For people who have never attended a funeral before this may seem like a daunting task. In this day and age what to wear to a funeral will vary based on a multitude of factors.
It has been traditional to wear black formal clothes to a funeral since Queen Victoria’s time. This is a tradition that has remained mostly the same until recent times. We are seeing more and more, families are asking to have black formal clothes banned from the funeral while asking everyone attending to wear bright non formal clothing. This however is very dependant and will vary funeral to funeral. We recommend to air on the side of caution and wear formal black clothes unless informed otherwise. If unsure we recommend speaking to the family and/or the funeral director for specific funeral.
Some people may want formal attire with colourful accents, in this case we recommend for gentlemen a suit with a colourful tie/shirt which is sometimes asked of the chauffer bearer’s. For women we recommend a colourful cardigan over a dress. In my opinion I think some fun colourful socks to match go nicely with a suit for an added accent. The family may set a specific dress code for everyone to wear this could be based on their favourite colour or even the football team they supported, it’s always best to double check with the family first if unsure.
One factor to consider is culture and religion of the funeral, for example it is common in Buddhist funerals for everyone attending to wear a headband which is not tradition in western cultures, however some cultures and religions may not follow every aspect of their traditions when having a funeral in the UK so please do double check with the family beforehand. We recommend taking weather into account. During winter you will want to make sure you bring extra layers, however in summer we advise lighter clothes so as not to overheat.
