When a dead person’s clothes were given away to the poor, people would say that however good they looked they would not last. The clothes were held still to belong to the dead. Chambers printed the saying among a Suffolk correspondent’s notes on old sayings about dress.
The Clothes of the Dead
Printed under 7 September · Suffolk
Lore and belief
Ah, they may look very well, but they won't wear; they belong to the dead.
From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, p. 322. Read the original
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