The costume of the actors in the New Comedy was copied from that of ordinary life. The covering for the foot was the same for all the characters, and consisted of a light sort of shoe, which was merely drawn on, without being tied in any way.[782] Pollux gives a short account of the dresses used in the New Comedy, from which it appears that particular colours were appropriated to particular classes.[783] White was worn by old men and slaves, purple by young men, black or grey by parasites. Pimps had a bright-coloured tunic, and a variegated mantle. Old women were dressed in green or light blue, young women and priestesses in white. Procuresses wore a purple band round the head. The above statements are to a certain extent corroborated by the testimony of the works of art, but there are numerous exceptions. They cannot therefore be regarded as an exhaustive account of the subject. Other details of dress and costume are mentioned by Pollux. Old men carried a staff with a bent handle. Rustics were dressed in a leather tunic, and bore a wallet and staff, and occasionally a hunting-net. Pimps had a straight staff, and carried an oil flask and a flesh-scraper. Heiresses were distinguished by fringes to their dress. Considered as a whole the costume of the New Comedy seems to have been even more conventional than that of tragedy. The colour of a person’s dress, the features of his mask, and small details in his equipment, would tell the spectators at once what sort of a character he was intended to represent. A scene from a wall-painting (Fig. 27) is here inserted, as a specimen of the style and outward appearance of the New Comedy.[784] § 7. _Speech, Song, and Recitative._