in rags meaning

• [American idiom]
  in worn-out and torn clothing.
  • Oh, look at my clothing. I can’t go to the party in rags!
  • I think the new casual fashions make you look as if you're in rags.
  
• 
  [American slang]
  Fig. in worn-out and torn clothing.
    Oh, look at my clothing. I can't go to the party in rags!
    I think the new casual fashions make you look as if you're in rags.

• rags:    [British slang]Nou ...
• glad rags:    Noun: glad rags(in ...
• glad-rags:    [British slang]Nou ...

Examples

1. this man in rags was indeed ulysses, the king.
2. looking up, i saw that we were surrounded by children in rags who were looking at us silently as we ate.
3. unclean, unkempt, clothed in rags and hunger and madness, he saw himself victorious, heroic and beautiful.
4. if your children starve and your wife is dressed in rags
5. if your children starve and your wife is dressed in rags