noun / verb
costume
KAHS-toom/ˈkɑːstuːm/
Clothing characteristic of a particular identity or setting, or dressing someone in it.
She wears a pirate costume to the neighborhood Halloween party.
Etymology
The underlying idea is custom: a costume represented the dress customary to a particular time or place. Its use in art for historically appropriate clothing connects that idea to dressing as a character or role.
In context
She doesn't feel like somebody sitting in a costume department saying, "How do we make her look like a lesbian?" She just exists. She's got masculine clothes and masculine energy
More examples
- The dancers perform in traditional costumes from their region.
- The museum displays a riding costume from the nineteenth century.
- The designer costumes the actors as medieval knights.
Forms
costume · costumes · costumed · costuming
costumer noun — A person who makes or supplies costumes.
Similar words
- outfit
- Any coordinated set of clothes, not necessarily representing an identity.
- disguise
- Clothing or other changes intended to conceal someone's identity.