Help – suddenly invited to funeral and have limited wardrobe.

Trying not to embarass myself here…Paternal grandmother passed away a few days ago and the funeral is Tuesday. Originally only my wife was to go but MIL called just now and would like us all to go (child included). I really cut back on anything remotely formal in the past few years. Here’s what I’ve got:

* Dark blue business suit – quite dark, tailored and looks nice
* Black tie (with some silver)
* New black shoes I never wear
* Good, fitted white shirt
* Alternatively -if not wearing the blue suit – I could wear a pair of black pants which are tailored and very nice but would not have a blazer to wear

I’ve got a bad cold and Christmas plans so the best I can do shopping wise would be a lunch break run to a dept store for an hour on Monday.

Thoughts?

4 comments
  1. As you get older, the unfortunate truth is that it’s good to have 喪服.

    Depending on how dark your business suit, that could pass but still a little off especially if you’re with the family. Get a black tie from the combini or Aoki type store.

    Edit: you should actually get a proper suit if you’re near an Aoki, サカゼン, etc. They can turn it around the same day.

    Edit 2: And i’m sorry about your family’s loss…

  2. I wore a dark blue suit to my wife’s grandmother’s funeral as all my suits are not black. Family was perfectly fine with it, and some of them were not in pure black. I did ask beforehand.

  3. you really need to invest on good black business suit… it’s a must have item for people like me who don’t bother with fashion lol.

    job interview, client meeting, funeral, child entrance ceremony, even when I visited casino during vacation.

  4. Hi OP

    First and foremost, I am sorry for your loss.

    Renting 喪服 is an alternative rather than buying one.

    I can’t say if there’s a place that offers that service where you live, but you can google 「喪服 レンタル」
    (I think 「礼服 レンタル」will also work, most places should categorize those two in a similar fashion or the same)

    喪服 = Mo-fuku
    礼服 = Rei-fuku

    Also if this is for the funeral (葬式) 喪服should be fine but if it’s for the wake (通夜) I’d recommend not wearing 喪服 but rather a regular dark colored business suit

    IDK if most people care of these things nowadays but it’s like a thing where if you wear 喪服to a 通夜 people will think that you anticipated someone’s passing.

    Please take my advice with a grain of salt since the last お葬式 I attended was back in junior high and I wore my school uniform.

    Hope the above helps you somewhat.

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