Mufti (dress)

Mufti, or civies/civvies (short for "civilian attire"), refers to ordinary clothes, especially when worn by one who normally wears, or has long worn, a military or other uniform.

Mufti Day (also known as Casual Clothes Day, Casual Friday, Own Clothes Day, Plain Clothes Day, Non-uniform Day, Free Dress Day, Civvies Day, or Dress Down Day) is a day where schools allow the students and staff to come to school in normal clothing (instead of uniform). In return, students are usually required to pay a small fee. The proceeds go to fundraising efforts in which the school is currently involved. This is found in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China. It is also occasionally found in business environments.

Origin

The word originates from the Middle East and is Arabic - mufti (مفتي) means an Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia), and is the active form of the Arabic afta, meaning "to judge". It has been used by the British army since 1816 and is thought to derive from the vaguely Eastern style dressing gowns and tasseled caps worn by off-duty officers in the early 19th century. Yule and Burnell's Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive (1886) notes that the word was "perhaps originally applied to the attire of dressing-gown, smoking-cap, and slippers, which was like the Oriental dress of the Mufti".

References

External links

• Mufti Day Definition
• Etymology of "mufti"
• List of phrases on the Royal Australian Navy website - includes a short description of the origin and miliitary use of the term.