glad rags

plural noun

, Informal.

1. dressy clothes, especially as worn to a party or other social event.

glad rags

plural noun

1. informal.
   best clothes or clothes used on special occasions

Word History and Origins

Origin of glad rags¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

Stylish clothes, as in Let's put on our glad rags and go out on the town . [ Slang ; late 1800s]

Example Sentences

The family-friendly day is designed to encourage the next generation - and hundreds of youngsters donned their glad rags and turned out to dance along the route.

From BBC

It was against this backdrop that fashion’s so-called system stirred to life again, with a few designers venturing out of their digital caves to mount live shows that instantaneously attracted hordes of young pretties of either — or any — gender disporting themselves in their glad rags.

From New York Times

But that didn't stop the stars donning their best glad rags at home and logging in for Sunday's Critics' Choice Awards, which could be a key indicator of who might triumph at the Academy Awards next month.

From BBC

While Bill Cunningham may have managed to find some compelling fashion thematic in the sight of crowds shambling about Midtown in hoodies and Uggs, the crossroads of 57th Street and Fifth it is not the same now that the city mice that used to disport themselves there in glad rags are hunkered down at home.

From New York Times

Dressed not in the flower-child glad rags associated with the 1973 “Godspell” film but in Hunter Kaczorowski’s inventive variations on denim work and play clothes, they proceed not only to speak but to embody the show’s most crucial precept.

From New York Times