Proper Funeral Attire

It's the final goodbye. The last time you'll be there for someone who's been there for you. And it has be done with the appropriate protocol. Just as there is proper funeral etiquette, there is funeral attire etiquette. It's difficult to find the appropriate sympathy sayings and it's even more difficult to find right set of clothes for attending a funeral.

Selecting the proper funeral attire is a confounding task since most of us aren't trained. Moreover, even intuition fails in the time of crises. A few funerals do demand guests and mourners to dress up in cultural attire, but for others there is a general rule of dressing up for funerals. Here are a few tips for selecting proper funeral wear.

As a general rule, most men wear suits as attire for funeral. This is the most comfortable and appropriate funeral attire. This attire includes, plain white shirt or a black turtle neck, simple necktie of a subtle shade, black suit pants and black jacket. Wearing totally black clothes is also considered to be a common during funerals, however these clothes should be clean and ironed.

Women have the option of wearing pants, skirts, dresses or suits. A simple cocktail dress, without any low-cuts or flashy designs are perfect for summer funerals. For winters, black wear can never go wrong. A wide brimmed hat, gloves and close toed shoes are the rest of the accessories for the funerals. To prevent the bright sun, a pair of dark glares would be appropriate.

Children too should be dressed appropriately for a funeral. Little boys must mimic older men's attire and little girls must follow the dress code similar to older women. Plain black sneakers for boys and simple sandals for girls are the proper funeral dresses.

A few see death as time to mourn, while a few perceive death to be a celebration of end of sufferings and a new life. For funerals, where later is true, wearing casual clothes in shades of pastels would be appropriate. Semi formal attires in bright colors such as electric blue, yellow, deep red or lime green will gel well with the event.

You might have to attend a funeral which differs in cultural and religious beliefs than yours. Thus knowing specific cultural funeral attires is important. The Christians, believe in wearing black for the memorial service. However, it's no longer a strict rule, but it's advisable that one dresses up conservatively.

At Jewish funeral one has to remove shoes and women and men are supposed to be seated separately. Women are supposed to cover their head with a scarf at funerals. In a Buddhist funeral conservative dressing is the only norm to be followed. There isn't a specific color code for funerals, but red is avoided as such times.

Again, this religion asks the bereaved to remove the footwear before entering the temple. The family of the deceased as usually seen in white clothes, which represents tranquility and peace during memorial service.

Amongst Hindus, the immediate family of the deceased is supposed to dress up in white. The attendees are supposed to be dressed in conservative and dark clothes.

So this was all about funeral attire. It is expected to dress up in accordance with the aforementioned norms as a mark of respect of the bereaved.