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Glite Dictionary
👗 Mass-produced clothing 🧥 Not custom-made
ready-to-wear

ready-to-wear

3 3.5
Clothes made in standard sizes that are sold in stores
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛdi tə wɛr/
translation icon : prêt-à-porter
  • Since European haute couture was completely beyond her means, she contented herself with the best of American ready-to-wear.
  • ready-to-wear collection
  • ready-to-wear clothing
  • ready-to-wear designer

How did you really find your kind of design footprint when it comes to when it comes to Ready to Wear as a whole?

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Examples

  • But, as women became more active, there was clearly potential demand for a ready-to-wear garment that was both practical and fashionable.

    Academic text (2018)

  • That's why they also run ready to wear lines that bring the money in.

  • This was critical to the widespread growth of the product and of the ready-to-wear industry.

    Academic text (2018)

  • A frequent objection to ready-to-wear clothing had always been the potential to see someone else in the same design.

    Academic text (2018)

  • It also marked the beginning of rapid growth in the United States women's ready-to-wear industry.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Louise has just made the most enormous sale of our company's new ready-to-wear line to one of the biggest wholesalers in Europe.

    Cremaster 3 (2002)

  • A supervisor, recognizing her talent, promoted Greta from the millinery department to women's ready-to-wear, where she prospered.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Critical to the story are early business practices that came to define the ready-to-wear industry, including branding, design piracy, the role of fashion in conjunction with rapidly changing styles, and the impact of women as apparel consumers rather than producers.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The incredible profusion of styles at every quality level and price point also altered how retailers marketed ready-to-wear and facilitated changes in women's perceptions of fashion.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The boutique has a wide selection of ready-to-wear dresses that appeal to fashion lovers.

Synonyms

off-the-rack
vsready-to-wear
  • US
7 4.4

Clothes made in standard sizes and sold in stores, not made for one person

focuses on mass production for general buyers instead of bespoke items
ready-made
vsready-to-wear
4 3.9

An item like a shirt or chair made before you buy it

focuses on mass-produced clothing sold in standard sizes rather than bespoke
off-the-shelf
vsready-to-wear
1 4.1

Made in common sizes and sold ready to use

is narrower referring specifically to mass-produced garments not all products
off-the-peg
vsready-to-wear
  • UK
1 6.0

Clothes made in standard sizes that you can buy

emphasizes large-scale production for general customers rather than custom ordering
readymade
vsready-to-wear
1 4.2

Made before you buy and ready to use

is specific to mass-produced garments sold in standard sizes rather than custom orders
RTW
vsready-to-wear
  • Specialized
6.9

Clothing made in standard sizes and sold ready to wear

is the full phrase spelling out clothing mass-produced in standard sizes

How Tailored

tailor-made
7 4.0
ready-to-wear
3 3.5

Surface Forms

ready-to-wear singular
ready-to-wears plural

Morphology

ready-to-wear = ready + wear (transparent) = ready + to + wear

Literally composed of 'ready' + 'to' + 'wear' meaning 'ready to be worn', so learners can derive the sense from the parts.

Etymology

Ready-to-wear comes from a simple idea: clothes that are already 'ready to wear', and the fashion world borrowed the French phrase prêt-à-porter which means 'ready to wear'. Think of clothes on a shop rack that you can buy and wear right away. So ready-to-wear as a noun means clothing made in standard sizes and sold ready for people to wear, not made to order.