Garment, n. — Webster enters it under “garment”
Etymology: [OE. garnement, OF. garnement, garniment, fr. garnir to garnish. See Garnish.]
Any article of clothing, as a coat, a gown, etc. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto old garment. Matt. ix. 16.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for garments; he lists it under dress.
Where he writes about it:
Clothing denotes the entire covering of the body, taken as a whole; clothes and garments view it as composed of separate parts. — from dress
Clothes, clothing, and garments may be used of inner or outer covering; all the other words in the list (with possible rare exceptions in the case of raiment) refer to the outer garments. — from dress