>Therefore, the dye can be collected either by "milking" the snails, which is more labour-intensive but is a renewable resource, or by collecting and destructively crushing the snails. David Jacoby remarks that "twelve thousand snails of Murex brandaris yield no more than 1.4 g of pure dye, enough to colour only the trim of a single garment."[14] (from Wikipedia, Tirian Purple //
It's my understanding that it was a badge of the senate, so wearing it would be like impersonation of a senator. Or worse, impersonation of the Emperor.
I am suspicious of the 12,000 snail number. I see that people nowadays who make a similar dye from snails called tekhelet need around 30 snails for each yarn they dye, which I would guess would extrapolate to the 12,000 being for an entire garment.
It's my understanding that it was a badge of the senate, so wearing it would be like impersonation of a senator. Or worse, impersonation of the Emperor.
Snail Milker isn't a job one hears much of.
Many people will have heard of Lydia from the New Testament of the Holy Bible, who is referred to as a seller of purple, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_of_Thyatira.