doi=10.1086/676291 |issn=0009-837X|hdl=11299/214959 |s2cid=162840383 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The {{lang|la|stola}} communicates the message of "hands off" and asserts their virginity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beard |first=Mary |date=1980-01-01 |title=The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins |jstor=299553 |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |volume=70 |pages=12–27 |doi=10.2307/299553|s2cid=162651935 }}</ref> The prescribed everyday hairstyle for Vestals, and for brides only on their wedding day, comprised six or seven braids; this was thought to date back to the most ancient of times.<ref>[[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]] 454 in the edition of Lindsay, as cited by Robin Lorsch Wildfang, ''Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Empire'' (Routledge, 2006), p.&nbsp;54</ref><ref>Laetitia La Follette, "The Costume of the Roman Bride", in ''The World of Roman Costume'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), pp.&nbsp;59–60 (on discrepancies of hairstyles in some Vestal portraits)</ref><ref>"Recreating the Vestal Virgin Hairstyle" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epz7n8uYXQY video.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213203744/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epz7n8uYXQY |date=2016-12-13 }}</ref><ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324900204578286272195339456|title=On Pins and Needles: Stylist Turns Ancient Hairdo Debate on Its Head|first=Abigail|last=Pesta|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=7 February 2013|access-date=7 May 2018|via=www.wsj.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406064643/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324900204578286272195339456|archive-date=6 April 2018}}</ref> In 2013, [[Janet Stephens]] recreated the hairstyle of the vestals on a modern person.<ref name="online.wsj.com" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50417111/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UTYf91fYREc|title=Ancient Rome's hairdo for vestal virgins re-created|date=10 January 2013|website=[[NBC News]]|access-date=7 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102081812/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50417111/ns/technology_and_science-science#.UTYf91fYREc|archive-date=2 November 2017}}</ref>

High-status brides were veiled in the same saffron-yellow {{lang|la|flammeum}} as the {{lang|la|[[Jupiter (mythology)#Flamen and Flaminica Dialis|Flamenica Dialis]]}}, priestess of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and wife to his high priest. Vestals wore a white, purple-bordered {{lang|la|suffibulum}} (veil) when travelling outdoors, performing public rites or offering sacrifices. Respectable matrons were also expected to wear veils in public. One who appeared in public without her veil could be thought to have repudiated her marriage, making herself "available".<ref>Sebesta, Judith Lynn, [[Larissa Bonfante|Bonfante, Larissa]] (editors), "The World of Roman Costume: Wisconsin Studies in Classics", ''The University of Wisconsin Press'', 1994, p.49, isbn 9780299138509</ref>