Clothing, Its Fit

Clothing, Its Fit

 

See Also: CLOTHING

1. Bathing suit so tight that it seemed any moment she would burst out of it like a cooked frankfurter —George Garrett
2. A blanket wrapped around her body as tight as a cigar —Scott Spencer
3. (Clothes which) clung like refractory cobwebs —Patrick White
4. A coat which seems to fit her as her life fits, barely, inadvertently, not at all —Herbert Morris
5. Everything she wears fits like a saddle on a sow —Harold Adams
6. (Her bathing suit that) fit her like a sack —Flannery O’Connor
7. Fit like a saddle fits a sow —Anon

   An alliterative putdown for the way a person is dressed. It dates back to sixteenth century England and became an American colloquialism shortly after it crossed the ocean.

8. [A dress] fits like the skin of a grape —Charles Raddock describing Jacqueline Susann’s outfit in a play, Between the Covers.

   Raddock’s scathing review commented that the lines of the dress were the play’s only good lines.

9. Fits you like flannel washed in hot suds —O. Henry
10. Fitted her like a duck’s foot in the mud —American colloquialism, attributed to New England
11. Her coat fit her like a cheese box —Mary Gordon
12. Her garments seeming to flutter round her like draperies —Barbara Pym
13. Her halter top that cradled her breasts like a hammock —Phyllis Naylor
14. Her sleeves dropped like a sigh —Anaĩs Nin
15. Her slip was stretched over her breast, as firmly and simply as linen over an embroidery frame —Boris Pasternak
16. Her stockings hung about her ankles like Hamlet’s when he exposed himself to Ophelia and called her a whore —Leonard Michaels
17. His [shirt] collar was so tight, it felt like a string cutting his neck —Dan Wakefield
18. His jacket hung on him like a scarecrow —Ross Macdonald
19. His pants hung as full as an Arab tent from his global stomach —William Diehl
20. His shirt fit him like a sail at the back —Philip Gerard
21. His short-sleeved shirt and short pants fit him like a dirty sack —James Crumley
22. (The uniform) hung slack like a castoff on a scarecrow —Paige Mitchell
23. Jeans fit like a rubber glove —W. P. Kinsella
24. The jeans fitted like hand-me-ups from a younger, thinner sister —Margaret Millar
25. (A healthy blonde with) jeans so tight her hipbones looked like towel hooks —Erma Bombeck
26. [Pants] tight … like elastic bandages —Ann Petry
27. Jeans that made his legs look like tree trunks. The bright green fishnet shirt he wore made him look even more like a tree —Ann Beattie
28. Legs … hung straight and rigid as if she had iron shinbones and ankles —William Faulkner
29. She wears her clothes as if they were thrown on her with a pitchfork —Jonathan Swift
30. Snugger than the bark to a dead maple —Anon

    See Also: THRIFT

31. (A yellow) tee shirt that clings to her arms, breast and round belly like the skin of a sausage —Russell Banks
32. They [too-large trousers] make you look like an elephant that has lost weight —Penelope Gilliatt
33. Tight blue jeans that grip her behind like two hands —Charles Bukowski
34. Tight … like a lobster shell —W. S. Gilbert
35. Trousers and jacket droop like a tailor’s nightmare —T. Coraghessan Boyle
36. Trousers … as wrinkled at the crotch as if he’d had them pressed that way —Harvey Swados
37. The trousers fitted her legs closely, but she could come out of them as though she were peeling a banana —MacDonald Harris

Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.