[Sca-cooks] OT Burial Clothes was vampires was dyes was puritans was food honest

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Adamantius asked:
>
>>OK, garb mavens, does anybody have any comment on the question of
>>traditions of dressing our dead in clothes specifically intended for
>>burial, as opposed to real clothes?

> Interesting switch. My understanding is that today, folks are usually
> just buried in their best clothes or clothes that are special to them
> such as a military uniform, or for some in the SCA, SCA garb. How
> common was it in period to be buried in special clothes?
>
> In period it was common to be married in your best clothes,
> not something made especially for the event. Now, it is more common
> to wear clothes made just for that event, and likely not worn again.
> So possibly an interesting switch.


It may also be a practice among certain socio-economic groups to have a
wedding dress made, while others would wear their best clothes as you
describe. IIRC, there's a good description of everything you could want
to know about a contemporary Russian wedding, including the traditional
clothes, in the Domestroi.


What I find an interesting juxtaposition is that while certain groups (for example, the Jewish tradition Lady Solveig spoke of) will apparently make use of shrouds or other burial-specific garments/wraps (and the question has to come up of whether, technically speaking, shrouds are clothing in the strict sense, being often decorative but non-functional), modern Americans and presumably most other Westerners are buried in ordinary but presentable clothing. The irony lies in the fact that the ordinary clothing is often altered to allow the various people preparing the deceased for burial to get the clothing on them with a minimum of fuss. So, for example, you apparently get suits split down the back so they can be just tucked around the deceased, the front halves of shoes, etc.


Adamantius, meeting your ghoulish needs for over 39 years
--
Phil & Susan Troy

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