Clothing Definitions — definition lists for the apparel industry from Apparel Search
Page six of the clothing definitions covers the M to O terms. Formal and ceremonial dress is strongly represented — mess dress, morning coat and morning dress, the Mandarin gown and the Mao suit — alongside nightwear in its many forms, the miniskirt, the Mackintosh raincoat and the Norfolk jacket.
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National Costume / National Dress
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The M page is organized, almost accidentally, by time of day. Morning dress is the most formal clothing worn before evening — tailcoat, waistcoat and striped trousers for occasions such as weddings and royal race meetings. Mess dress is the military's evening equivalent, a formal uniform for dining-in nights, each regiment with its own facings and distinctions. Between those poles the page holds the clothes of private hours: nightgown, nightshirt, negligee and the umbrella term nightwear, garments designed for softness and warmth rather than display. Even the mob-cap belongs to this domestic world — a loose indoor cap that kept hair tidy and, in its day, signaled respectable housework.
Reading these definitions together shows how recently dress was scheduled. A person of a certain class once changed clothes several times a day, and each change had a name. Modern dressing compressed the schedule, but the terms survive because the occasions — weddings, formal dinners, state events — still call for them by name.
The miniskirt is this page's modern icon: a hemline that became a cultural argument about youth and freedom in the 1960s and never left the wardrobe afterward. Opposite it stand two garments of deliberate uniformity — the Mandarin gown of imperial Chinese officials, its rank badges announcing office, and the Mao suit, whose standardized cut announced equality. The Nehru jacket traveled from Indian formal dress into Western fashion, collar and all, while the Norfolk jacket brought British sporting tailoring — pleats, belt and roomy pockets — into the country wardrobe.
The Mackintosh and the overcoat close the page with weather: one waterproofed with rubberized cloth and named for its inventor, the other the heavy final layer of cold climates. National costume gathers the whole theme — clothing as identity, worn to say where you belong.
Page 6 covers Mackintosh, Mandarin Gown, Mandilion, Mantua, Mao Suit, Mess Dress, Miniskirt, Mob-Cap, Moccasin, Monokini, Morning Coat, Morning Dress, National Costume, Neckerchief, Neckwear and Ties, Negligee, Nehru Jacket, Nightgown, Nightshirt, Nightwear, Norfolk Jacket, One-Piece Garment, Organic Clothing and Overcoat.
Morning dress is formal day dress: for men, a morning coat with waistcoat and formal trousers, worn for weddings, races and ceremonial daytime events; it is day formality, distinct from evening dress.
National costume, also called national dress, is the distinctive traditional clothing of a country or region, worn for festivals, ceremonies and cultural representation.