cloth·ing (kl    ng)n. 1. Clothes considered as a group; wearing apparel. 2. A covering. |
clothing [ˈkləʊðɪŋ]
Clothing
2. a particular outfit of clothes.
Clothing clothes, suits, etc., collectively, 1275.
Clothing
See Also: CLOTHING ACCESSORIES; CLOTHING, ITS FIT
- A little-girl-type sundress that was about as sexy as a paper bag —Dan Wakefield
- All dressed up like Christmas trees —Rosamund Pilcher
- A baggy blue flowered housedress that looked like old slipcovers —Louise Erdrich
- A bikini is like a barbed-wire fence. It protects the property without obstructing the view —Joey Adams
- Blouses thin as the film of tears in your eyes —Bin Ramke
- Clothes, pressed stiff as cardboard —Jay Parini
- Coat like a discarded doormat —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- A dark blue suit so rigidly correct that it looked like a uniform —Harvey Swados
- Draped in a muumuu that covered her like a Christo curtain shrouding a California mountain —Paul Kuttner
- Dressed all in brown, like a rabbit —Anon
- Dressed as if she were going to a coronation —Shelby Hearon
- Dressed in black jersey, without ornament, like a widow —Ross Macdonald
- Dressed like a bookie —Gavin Lyall
- Dressed like a Hollywood bit player hoping to be discovered leaning on a bar —Robert Campbell
In his novel, In La-La Land We Trust, Campbell expands upon this simile for several sentences with details about the outfit.
- Dressed up like a dog’s dinner —American colloquialism
This means to be overdressed, usually badly so.
- Dresses conservatively as a corpse —Harvey Swados
- (The Queen) dresses like a whistlestop town librarian —Stephen Longstreet
- Dresses like he’s got a charge at Woolworth’s —Robert B. Parker
With names of stores, companies and products constantly changing, Woolworth’s may not always be synonymous with cheap; however, the simile could live on with an appropriate substitution.
- Dress … gone limp in the heat, like a wilted plant —Louise Erdrich
- A dress like ice-water —F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Dress that was as small as scarf —Laurie Colwin
- Fancy as a rooster up for the fair —Linda Hogan
- Garments as weathered as an old sail —George Eliot
- A girl who dressed like an Arabian bazaar —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Her white silk robe flowed over her like a milk shower —Harold Adams
- He was dressed for this death-watch job [hotel desk clerk] as if for a lively party —Christopher Isherwood
- In her orange fringed poncho she looked like a large teepee —Michael Malone
- Ladies wrapped like mummies in shawls with bright flowers on them —Virginia Woolf
- Like her husband she carried clothes, carried them as a train carries passengers —Henry James
- Looks like she’s wearing her entire wardrobe all at once and all of it hand-me-downs from someone bigger than she is —Julie Salamon, describing appearance of character played by Debra Winger in the movie, Black Widow, Wall Street Journal, February 6, 1987
- A party frock sticking out all around her [a little girl’s] legs like a lampshade —Joyce Cary
- Peeled off his trousers like shucking corn —Rita Mae Brown
- Ragged as a scarecrow —Thomas Heywood
- Shirt [heavily patched] lays on his body like a ratty dishtowel —Carolyn Chute
- Skirts swirling like a child’s pennant caught in a stiff breeze —Tony Ardizzone
- Slickers [worn by cops] that shone like gun barrels —Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler used this simile in his early days as a pulp magazine writer, (Killer in the Rain, Black Mask Magazine, 1935) and later in his novel, The Big Sleep.
- Starched clothes sat in the grass like white enameled teapots —Isaac Babel
- [Formal attire] suited them the way an apron suits a grizzly bear —William Mcllvanney
- Sweater as sopped as wet sheep —Susan Minot
- Tailored and bejeweled like a pampered gigolo —James Mills
- Tightly wrapped in a red skirt like a Christmas present —Helen Hudson
- Trousers pressed as sleek as a show dog’s flank —R. V. Cassill
- A wedding gown like a silver cloud —Mazo De La Roche
- A white robe, flowing, like spilled milk —Paige Mitchell
- Wide sleeves fluttering like wings —Marcel Proust
- Wore his clothes as if they were an official uniform —Vernon Scannell
- You wear your clothes as if you want to be helped out of them —W. P. Kinsella
- Zipped and buttoned into a polyester pantsuit, she was like a Christmas stocking half-filled with fruit —Mary Ward Brown
Clothing
best bib and tucker Finery; Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes; glad rags. Though now applied to the dress of either sex, the phrase originally and properly described only that of women. Both items of clothing—bibs and tuckers—were lacy and frilly affairs worn about the bodice and neck in the 17th and 18th centuries.
brothel-creepers British slang for crepe-soled suede shoes. Such shoes were long associated in England with pimps, who were often seen to wear them. The term appeared in G. Smith’s Flaw in Crystal in 1954:
“Poncing about the place in those brothel-creepers of his!” … He always wore plush suede shoes.
glad rags One’s best or finest clothes; fancy or dressy clothes, especially formal evening dress; also glad clothes and glads. This self-evident American slang term has been in use since 1902. An equivalent but as yet unestablished slang term is heavy threads.
highwaters Unfashionably short trousers or slacks. This expression is derived from the humorous inference that one wearing blatantly short pants must be expecting a flood. Application of this phrase is obviously contingent upon the mandates of the fashion world.
monkey suit Formal clothes; a tuxedo; the full dress uniform of a serviceman, police officer, etc. This expression may be a modification of monkey jacket, a close-fitting coat formerly worn by sailors and similar in appearance to the stiff jacket worn by an organ-grinder’s monkey. The phrase maintains some contemporary usage.
I … demothed my monkey-suit and borrowed some proper shoes. (Dylan Thomas, Letters, 1950)
soup-and-fish A man’s formal clothing; a cutaway; white tie and tails. This term came to be jocularly applied to formal dress because soup and fish were so often served as the first courses of a formal dinner.
You will see more men informal than in soup and fish. (Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, New York Confidential 1948)
Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes One’s best or finest clothes; also Sunday clothes, Sunday best, and Sunday-go-to-meetings. The term, in use since 1831, is an expansion of Sunday clothes, and refers to the days when most people wore their finery only on Sunday, which was reserved for churchgoing and visiting.
| Noun | 1. |  clothing - a covering designed to be worn on a person's bodyaccessory, accouterment, accoutrement - clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing apparel, clothes, wearing apparel, dress - clothing in general; "she was refined in her choice of apparel"; "he always bought his clothes at the same store"; "fastidious about his dress" attire, garb, dress - clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion; "formal attire"; "battle dress" beachwear - clothing to be worn at a beach black - black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning); "the widow wore black" blue - blue clothing; "she was wearing blue" change - a different or fresh set of clothes; "she brought a change in her overnight bag" civilian clothing, civilian dress, civilian garb, plain clothes - ordinary clothing as distinguished from uniforms, work clothes, clerical garb, etc. consumer goods - goods (as food or clothing) intended for direct use or consumption covering - an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it) drag - clothing that is conventionally worn by the opposite sex (especially women's clothing when worn by a man); "he went to the party dressed in drag"; "the waitresses looked like missionaries in drag" footwear - clothing worn on a person's feet garment - an article of clothing; "garments of the finest silk" knitwear - knitted clothing leisure wear - informal clothing designed to be worn when you are relaxing loungewear - clothing suitable for relaxation man's clothing - clothing that is designed for men to wear neckpiece - an article of apparel worn about the neck outerwear, overclothes - clothing for use outdoors protective garment - clothing that is intended to protect the wearer from injury ready-to-wear - ready-made clothing; "she couldn't find anything in ready-to-wear that she liked" slip-on - an article of clothing (garment or shoe) that is easily slipped on or off slops - cheap clothing (as formerly issued to sailors in Britain) street clothes - ordinary clothing suitable for public appearances (as opposed to costumes or sports apparel or work clothes etc.) tailor-made - custom-made clothing uniform - clothing of distinctive design worn by members of a particular group as a means of identification vestiture - an archaic term for clothing wardrobe - collection of clothing belonging to one person woman's clothing - clothing that is designed for women to wear work-clothes, work-clothing - clothing worn for doing manual labor |
clothing
"The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: `Look what I killed. Aren't I the best?'" [Katherine Hamnett]
"The apparel oft proclaims the man" [William Shakespeare Hamlet]
"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society" [Mark Twain]
"Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes" [Henry David Thoreau Walden]
Clothing
apron, baldric, basque, bathing suit, bathrobe, bib and brace, bikini, blouse, body, body stocking, bodysuit, boubou, braces or (U.S.) suspenders, bustier, cardigan or (informal) cardie or cardy, chapeau, chaps, chaparajos, or chaparejos, chausses, chuddah, chuddar, chudder, or chador, cilice, coat, coatee, codpiece, cummerbund or kummerbund, dolman, dress, dressing gown, dungarees, frock, galluses (dialect), gambeson, garter, gilet, gown, glove, haik, halter, hauberk, hose, housecoat, jacket, jerkin, jersey, jubbah, jumper, jump suit, jupon, kaftan or caftan, kameez, kanzu, kaross, kimono, kilt, kittel, leotard, loincloth or breechcloth, maillot, manteau, mantle (archaic), mitten, muff, negligee or negligée, nightdress, nightgown, or (Brit. informal) nightie, nightshirt, overall, overcoat, overskirt, oversleeve, paletot, pallium, pashmina, partlet, peignoir, plaid, pullover, pyjamas or (U.S.) pajamas, robe, rompers, sash, sanbenito, sari or saree, sarong, serape, shalwar, shawl, shift, shirt, shoe, shorts, skivvy (slang, chiefly U.S.), slop, smock, sock, sporran, surcoat, sweater, swimming costume, bathing costume, costume, or (Austral. informal) cossie, swimming trunks or trunks, swimsuit, tallit, tanga, tank top, thong, tie or (U.S.) necktie, tights or hose, toga, T-shirt or tee shirt, tunic, undergarment, waistcoat or (U.S. & Canad.) vest, wrap, wrapper, yashmak or yashmac
arm, armhole, armlet, bodice, buttonhole, collar, cuff, dicky, epaulette, flounce, gusset, hem, hemline, hood, jabot, lapel, leg, lining, neckline, patch pocket, pocket, seam, shawl collar, shoulder, sleeve, tail, train, waist, waistline, yoke
academic dress, armour, baby clothes, beachwear, black tie, canonicals, civvies or civies, clericals, coordinates, coveralls, evening dress, fancy dress, fatigues, froufrou, Highland dress, hose, hosiery, knitwear, lingerie, livery, long-coats or (archaic) long clothes, millinery, morning dress, mufti, neckwear, nightclothes, nightwear, overgarments, sackcloth, samfoo, separates, skivvies (slang, chiefly U.S.), slops, sportswear, swaddling clothes, swimwear, undergarments, underthings, underwear, uniform, weepers, white tie, widow's weeds
clotted cream [ˌklɒtɪdˈkriːm] n (British) sorte de crème très épaisse, typique du sud-ouest de l'Angleterre, souvent servie comme accompagnement de desserts ou gâteaux
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