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#1 2011-12-29 00:43:32
- fxh
- Big Down Under.
- From: Melbourne
- Posts: 6159
Funeral wear
Ive got a funeral next Tuesday.
It's forecast to be 36C or more.
I'll be wearing a dark blue or charcoal chalk striped suit as usual. I don't have any plain suits that are dark.
It will be as hot as buggery as its inland and possible it will reach 40C.
Has anyone in USA or the South Amercicas worked out a sensible compromise between respect, tradition and comfort?
Edit:: it's forecast as 39C =102F
Last edited by fxh (2011-12-29 00:46:50)
#3 2011-12-29 23:27:31
- captainpreppy
- Member
- Posts: 1536
Re: Funeral wear
What are the fabric weights of your dark suits? If they are 270 grams or less, they'd probably be tolerable in an air conditioned environment.
#4 2011-12-30 01:00:13
- fxh
- Big Down Under.
- From: Melbourne
- Posts: 6159
Re: Funeral wear
Thanks for the replies. I'm not too worried for myself - I'll wear what I wear and really I wont be any hotter than the few wearing shorts and t shirts (probably none actually with this family)
I was more musing on how what worked / works in damp and cold UK, where it all started, doesn't translate all that well to warmer climes. And more importantly how little we appear to have addressed the problem. Mainly because like the Americans we seem to have opted for "comfort" and dressing like young boys on a play group outing and avoiding the issue.
We have air con and artificial lighting everywhere which incidentally demolishes a lot of iGentt rules.
I'll wear chinos and open necked shirt, then an hour before church service* I'll get into a white shirt, dark suit and dark plain tie and black shoes - its what I do. I'll take a black umbrella to the cemetery and then we'll be back to the air con pub for a few drinks and and eat. Its a 4 hour drive non stop home even @110 ks p h, so I wont be drinking alcohol at all.
I don't mind wearing the "bag o fruit" for a few hours in heat, small price, but it does strike me as a bit weird.
NJS - a black armband would seem too much like a football player's gesture or a celebrity style thing to do and a bit tacky. Maybe its different elsewhere. (its always different elsewhere)
edit:: my daughter lives in Taiwan and there white is associated with death and black with mainland gangsters or business or wedding suits.
* I don't know why I said church service - it will be a Requiem Mass - bloody proddies have got to me.
Last edited by fxh (2011-12-30 03:47:29)
#5 2011-12-30 08:55:59
- Film Noir Buff
- Dandy Nightmare
- From: Devil's Island
- Posts: 9345
Re: Funeral wear
I have a mental image that wearing a black tie to a funeral nowadays is almost a sartorial flourish.
Years back, a friends father died and the service was held at a church in Princeton, NJ. It was one of the hottest summer days ever and the Norman style church had no air conditioning and no ventilation. I was wearing a white voile shirt, H. Lesser tropical charcoal solid suit and a black tie. It was so hot outside and so humid that it was somewhat insulating; almost as if the body was confused about being allowed to perspire or saving precious fluids. In the church, they tried to set up fans but it was an absolute inferno. Little children were dripping profusely and their parents were trying to cool them off; when do you ever see children sweating? I was lucky enough to arrive early and sit in front of a huge fan angled downward and I was still boiling. Perspired the color out of my jacket lining. I was so very happy to escape that church and run into the 100+ degree, 100 percent humidity day. It was like an ocean breeze after that service.
#6 2011-12-30 15:40:06
- NJS
- Member
- Posts: 2358
Re: Funeral wear
As Sator once told us, the Bedouin shroud themselves in heavy cloth to keep off the heat of the sun. I just wear bathing shorts most of the time and take a tan; which is why I might just think that wearing a black armband to a funeral might be a nice touch.
