Dresscode for funeral

[qwe111]

I will be attending the funeral of my grandmother soon.
Since I don't hava a black suit I am going to wear a dark navy suit with a white french cuff shirt and black Oxfords. Do you think that's appropriate?

Should I wear it as a full 3-piece suit or rather skip the waistcoat?

I am unsure regarding the tie: Should I get a black or gray one?

 

[Chowkin]

Dark navy suit with a white shirt and black Oxfords should be fine. Make sure you shine your shoes properly.

Three piece or two piece - doesn’t make too much of a difference.

If you are going to have to buy a tie anyway, go for a black one. You will be using it more frequently as you grow older.

 

[qwe111]

Thanks for your feedback!

I wasn't sure because I read that a black tie should not be combined with a navy suit. Not sure if that really is the case.

 

[BigBadBernard]

Dark grey is fine, though to be honest you won’t get much wear out if in normal daily use so might as well go black. Not a problem to match with a navy suit at a funeral.

 

[Chowkin]

Forgot to say, choose a grenadine or a knitted one:

 

[qwe111]

Does this also work?

 

[Chowkin]

Does this also work?

View attachment 1028893

Definitely

 

[An Acute Style]

Sorry for your loss. I usually wear a dark suit, white shirt, dark tie to funerals, but notice increasingly that I am in the minority. To the point that I feel out of place. Notice what the rest of your family wears to the funeral and adjust accordingly in the future.

 

[Andy57]

Sorry for your loss. I usually wear a dark suit, white shirt, dark tie to funerals, but notice increasingly that I am in the minority. To the point that I feel out of place. Notice what the rest of your family wears to the funeral and adjust accordingly in the future.

I have to disagree with this advice. The advice given by @Chowkin and others is right: dark suit, white suit black, four-in-hand tie. Attending a funeral is about paying one's respects to the deceased, not about what the rest of your family nor anyone else is wearing.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Sorry for your loss. I usually wear a dark suit, white shirt, dark tie to funerals, but notice increasingly that I am in the minority. To the point that I feel out of place. Notice what the rest of your family wears to the funeral and adjust accordingly in the future.

This sort of rig is unimpeachable at a funeral but I understand your creeping trepidation. If this is due to eroding standards of dress and decorum then it’s too bad. If it’s due to an emerging trend of wanting funerals to be more a positive celebration of a life well lived with upbeat music and jovial remembrances in place of demure clothing and dirge music then I can absolutely get behind that!

 

[Ich_Dien]

I saw a man in a tweed jacket, brown brogues, tattersall shirt and a coloured tie with motifs on it recently at a funeral. A pallbearer at that.

It annoyed the hell out of me and didn't go unnoticed by others, too.

Darkest suit you own, white shirt, black tie, black shoes. End of story.

 

[RogerC]

If it works for this dude at the funeral of one of his closest friends, it should work for anyone.

 

[yanagi]

If it works for this dude at the funeral of one of his closest friends, it should work for anyone.

I dunno. I think someone on the left is giving the dude the ol' stink eye.

 

[Keith Taylor]

I once attended the funeral of a nephew in a pair of jeans. Not intentionally but because I was running horrendously late, the trousers I’d travelled with didn’t fit and I didn’t have time to buy anything, and I figured that showing up mid-service would be even more disrespectful that showing up in inappropriate clothing.

This was more than a decade ago, and it’s still one of those memories that hits me in the face whenever my mind wanders, causing me to groan out loud with shame and embarrassment. These days, unless it was made crystal clear by the family that the deceased wished their funeral to be a celebration, I’d wear the most traditional and severe suit you could possibly imagine. A funeral is no place to show off your wardrobe, experiment with something new or even try to look good.

That said, a sober navy suit and black grenadine seems perfectly fine to me.

 

[Joffrey]

I would say avoid the french cuffs and stick to barrel cuffs.