# Navy Blue Suit To A Funeral?



## welldressedfellow

Would it be disrespectful/in poor taste to wear a solid navy blue suit to a funeral?


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## jackmccullough

No, that's perfectly fine. Wear a white shirt and a somber tie and you'll be fine. The family will appreciate that you were there.


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## cosmotoast

I read in a previous thread in this forum that one should wear charcoal or navy to a funeral.The modern way of thinking was that only relatives of the deceased wore black.
Cosmo


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## StevenRocks

Navy suits are appropriate for funerals.


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## Simon Myerson

I think that it's the tie that matters at a funeral. Sombre is the point - either plain or very, very muted pattern, and strictly suit/shirt colour + white square or dot.


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## laufer

jackmccullough said:


> No, that's perfectly fine. Wear a white shirt and a somber tie and you'll be fine. The family will appreciate that you were there.


Jack I am actually in market for a somber tie. I appreciate if you would recommended one?


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## Man of a certain age

laufer said:


> Jack I am actually in market for a somber tie. I appreciate if you would recommended one?


In the Uk it's usual to wear a solid black tie for a funeral, although as others have said any dark muted tie will pass muster.
The navy suit is quite appropiate, just leave the bling and the colourful pocket square in the wardrobe.


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## Cruiser

jackmccullough said:


> Wear a white shirt and a somber tie and you'll be fine.


While this has always been my approach, I have noticed that it isn't always adhered to these days. I'm not talking about folks dressing casually for a funeral but rather those who are otherwise dressed appropriately and know the "rules".

For example, when I was watching Gerald Ford's funeral on television a couple of years ago I was immediately struck by how many men were not wearing somber ties. A good example was Bill Frist, a man whose background would lend one to believe that he "knows", was wearing a red striped tie; and there were many other similar examples.

I was talking to a friend about this and he suggested that when the funeral is for an elderly person who has had a long, fruitful life the wearing of dark, somber clothing becomes less of an issue as the funeral is more about celebrating that person's life than just mourning their passing. This would certainly explain the less than somber neckties worn by many of those dignitaries attending President Ford's funeral.

Having said that, I still wear a very muted tie with a dark suit when I attend a funeral.

Cruiser


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## GBR

Not in the slightest


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## jackmccullough

laufer said:


> Jack I am actually in market for a somber tie. I appreciate if you would recommended one?


If the main use is for funerals, solid black is a good choice. Otherwise, just look in the stores for a tie that is predominantly a dark color and a muted pattern. You'll know it when you se it.


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## Flanderian

I'd prefer charcoal or other darker gray as a fist choice with a black or dark gray tie. But if navy it is, navy it will have to be!


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## dbgrate

If you're the one in the box,of course,you can wear whatever you like.


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## Brooksfan

Oh, good. Let's rekindle the praises of the black suit-it's been a least a few hours since we tossed this one around.


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## TMMKC

jackmccullough said:


> No, that's perfectly fine. Wear a white shirt and a somber tie and you'll be fine. The family will appreciate that you were there.


^+1...a navy suit is appropriate


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## Acct2000

Navy suit with a pale blue or white shirt and somber tie will work for a funeral. By somber, I think we mean any dark colored tie that is not extravagently patterned, etc. I would not wear the black tie with the blue suit. 

I don't know if I've seen anyone wear a black tie to a funeral in the last 20 years, but I don't claim to see everything.


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## Matt S

forsbergacct2000 said:


> I don't know if I've seen anyone wear a black tie to a funeral in the last 20 years, but I don't claim to see everything.


I wear my charcoal suit with a black tie, usually a grenadine.


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## JayJay

Matt S said:


> I wear my charcoal suit with a black tie, usually a grenadine.


I also wear a charcoal suit with black grenadine tie. I've worn solid navy with a navy tie on occasion as well.


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## JerseyJohn

I've been to a number of funerals lately , and from what I've seen, if you're wearing a suit and tie at all to a viewing, you'll be better dressed than most. People seem to dress better for a church service, but I think navy or any dark suit would still be fine.


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## Jovan

Navy is perfectly fine. I wore a navy suit to my friend's funeral this year... if anything, my narrow tie was the most wild thing worn (but it was dark and my shirt was white). I doubt she or anyone else minded that.


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## maestrom

I think it really depends on the funeral. Some are more casual than others.


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## Scoundrel

Navy is ok... Whaat about pinstripes?


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## Matt S

Scoundrel said:


> Navy is ok... Whaat about pinstripes?


No pinstripes. Stripes are for business only.


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## Scoundrel

Oh... Ok, that's what I thought.


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## Frank aka The Minotaur

cosmotoast said:


> I read in a previous thread in this forum that one should wear charcoal or navy to a funeral.The modern way of thinking was that only relatives of the deceased wore black.
> Cosmo


I wore a navy suit to my mother's funeral. I wore a crisp white shirt and dark tie. I wore a dark gray suit to my father's. Being second generation Italian/Sicilian, we eschew the black Addams Family look. However, my partner's family, being first generation Puerto Rican wore all black (and I do mean ALL black) to their father's funeral, including the kids who were teens then. It was, in a word, creepy. My partner wore a white shirt. He shared my feeling of the creepiness. However, they accepted that I would not wear any black except shoes and belt (for reasons that are not relevant here, I have the family's utmost respect and can do as I please without question). I opted for dark blue slacks, a darker-than-French blue shirt, dark tie, and no jacket. No jacket doesn't seem to be frowned upon.


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## Frank aka The Minotaur

As a further thought, to me the idea of a black tie and even a black suit except for the funeral directors (who I think are even using "softer" blacks) is cliched. Just my opinion.


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## PJC in NoVa

Has anyone noticed that even on today's "up to date" TV shows and movies, graveside funeral services are still portrayed as looking extremely traditional (all the men in black or other very dark suits, white shirts, and black ties, ladies in black too).

Of course the reality, at least based on the dozen or so funerals I've attended in the last several years, is quite different. Even if the service is traditional and a fair number of the men are in jackets and ties, people are not likely to show up dressed all in black. Instead, a funeral or wake seems to be treated more like any other semiformal or even "dressy casual" occasion, with any reasonably in-bounds attire considered in good taste.

My guess is that TV and movie costumers and art directors, realizing that a "funerary" impression needs to be quickly and powerfully conveyed to the viewer, instinctively fall back on the still-potent semiotics of black (or at least decidedly dark) suits, pressed white shirts, etc. as a way of telegraphing this.

It's a testament, I suppose, to the continuing power of traditional clothing to send social signals, even in our age when sportshirts at solemn interments raise few eyebrows.


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## Jovan

I don't see why black would be clichéd at all. It's traditional and correct for funerals. I wore a black suit to a funeral back in early '07 (when it still fit me) as it was the only dark suit I had.

PJC: That's strange, as most film and television I see these days have the men in navy or charcoal suits, albeit with the de rigeur white shirts and dark ties. I don't recall a single black suit in the episodes of "Six Feet Under" I've seen!


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## Earl of Ormonde

Any plain dark suit and any plain dark tie is suitable....unless you're in Sweden of course where a light grey suit is the accepted norm coupled with a white tie for family members.

The only people who wear black/navy suits and black ties in Sweden are the church and undertaker staff...we did this thread just a week or so ago.


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## Tim Correll

Flanderian said:


> I'd prefer charcoal or other darker gray as a fist choice with a black or dark gray tie. But if navy it is, navy it will have to be!


What about a charcoal tie if it is somber? Is that acceptable for a wake, memorial service and funeral?


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## JLibourel

Matt S said:


> No pinstripes. Stripes are for business only.


I have never quite understood where this iGent dogma came from. If you look at the "Golden Age" illustrations by Fellowes, et al., in Flusser's "Dressing the Man," there are a number of pictures of men in pinstripes in non-business situations. In point of fact, I have worn a charcoal suit with faint pinstriping to several funerals and never felt I was in the least out of line. At least in my part of the world, wearing any sort of conservative suit to a funeral will put you way ahead of most mourners apparel-wise.


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