Contemporary traditional funeral attire

[David Thorpe]

Nobody likes to think about them, but are there traditional specifics regarding attending a funeral kilted? I have thought about black hose, shirt and tie. Black band across the cap badge? Black arm band?

[Charlie]

I have attended several funerals wearing my kilt. I usually wore a Prince charlie jacket; kilt with a plain tie, white or dark green hose.

Many times in Britain those attending are requested not to wear sombre colours in favour of brighter colours to make a funeral a celebration of the deceased's life.

[Dale Seago]

I hadn't attended one kilted until yesterday; but it seems reasonable to not want to look like a peacock. In my case I was going directly from the memorial service for a friend & student in Half Moon Bay to the South Bay Scottish Society's annual Burns Supper in Mountain View; so I tried for a muted, sober look that would hopefully work for both events. Here's a pic taken at the Burns Supper:

[Paul Henry]

Have a look here, which will give you some ideas of what might happen in Scotland, some black but generally daywear, so all black wouldn't be the norm Chief John Macleod Funeral

[Dale Seago]

Many times in Britain those attending are requested not to wear sombre colours in favour of brighter colours to make a funeral a celebration of the deceased's life.

That makes good sense to me, especially if a number of people will be kilted. In my case I knew I'd probably be the only one, and didn't want to draw undue attention to myself.

[MacMillans son]

I think the short answer is "No" regarding specific attire. The general consensus is to wear what ever you would typically wear to a funeral in your part of the world. For most of us, that is nicely dressed and respectful, without worry about arm bands or head bands, or overly somber accessories.

Hope that helps.

[auld argonian]

Dale looks appropriately dressed. I see that he stayed with a plain white shirt...that's the one bit of advice I'd offer...leave the colored shirts (especially black) at home. My mom and dad gave us strict rules concerning attire to be worn to wakes: jacket and tie always, dress suit if you're a pallbearer. Hereabouts these days very few people bother to even put on a necktie...jeans and crosstrainers are, sadly, pretty much the norm. Nice to see that most of the forum members here are the kind of people who "kick it up a notch" and show some respect to the departed.

Best

AA

[David Thorpe]

All very helpful. Thank you.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I have attended two funerals in recent months while kilted, both for men who were themselves kilt wearers and actively involved in Scottish heritage activities, so there were many kilted men there to pay their respects.

I tend to dress traditionally but conservatively, avoiding any accessories that would look to flashy.

For the first funeral I wore my Duke of York tartan kilt, and this jacket:

It is a very dark navy blue, which toned well with the kilt. I think I also wore the same tie (no red pocket square, though). I wore the same black leather sporran in the above photo. So really, the only thing different was the kilt and lack or pocket square. I forget what hose I had on but I think they were plain navy blue. Black leather shoes.

At the funeral I most recently attended (only yesterday) I wore my St. Ninian tartan kilt, but the same jacket, and a very similar tie to the one pictured. Same sporran. Navy blue hose.

Other men there were in typical black Argyle jackets. That was perhaps the most common choice. Though there were quite a few tweed jackets worn, as well. I almost wore one of my tweed jackets, but opted for the light weight navy blue one, instead, at the last minute.

I only saw one Prince Charlie jacket worn, and to be honest it looked out of place.

There were only two kilted men there that I did not think were dressed appropriately. One had on a Jacobite style "kilt shirt," and the fellow he was with was wearing a feilidh-mhor, Jacobite shirt, and a Ren Faire style sleeveless waistcoat. In fact they looked more like they were dressed for a Ren Faire than a funeral. I'm sure no one said anything to them about it, but I did have a few non-kilted people ask me why they might be dressed that way - it was obvious that they were not dressed like most of the other kilted men there.

[McMurdo]

Here is an outfit I wore to a funeral a few years ago it was for a work friends wife, she was Scottish and loved the kilt. Some of her family came over and they were so very pleased that someone wore the kilt. They unfortunately had their luggage sent off to parts unknown and thus were wearing the clothes they were flying in.