![]() Simple white burial garments ( tachrichim) are used to clothe the body regardless of gender, avoiding ostentation and emphasizing equality after death. Shrouds form a similarly crucial part in Jewish burial ritual. One piece has a hole cut out for the head, resembling a long basic shirt, which covers the whole body. After washing the body, it is systematically wrapped in several unstitched pieces of cloth, three for men and five for women. Part in Islamic burial ritual, using plain white lengths of cotton for everyone, regardless of social status or wealth, although variations may occur. Shrouding the body ( kafan) plays a central Religious belief frequently provides traditional guidelines for clothing the dead, using specific garments with their own significance. All are full-length, long-sleeved, and open-backed to assist the funeral director in dressing the corpse. Ladies shrouds have become gowns, frequently styled like nightgowns in pastel shades of satin, taffeta, or printed cotton and trimmed with lace or ruffles. Some give the appearance of a formal suit but are constructed as a one-piece garment. Within the Western funeral industry, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, male shrouds became described as robes, resembling dressing gowns in darker shades of paisley, satin, or suiting. The range of fabrics had expanded to include calico, cashmere, linen, muslin, poplin, satin, and silk, trimmed with ruffles, lace, or pin-tucks depending on personal choice and the gender of the corpse.ĭesigns available increased throughout the twentieth century, also becoming more gender-specific. Victorian shrouds resembled long one-piece nightgowns, white with back opening and long sleeves. A typical woolen shroud set at this time might have consisted of a long flannel shirt with a front opening edged in woolen lace or black thread, long sleeves with gathered wrists, a pair of gloves, a cravat, a cap or headdress, and a small square piece of cloth to cover the face. The growth of the new under-taking profession from the early eighteenth century onward, coupled with changes in textile and garment manufacture, led to an expanding range of ready-to-wear shrouds in a variety of styles, fabrics, and prices. Funeral IndustryĮarly shrouds were made specifically for each corpse, often by a family member. The wealthy disregarded this, preferring to pay a fine rather than bury their dead in wool, choosing instead more expensive fabrics and trimmings made from linen, silk, lace, gold, and silver which seemed more appropriate to their social status. A legal document had to be signed at each burial certifying that the corpse had been buried only in wool. A Parliamentary Act was passed in 1678 to enforce burial in woolen shrouds, to promote the ailing English wool trade. Shrouds increasingly became indicators of social status, reflected in changing designs. Cunnington and Lucas (1972) and Litten (1991) both provide detailed descriptions of variations of English shrouds before the twentieth century, including alternative grave clothes used for the aristocracy and royalty. Containment and ease of transporting the shrouded body was important as most people were buried without a coffin at this time. ![]() The sixteenth-century shroud, also referred to as a winding sheet, was usually a length of linen, which was wound around the body and secured by knotting the fabric at the head and feet. During the eleventh century, ordinary people would have clothed their dead in a loose shirt before wrapping them in a sheet, often colored rather than white, and sometimes swaddled or wound tightly with extra bands of cloth. The early shroud fulfilled the function of containing the decaying corpse, while modestly covering the body. An early reference to shrouding can be found in biblical accounts-the New Testament describes Jesus' body wrapped in a linen sheet for burial. Contemporary descriptions, archaeological accounts, and artistic depictions occasionally provide evidence of shrouds from earlier periods of history and other cultures, although examples of actual garments rarely survive intact, usually decaying along with the body they were used to dress. Although the word shroud can be traced back to a specific place in history, it should not be regarded as the point when burial clothing for the corpse first became used. Its form generally ranges from a length of cloth to basic loose-fitting purpose-made garments. ![]() It has since become widely used to refer to garments or coverings specifically made to dress the dead body prior to its final disposal, whether by burial or cremation. The word "shroud" originated in fourteenth century England to describe the clothing used to dress or wrap a corpse prior to burial, derived from older words scrud meaning garment and screade-a piece or strip of fabric.
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