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Any ideas for your Carnival or fancy dress party? Here's a really simple one: go Roman and wear a toga. All you need is a bed sheet and to follow these instructions and... ta-da! you'll look as Roman as it takes.
Whether you're heading to a costume gala, an Animal House reunion festival, or a raging kegger on campus, this easy and fun party attire is as simple as it gets. Even if you're just hanging out at home, kickin' it Roman-style. Hey guys - Jonathon Stewart here for About.com. Whatever you're doing, if you need to be wearing a toga and you're short on time and materials, then you need to be watching this. Check it out.
While the authentic togas of Rome were made from semi-circle-shaped pieces of fabric, today we'll be using the fabric you most likely already have lying around your house, or quad: the bed sheet.
I should start by giving you one warning - if the toga party you're hitting is as bacchanalian as it should be, you may want to think about leaving those thousand thread count Egyptian sheets on the bed where they belong. Instead, go for cheap and potentially disposable, and if you've got time to run to the fabric store, you might even be able to undercut even the least expensive sheets.
Size-wise, remember bigger is better. Even if you're a really small person, you can fold the sheet to fit just right.
Start by making a lengthwise fold so that the width of the sheet is covering the part of your body you want covered. For guys, this is generally from your waistline to around you knees, and (although Roman women technically never wore togas), from your neckline to mid-calf for gals. You should also consider at this point what you'll be wearing underneath your toga, which can range from anything from shorts to t-shirts to tights to nothing - just remember that as clothing goes, the bed sheet toga is not exactly the most dependable when it comes to providing coverage for parts of you that you might want covered.
Leaving a foot or two of extra material on the left side of your body, wrap the folded sheet around your entire waist or torso once, then bring it around your back and over your shoulder on the next pass. Next, take the first corner and meet the second over your left shoulder, and tie them in a knot. If you've got a few lying around, safety pins can also help secure your toga from parting ways with your body later on.
You might also try simply wrapping your sheet around you once, pinning it, then throwing the remaining drapery over your shoulder and letting it hang behind you. Throw on some sandals or flip flops, and you're good to go. If you're feeling adventurous, a coat hanger, some leaves and tape can provide the basis for an authentic toga party headdress.
Have fun and just remember: fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life. Thanks for watching! To learn more, visit us on the Web at style.about.com.
WHETHER= If
HEADING TO= Going to.
RAGING= Very active and unpredictable; wild.
KEGGER= A KEG is a small cask or barrel with a capacity of about 30 gallons (114 litres). A KEGGER is a wild party where beer is served (usually in disposable plastic cups) from a keg. Keggers are usually associated with high school and college students, but anybody can throw one if they've got a lot of friends and at least one keg of beer.
CAMPUS= The grounds and buildings of a university. (notice the preposition: ON campus).
ATTIRE= Clothes or garments, especially if they're fine, strange or decorative (not ordinary, anyway).
AS SIMPLE AS IT GETS= Really simple.
HANGING OUT= If you hang out in a place, you are there, doing nothing special. If you hang out with friends, you spend time with them with no particular purpose (other than having fun or enjoying each other's company).
KICKING IT= Having fun.
WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING= It doesn't matter what you're doing; anything you're doing.
TOGA= The usual piece of clothing worn by ancient Romans (a little bit similar to modern Buddhist monks' costumes). (see picture)
YOU'RE SHORT ON TIME AND MATERIALS= You haven't got much time to do it and you haven't got many things to make it. If you're short on something, you don't have enough of it, or not a lot of it.
CHEK IT OUT= (coll. esp. AmE) Have a look; look at this!
WHILE= In this case it means ALTHOUGH.
FABRIC= Cloth. A material (cloth) produced especially by knitting, weaving, or felting fibres. Most clothes, curtains, sheets, etc. are made of fabric.
QUAD= (also spelled "quod") Prison. In this case, maybe he means "a very small apartment, just like a prison cell", or he really means "prison cell"?
HITTING= (coll.) If you hit a place, you go there.
A very famous song by Ray Charles, from 1961 says "hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more" = go away Jack (see video).
BACCHANALIAN= Adjective derived from the word BACCHANAL. A bacchanal was a wild party held by ancient Romans or Greeks with lots of wine, food, dancing and often sex. Properly speaking, a bacchanal was a religious party to honour Bacchus, the God of wine. In modern times we use it to refer to a very wild party.
AS... AS IT SHOULD BE= This phrase just adds emphasis to the adjective "bacchanalian" that goes right before.
THOUSAND THREAD COUNT EGYPTIAN SHEETS= Egyptian textiles are supposed to be of a good quality. Here he's referring to sheets made in Egypt with a very fine fabric, so they are good and expensive (that means you shouldn't use them to make them into a toga and go to a party).
WHERE THEY BELONG= In their right place. If a person or things belongs to a place, that's the correct place for them. A sheet belongs on the bed or in a cupboard.
DISPOSABLE= Something disposable is a thing that you can throw away after using it.
STORE= (AmE) shop.
UNDERCUT= Cut a part of it.
SIZE-WISE= Talking about size; considering size; as long as size goes...
JUST RIGHT= Perfectly well.
LENGTHWISE= Along the fabric. If you fold a sheet lengthwise, you fold it from top to bottom so that the length of the sheet stays the same but the width is reduced by half.
WAISTLINE= Waist. An imaginary line running across your body about 5 to 10 cms under your belly button (navel).
TECHNICALLY= Strictly. If we say that something technically is true, we mean that it's not really true, but we don't care because it's not important or relevant for this situation. So Roman women didn't wear togas, but it's ok because modern girls can wear a toga to go to a fancy dress party and it's alright.
NECKLINE= Neck. An imaginary line running across your body where your neck joins your shoulders.
MID-CALF= The middle of the calves. A calf is the fleshy muscular back part of the human leg between the knee and ankle.
GALS= (coll. AmE) girls. The word "gals" is to "women" just like "guys" is to "men". We can say "guys and gals", but the truth is that the word "guy" is very very common, and the word "gal" is not very common, so it's more usual to say "guys and girls".
UNDERNEATH= Below, under.
AT THIS POINT= At this stage; at this moment of the process.
SHORTS= "Short trousers" (AmE: short pants).
TIGHTS= Like stockings but covering from toes to waist (see picture).
AS CLOTHING GOES= As far as dressing is concerned; when talking about clothing...
DEPENDABLE= Reliable. A dependable thing or person is something/someone you can trust and depend on. So this home-made toga is not dependable because it might fall down and leave you naked (not probable but possible).
WHEN IT COMES TO= Referring to. If we're talking about...
PROVIDING= Offering, giving.
FOOT= (imperial measure) 1 foot = 30.48 cms.
WRAP= Cover something by putting paper or cloth around it.
LYING AROUND= If something is lying around, it is somewhere near you.
SAFETY PINS= A special kind of pin that can be closed (see picture)
SECURE= Keep it in place, without moving or falling down.
PARTING WAYS WITH YOUR BODY= A sophisticated (and humorous) way of saying "falling off your body". To PART is to leave, to abandon; to part ways is to separate and go in different directions.
LATER ON= Later, Afterwards.
PINNING= Securing it with a pin.
REMAINING= The remaining part of something is what left after using it.
DRAPERY= Cloth, fabric.
THROW ON= (coll.) Put on.
FLIP-FLOPS= A casual footwear often used in summer, consisting on a sole and a trap for securing it to your foot. It's an onomatopoeic name from the noise they make when you're walking (see picture)
YOU'RE GOOD TO GO= You're ready to go.
COAT HANGER= A thing to keep clothes hung in your wardrobe (see picture).
PROVIDE= Give you.
HEADDRESS= Decoration or some kind of clothing for your head.
Official → Cool
