Embalming - Clothing

Clothing

In the Western world, men are typically buried in business attire, such as a suit or coat and tie, and women in semi-formal dresses or pant suits. In recent years, a change has occurred and many individuals are now buried in less formal clothing, such as what they would have worn on a daily basis, or other favorite attire. Clothing worn can also reflect the deceased person's profession or vocation: Priests and ministers are often dressed in their liturgical vestments, and military and law enforcement personnel often wear their uniform. Underwear, singlets, bras, briefs and hosiery are all used if the family so desires, and the deceased is dressed in them as they would be in life.

In certain instances a funeral director will request a specific style of clothing, such as a collared shirt or blouse, to cover traumatic marks or autopsy incisions. In other cases clothing may be cut down the back and placed on the deceased from the front to ensure a proper fit. In many areas of Asia and Europe, the custom of dressing the body in a specially designed shroud/funeral gown, rather than in clothing used by the living, is preferred.

A lesser known procedure of dressing the deceased is that, in many cases, the upper body clothing is cut up the back and placed over the deceased, or "draped" on the front of the body with the arms straight out. This is since the rigid state of the deceased makes it impossible to bend the arms to place them through sleeves in clothing. Popular culture often ignores this, showing zombies raised from the grave wearing fully intact clothing. A notable exception is the film The Crow which accurately depicts a man raised from the grave having his coat and shirt cut up the back.

After the deceased has been dressed, they are placed in the casket (in British English, the term coffin is used for all types of burial boxes. In North American English, a coffin is only anthropoid in form, whereas a rectangular box is called a “casket") for the various funeral rites. It is common for photographs, notes, cards and favorite personal items to be placed in the casket with the deceased. Bulky and expensive items, such as electric guitars, are occasionally interred with a body. In some ways this mirrors the ancient practice of placing grave goods with a person for use/enjoyment in the afterlife. In traditional Chinese culture, paper substitutes of the goods are buried or cremated with the deceased instead, as well as paper money specifically purchased for the occasion.