habiliments

There are so many words for clothing - apparel, garb, garments, raiment, etc. - that it may seem strange to single one out for notice. "Habiliments," however, has such a nice old-timey charm to it that it tends to be the one I opt for in a pinch. It gives even the shoddiest of clothes some semblance of dignity, by implying a niche into which the clothing falls. To say of a homeless man who is shabbily dressed that he is attired "in the habiliments one would expect" seems (to me, at least) to imply that the expectation arises not because the man has so little, but because there is a long history of homeless men who have all been dressed similarly, and that each mendicant has a place in that history. Were one to merely to say that he was dressed "in the expected apparel" it would isolate him, "apparel" belonging to a shallower discourse.

Sidenote: As you may have noticed, the weekend is still a boring time here at The Weight of the Word. Still trying to think up some weekend theme.