off-the-rack

off the rack

Of clothes, mass-produced and ready to wear. Often hyphenated. Primarily heard in US. You can find really stylish clothes off the peg, if you look hard enough. Don't show up to the interview in some off-the-rack suit—you need to spend a bit more money if you want to impress them.
See also: off, rack
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

off-the-rack

Off-the-rack clothes are made in large numbers and sent to shops, not made specially for a particular person. We want to improve the fit of off-the-rack items. Note: You can say that people buy clothes off the rack. He was wearing a blue two-piece suit that had obviously been bought off the rack when he was several pounds lighter.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • off the peg
  • off the rack
  • off-the-peg
  • in the nude
  • roast-meat clothes
  • higher than a cat's back
  • get (one's) kit off
  • get your kit off
  • go like a rocket
  • hand down from (someone) to (one)
References in periodicals archive
Those suits are more expensive than an off-the-rack alternative, but they give customers exactly what they need.
A bespoken buffet of barrister business (part 1)
For California's Coastline Community College art student DeAnna Rowe, off-the-rack clothing just isn't her style.
For California's Coastline Community College art student DeAnna Rowe, off-the-rack clothing just isn't her style
"Milani creates couture color at off-the-rack prices," she remarks.
Milani set to roll out new lines
Everything from off-the-rack zoot suits and Mafia-style reasoning to Jimmy Hoffa and ice cream malts conjures a time place and style that fit the legend.
The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld
This can be bought off-the-rack in most builders' merchants.
Driven up the wall by rising damp; DIY donny
Though I went with a ring off-the-rack (using that fashion term that means "not one of a kind"), Pitaniello makes a good argument for how lesbians can afford to have something designed just for them.
I thee wed
Rather than blending in with the rest of the predictable, off-the-rack ensembles, high-schoolers are being challenged to create unique, fashion-forward outfits out of duct tape that are sure to steal the spotlight.
2007 Duck[R] brand duct tape 'Stuck at Prom[R]' contest
Reisner was visiting his parents in Florida when the call from APA came, and he arrived in New Orleans in an ill-fitting off-the-rack suit and without a formal speech.
Collective unconscionable: how psychologists, the most liberal of professionals, abetted bush's torture policy
Aside from being very, very corny - that's C-O-R-N-Y - the characters consist solely of your standard, off-the-rack stereotypes including The Reluctant Coach (Fishburne), The Tough Mom (Bassett) and the Plucky Outsider (Palmer).
AKEELAH AND THE BEE; TRY IT Cert 12A, 112mins ***
Off-the-rack practices can rarely be imported directly.
Best practices trap: make sure that the shoe actually fits
The bottom line on this is that tailored blanks, like a tailored suit, fit the application much better than something off-the-rack (i.e., where the material characteristics are simply sized for the most-demanding part of the application).
Serious about tailored blanks
Describing her personal style as ``having no rules -- from thrift to vintage to off-the-rack to couture'', she models her favourite Gap jeans (the new ultra low-rise) with key pieces from the new range, including a shrunken jacket and a sexy pink cardigan, to create a variety of looks.
Filling the Gap
Moreover, it may also be used as a tool for manufacturers to develop better-fitting, off-the-rack clothing and to ultimately aid retailers in buying, stocking, and selling the most appropriate apparel for their clientele.
Welcome to the fashion revolution
``I buy designer clothes but I like off-the-rack,high street stuff too and when I'mnot going out I just love trackies and jeans.
Look!: Sexy? Who, me?; Dawn Collinson meets the Mersey-based actress voted Britain's sexiest soap star
Its shirts, identified by the man-with-the-eyepatch logo, became popular due to their tailor-made quality at off-the-rack prices.
Last major shirt factory in U.S. to move offshore. (Industry Newsline)