Sarah Blumert

March 21, 2020 Attending a loved one’s final service is typically an emotionally draining experience. Reminiscing on their life and sharing memories with friends and family are bittersweet staples of these observances, but often, an open-casket viewing is available so loved ones can say their final goodbyes face-to-face.

Something only close family members and morticians tend to consider when someone passes is their burial clothes. In some cases, the deceased person may choose their clothes to be buried in ahead of time, and in others, their immediate family may pick out their favorite outfit. But what happens when someone’s final wishes entail uncommon funeral clothes?

The people of Reddit shared the strangest outfits they’ve ever seen someone get buried in – here are some of their stories.

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• She Dressed As A Clown

From Redditor /u/smccoy0907:

My great-grandmother worked as a clown. Like, she attended a clown college and everything. She loved her job very much. She was [interred] dressed as a clown, with the makeup and everything.

• • He Wore His Jolliest Costume

From Redditor /u/MaliceMes_:

My uncle was [interred] in a Santa Claus outfit, and I can say I’m [scarred] forever for Christmas. All I could think about was a Santa zombie chasing people.

• • She Wanted Old Hollywood Glam

From Redditor /u/Sparkle__M0tion:

Fancy nightdress and matching robe. This 70+-year-old lady (or maybe it was her husband’s preference) wanted to [wear] this glamorous vintage night dress set that you would see in an old movie. It had feather accents and matching kitten-heel slipper things. She also [wore] her costume jewelry.

Her regular hairdresser came in to do her hair and cried the entire time. I think she had been sick for a while, so the nightdress fit loosely, so we used double-sided tape and a few simple stitches to the nightdress to try to keep everything where it should go.

It was a weird request, but I thought it was interesting. And, to the staff’s surprise, her family seemed to expect this as something totally normal.

• • He Was Ready For A Dive

From Redditor /u/littlekitty4:

My father was [interred] in his wetsuit. He loved to water ski and would go every weekend. I even had a matching one when I was a baby.

• • He Wore His Favorite Crocs

From Redditor /u/rant7268:

…When my dad [passed,] we sent his favorite Crocs for his feet. They were Ohio State University merch, and he often wore them to church to preach in. Yes, you read that right, my dad was a pastor who preached in Ohio State University Crocs.

He also had a HIDEOUS shirt that my mom tucked into the casket with him. My mom had tried to get rid of it several times, but my dad had a sixth sense and always rescued it from the donation pile. She didn’t bury him in it because it didn’t fit him anymore, but she let him take it with him.

• • He Wore His Best Pair Of Boxers

From Redditor /u/stace6:

My dad was a firefighter – he [passed from] lung cancer when I was 21. We decided to cremate him in his formal uniform, but my mom came out in front of our house full of family and friends with his large collection of superhero boxers and said “The Flash or The Hulk?”

It was a really great moment to lighten the mood and brought his goofier side right back to life (we chose the Flash, by the way).

• • She Wanted Everyone To Recognize Her Proudest Achievement

From Redditor /u/raddishes_united:

My great aunt was buried in her “100 Jazzercize Classes Taken” T-shirt. She was super f*cking proud of it, so it was fitting. Love that woman.

• • He Wore Nothing But A Blanket

From Redditor /u/rPhantom:

In my grandpa’s case, the outfit was his birthday suit and a treasured blanket.

When my grandpa [passed] a few years ago, it was his wish that he be buried [with no clothes] and wrapped in his favorite blanket, a blanket that my grandma hand-made for him decades ago.

Thankfully, the funeral home was very understanding of his wishes and had him in the casket [unclothed] with the blanket around him for his viewing and subsequent [interment].

• • He Had Something Up His Sleeve

From Redditor /u/UYScutiPuffJr:

Not ridiculous so much as weird from the outside, [but] my grandfather was [interred] with a folded-up bunch of paper towels stuffed up his sleeve.

He was one of those guys who always had something for spills and runny noses, and he always, always had paper towels or tissues with him. Turns out he had started keeping them in his sleeves when he was younger just in case he ever needed them, and with five kids and 11 grandkids, he always needed them.

When he [passed,] his sons decided it would be very fitting if he had some paper towels with him, so that’s how he was during his viewing and service.

• • She Just Wanted To Be Comfortable

From Redditor /u/Calby11:

My grandma wanted to be [interred] in powder blue PJs because she “wanted to be comfortable.” So that’s exactly what we did, and she looked great.

• He Accidentally Wore A Guy Fieri Shirt

From Redditor /u/CatFoibles:

My uncle was cremated in a shirt with a bunch of flames on it. It wasn’t planned though…

• • She Held A Winning Hand

From Redditor /u/surgicalasepsis:

My mom was an avid bridge (card game) player. Our sweet funeral director researched a good winning hand in bridge. Mom was cremated holding her “winning” hand.

• • He Went Au Naturel

From a former Redditor:

I went to a family friend’s funeral where the guy was just shirtless. He had a blanket covering up to his chest, so I’m not sure if he had pants.

• • He Went Shoeless

From Redditor /u/hep632:

My grandmother was raised [Seventh-day Adventist] and believed in the Resurrection. When my grandfather [passed], I laid out his best clothes and his dress cowboy boots, which he loved. My grandma HATED those boots, so she said, “Oh no, they don’t bury people with shoes on,” so I acquiesced and grandpa went into the ground in his socks.

I am sure she was worried she would have to spend eternity with him in those boots.

• • She Wore A Youthful Party Dress

From Redditor /u/oldreddishcolor:

I [used] to work in a morgue when I was in undergrad to help pay for tuition. One of my tasks was to dress the [deceased] and place them in the casket. When I arrived to work, I located miss Jane Doe (a 95-year-old lady) from our cooler and placed her on a silver table. I then proceeded to find her outfit that [the] family [had] left us for Jane Doe to wear.

As I take the clothes out of the bag, I quickly realized [they’re] not the usual apparel for a women in her 90s. It was a glittery black dress that came down mid thigh [and exposed] cleavage, with spaghetti straps and a pair of red high heels. They also provided a thin scarf to go around her shoulders. I thought to myself, “She is definitely dancing up in heaven now.”

Unfortunately, due to skin tear, we had to [advise] the family to use less-revealing attire.

• • He Wore His ‘Battle Pants’

From Redditor /u/VerityPushpram:

I buried my late husband in a Superman T-shirt and his favourite camo pants and boots. He wore his camos when he went to chemotherapy – he called them his battle pants.

I put in a poker chip from one of his mates, his Blackberry, and a toy from our daughter. I always wonder what the archaeologists would make of it if he was ever exhumed.

• • She Received Medieval Rites

From Redditor /u/Liscetta:

One of my medieval LARP teammates lost his wife when they were both in their 50s. They were very passionate players.

He [interred] her in a beautiful white dress decorated with pearls and rhinestone, a veil, [and] a crown similar to king Elrond’s. We could see her in the small chapel of the hospital – she was gorgeous. Her husband held a speech as he used to do during LARP sessions when we mourned a [deceased] hero, and at a certain point, we shouted her name 10 times. Fifty of us. It was heartwarming and surreal.

The funeral mass was on the next day. It was fine. Somehow, treating her as one of our characters helped him to accept her [passing]. He still plays and wears a medallion with her portrait during game sessions.

• • She Took A Special Someone With Her

From Redditor /u/ToukaMareeee:

When my great-grandmother [passed], her wish was to be buried with her husband who had been cremated about 14 years earlier. But it’s illegal here to bury two people in one grave, unless it’s asked, like, years before they [go].

So my grandmother had this plan. She had a pillow made of [my] g-grandmother’s wedding dress. So my grandmother put g-grandfather’s ashes into the pillow, and when we could say our last farewells, we asked the funeral [director] if we could change the original pillow for this one. He agreed, and we were trying so hard not to laugh, because we were smuggling g-grandfather, who was dressed in a wedding dress, into the coffin illegally, and I swear I could hear g-grandmother laugh through the wind…

• • He Wore A Uniform From His Favorite Show

From Redditor /u/CarlSpencer:

…An elderly friend of mine who was obsessed with space aliens demanded to be laid out in his Star Trek uniform. He looked good! Everyone understood and [was] cool with it. His widow was fiercely protective of him. He left me one of his five Star Trek communication devices. High quality, too!

• • She Threatened To Haunt Them If She Didn’t Get Her Handkerchief

From Redditor /u/othybear:

My husband’s grandma had a box that she wanted opened after [she passed]. It had a few instructions in it about what she wanted for her funeral. It also included a handkerchief that read, “Bury me with this in my hand, or I’ll haunt you.”

My mother-in-law made sure that was in her hand and able to be read by everyone at the viewing. It really did capture her sense of humor.

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