Tawdry

This adjective meaning cheap, low quality clothing, especially women’s, has been in use since 1676. Its origin is from Saint Audrey (drop the first four letters of Saint and one gets ‘taudrey’, which was how the word was spelt during the late 1500s. St. Audrey, the patron saint of Ely, rejected the finery of her earlier life and chose to wear humble clothing. It is sad that she is now remembered for her tawdry clothing rather than the nobler, underlying meaning behind it.