Garb means clothing, especially the distinctive outfit worn by a particular group of people or for a particular purpose. A chef's garb includes a white coat and tall hat. A judge's garb is a black robe. Medieval knights wore armor and chainmail as their garb.

The word usually refers to special clothing that identifies someone's role or profession, not everyday jeans and T-shirts. When someone dresses in unusual garb, they're wearing clothes that stand out or seem formal or ceremonial. You might say a graduation ceremony requires academic garb (those robes and square caps), or that someone showed up garbed in an elaborate costume.

Sometimes people use garb to sound a bit fancy when talking about regular clothes, like describing an athlete's “athletic garb” instead of just saying “gym clothes.” But garb works best when the clothing actually means something, when it signals who someone is or what they do.