Attire, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attired; p. pr. & vb. n. Attiring.]
Etymology: [OE. atiren to array, dispose, arrange, OF. atirier; à (L. ad) + F. tire rank, order, row; of Ger. origin: cf. As. tier row, OHG. ziari, G. zier, ornament, zieren to adorn. Cf. Tire a headdress.]
To dress; to array; to adorn; esp., to clothe with elegant or splendid garments. Finely attired in a robe of white. Shak. With the linen miter shall he be attired. Lev. xvi. 4.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Attire, n.
1. Dress; clothes; headdress; anything which dresses or adorns; esp., ornamental clothing. Earth in her rich attire. Milton. I 'll put myself in poor and mean attire. Shak. Can a maid forget her ornament, or a bride her attire Jer. ii. 32.
2. The antlers, or antlers and scalp, of a stag or buck.
3. (Bot.)
The internal parts of a flower, included within the calyx and the corolla. [Obs.] Johnson.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for attire; he lists it under dress.
Where he writes about it:
Apparel and attire are most frequently used of somewhat complete and elegant outer clothing, tho Shakespeare speaks of "poor and mean attire." Dress may be used, specifically, for a woman's gown, and in that sense may be either rich or shabby; but in the general sense it denotes outer clothing which is meant to be elegant, complete, and appropriate to some social or public occasion; as, full dress, court dress, evening dress, etc. — from dress
Dress has now largely displaced apparel and attire. — from dress