reach-me-down

An allusion to clothes being simply taken down from a rack, rather than tailored.

reach-me-down (not comparable)

1. Of clothing: ready-made.
   • 2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 25:

     A reach-me-down dress, a penny sparkler, a fancy cake, a sixpenny entertainment . . . how can such things use up so much money?

reach-me-down (plural reach-me-downs)

1. (chiefly in the plural) Ready-made clothing.
   • 1921, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter XV, in Indiscretions of Archie:

     He shrank from the prospect of being confronted next day, at the height of his misery, with these appalling reach-me-downs.