Why do ghosts wear clothes?

[SSanf]

Have you seen any? Were they clothed? If so, why are they clothed?

[Cindlady2]

Yes.
I think it's because it's how we are comfortable when we are alive. I suppose if the person lived where there were less or no clothing... that's how they would appear. We see them as they wish us to.

[Xentor]

Why do ghosts wear clothes? Have you seen any? Were they clothed? If so, why are they clothed?

I never asked any clothed ones why they were clothed, but for those that are I concur with Cindlady2.

I happened to see what I believe to be the ghost of a cat, some 2 months ago. It wasn't wearing any clothes, and I also couldn't ascertain the status of its fur.

[Mouse]

I agree with Cindlady2. Basically it's unusual for us to go without clothing in life, so in death it would also be odd to be naked. Aside from that, a lot of "ghosts" are not actually ghosts, they are more like memories that got "stuck" and keep playing over and over for the people who can see them. I know there's a term for this but I can't think of it.

Except for cat ghosts (I wonder why cats? I've never seen other animal ghosts...), the few ghosts I've seen have all been clothed. One of which was wearing armour. Weird but true.

[Teresa]

IMO, they carry that over from life. They appear dressed in something they were fond of perhaps. It is all what they found comfortable when living maybe.

I never bothered to ask and no ghost has ever told but this will be interesting to try and figure out.

[Shanti]

Because its what you expect.
Spirits ain't in it for the shock and awe. :)

[PsyMoon]

I believe that when an entity passes through our dimensional "Plane", much like a Golden Apple passes through a portion of "Flatland" "space" that our minds translate these experiences though their perspective filters and general consenus seems to indicate that clothing is needed in this realm.

I believe that our minds and senses work together to try to give us a map that is accurate but sometimes just isn't up to the job. Just as more people report the color of a blue car involved in an accident at night as green, and we "see" things as they may not be.

While I do agree that the "mental" (does this term apply here?!?!?) status of the "entity" (is this term acceptable?!?!?)is an important factor in what we see when they pass through how it appears to us I believe is largely in how we filter our perceptions.

[LostSheep]

I agree with Cindlady2. Basically it's unusual for us to go without clothing in life, so in death it would also be odd to be naked. Aside from that, a lot of "ghosts" are not actually ghosts, they are more like memories that got "stuck" and keep playing over and over for the people who can see them. I know there's a term for this but I can't think of it.

Except for cat ghosts (I wonder why cats? I've never seen other animal ghosts...), the few ghosts I've seen have all been clothed. One of which was wearing armour. Weird but true.

I think that "ghosts" are the image that was left on a place after some big emotional event happened there, (or they may not necessarily appear at the place it happened, they may appear somewhere they had strong emtional involvement with). I think the energy of the people involved imprints itself like a negative, so what you'd see is the image of the person as they were at the time, and hence what they were wearing. So if they were wearing armour when, presumably, they were killed, that's what you'd see them in.

And cats ... i think cats are reincarnated spirits ... maybe on the next level up from humanity.

[*kel*]

imo, ghosts are seen wearing what they wore at the time of their death, their favourite outfit, or i guess what they want, i have never seen a naked ghost or heard of anyone seeing one. i have seen them quiet a few times. i have a little boy spirit here, i have seen him four times and each time he is wearing the same blue shirt. i seen a male spirit here two nights ago and he was wearing beige/cream coloured clothes.

[TheWomanMonster]

I've seen ONE 'ghost' 'entity' 'whatever it was' appear nude before...
it was very tragic and violent though...
reminded me of something quite terrible.

but yeah, for the most part I've seen them in clothes. *shrugs*

Maybe it's an echo, a memory.
Maybe it's an entity from another place.
I'm still undecided on exactly what I think of that.

But yes I do see them... a lot.

[ModernKnight]

I agree with psymoon, some of it is our own brain trying to construct an image out of the various impressions our psychic senses give us. Our minds fill in the gaps with what we expect or believe is likely.

[aniraangel]

I agree with Cindlady2. Basically it's unusual for us to go without clothing in life, so in death it would also be odd to be naked. Aside from that, a lot of "ghosts" are not actually ghosts, they are more like memories that got "stuck" and keep playing over and over for the people who can see them. I know there's a term for this but I can't think of it.

Except for cat ghosts (I wonder why cats? I've never seen other animal ghosts...), the few ghosts I've seen have all been clothed. One of which was wearing armour. Weird but true.

I think they're called place memories.

Well for one a lot of people would freak, should they encounter a nudist ghost *amused look* The ghosts I actually see are always clothed, one was in clothes like two hundred years old... creepy child, that she was. I dont always actually see them though, but I know they're there and I can feel/hear them or see vauge shapes when I can't see them properly.

Oh and we have a ghost cat, he has fur!

[Sage-y-kins]

They are not always wearing clothes.
When I was younger I walked into a room FULL of natives, all wearing whatever it was they wore then (then being prob around 1830), some of them were pretty much naked, other than an arm band or headress. They were in full warrior mode tho, with spears and axes and such.
I've seen a horribly burned and beaten man, his clothes were tattered and disintegrated in some parts.
I've had one visitor than just shone, like her clothes were made of light.
The child that visited me last night was wearing a nightgown.

I think that when people die, they remember themselves as they were, and thats how we will see them as well.

Blessings...

[~Belladonna~]

I agree with the theory it's because it's how we expect to see them, and also we're so used to wearing clothes so we take that with us.

[Thunder]

The images that we see may not all be ghosts. Some images are just that... images of past events captured in time and space. Like the silhouettes of the victims of Hiroshima etched into a wall. Energetic images can reside in a place and play over and over like a film loop.

Ghosts, I believe present themselves as they choose, not as a function of our expectations. IMHO

[Tabula Rasa]

I've seen two ghosts, and one -strangely enough- was shirtless.

The first ghost I saw was of a woman, and she was quite distinctly wearing all purple; a purple sweatshirt and purple corduroy pants. I recall thinking it was an odd outfit. She had reddish hair, it looked dyed. There was that much detail. It was very strange. She looked at me with shock, as if I was the ghost.

The second ghost was on the corner of a road, he was standing on a driveway that went down a hill, he was shirtless and you could only see him from the waist up, so at first we all thought he might be naked. A group of us saw him, around 3:00 in the morning. My friend Mike saw him first and his eyes widened, then I followed his gaze and saw the man. At that point I just remember the group of us all bolting at once, without a word being spoken. My friend Janis and I thought it was strange how we -as a group- had acted, and so we walked back a bit to see what the guy looked like. When we walkd back the man was standing in the middle of the road, looking our way. He was wearing beige pants, but no shirt. It was hair-raising at the time, believe me.

We actually didn't think the second guy was a ghost, just some weirdo - I remember the look on his face was as if he had been 'caught' doing something wrong. - About a year later Janis met a girl who lived on that little strip of road, so Janis told her about the guy, and the girl asked "Did he have sandy colored hair, and wear a beard?" - which he did- to which she replied "He's seen all the time, he's a ghost."

[Vigdisdotter]

Yes. Yes. And I would quest it's for the same reason they assume human likeness; that manifestation is base on what is familiar to the ghost.

[GEBS]

My 11 year old's answer:

Because ghosts are still like people they just don't have their physical body. They're still embarrassed like we are. Just because they're dead doesn't mean they've changed their feelings about things.

[Tanz]

My personal opinion is that mainly there are 2 types of ghosts. Some are literally recordings of past events, not sentient, just images of the past. Therefore they wear what they wore when the image was recorded. The other type are conscious and I think they wear clothes because it is natural to them, as they would of done so in life. That being said there are some other oddities (headless horsemen for example, and can you call banshees ghosts?) As for animals, I have seen cats mainly, but also a dog, a parrot and a pet rat...

[aluokaloo]

those types aren't ghosts in the sense that we associate them with, they are called residual hauntings, it's alot like...a video tape or a recording. They can't interact with us, like a poltergeist, or a spirit could.
I haven't seen a lot of ghosts, in the traditional sense of the word, except one time in Venice Beach, I saw a headless dog rush past me while I was getting a soda and a hot dog, right when the lights were going out. But maybe this is also my answer to why there are ghost ships and trains and such. Just residual hauntings that eventually fade with time.

[Skadi]

I've only ever seen one ghost... and while there was no certain lack of clothes, there also wasn't any clothes... if that makes sense. He wasn't naked, but he wasn't wearing clothing. Weird.

[Lisey]

I think ghosts are real i think they let us see them in many ways. I think maybe if they have cloths on they might seem less scarey,unlike in a mist or some other way. Ive seen a light blue orb or ball glowing , with a little white one next to it about [2] months after my gramma died .I some times see black images out the corner of my eye I look but see nothing.

[Elinanda du Lithr]

I have seen a ghost once and it was just a dark shapeless mass--in my opinion why most ghosts and seen wearing clothes is because they are just illusions sent by the actual ghost.

[Rudas Starblaze]

kinda makes ya wonder what it would be like in a haunted porn star mansion doesnt it!?:lol:

[Thunder]

They wear clothes so we cannot see their crystal balls.

I'll save you the trouble... _wedgie_

[Nox_Mortus]

well I assume that if they had something to say they would want to appear in thier human form to be recognizable and less frightening, and they would probably want clothes because appearing before random people naked is just bad taste.

Then theres the idea that ghosts are sometimes echoes of a persons spirit and it makes sense that they would be wearing whatever the person was when they made the impression causing the ghost to appear.

[leaf-shadow]

yes, and as for why they r dressed, well, they are dead people, and people wear cloths... you know... lol

[blackroseivy]

I know it seems weird - but you see, essentially they are IDEAS of themselves. Their "idea" would, very naturally, include the clothes that they used to wear - familiarity is a by-word in haunting. ;)

[Aoibheal]

I know I wouldn't want to wander around the afterlife nekkid, could be drafty there too! There is also a pretty cool ghost pic on my dA if anyone wants to check it out. The photo was taken by my Reiki instructor at her studio. Lots of spirits mulling around that place hehe.