What winter wear for suits ?

January 27, 2009 6:04 PM

What do men wear to a winter funeral ?

I will be attending my first winter funeral this Thursday as a pallbearer no less. The temperature is expected to be between -12 C to -23 C with a decent wind chill.
What sort of outerwear do you wear over a suit jacket that is both warm and won't make me look out of place ?

posted by colophon to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

Black wool top coat, cossack hat.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:06 PM on January 27

Note that I am referring to the "ambassador" or "diplomat" style cossack hat.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:08 PM on January 27

Pretty much ditto what Ironmouth said. A fedora and earmuffs are probably easier to find than that hat, however.

Also, warm gloves. Don't worry about them, nobody notices gloves (as long as they're dark.) Just make sure they're warm. You're going to be handling metal in that cold.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:10 PM on January 27

You can also add a wool scarf. If you look at a lot of the government people from the US Inaguration from Tuesday, the formal dress was pretty much like that. Topcoat, fuzzy hat, scarf. You can wear silk long underwear under your clothes and layer up with good warm socks, gloves and even ear muffs.
posted by jessamyn at 6:11 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

Note that the link goes to a site for purchase. You can get it, but you should go for rush delivery, I would think.

I agree with the scarf as well. Solid color, preferably black or a dark grey.
posted by Ironmouth at 6:13 PM on January 27

Oh! Scarf is vital. So obvious to me that I didn't even think of it. Get a wool one, silk looks better on TV but isn't as warm.

Hmmm. Also, long underwear and cashmere socks (it sounds like a luxury, but they look good and are really warm. (the socks, I mean.)) Avoid a pima shirt; get a rough oxford. Cheap shoes nowadays are warmer (less natural materials.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:40 PM on January 27

Get a pair of sock liners to go under those cashmere socks, and if you can find them, glove liners too.
posted by acorncup at 8:31 PM on January 27

As jessamin says, if you have a look at Obama's inauguration, for the other people on the podium long dark wool coats seem to be the way to go, along with dark gloves, and plenty of scarves in evidence. There's quite a wide selection of hats on display including flat caps, fedoras, and cossacs, military hats, cowboy hats, and even a baseball cap or two.

On the hat front, if you've got a dark-coloured hat you often wear I'd go with that because most hats seem acceptable - you might as well go for one people have seen you in before.
posted by Mike1024 at 12:50 AM on January 28