Spot the Frippet: motley.

Motley's the only wear says Jacques, in As You Like It. (Yes, he's quoting someone else, but he claims he himself means it, too.)

As motley is the coloured uniform of a jester: 


Illustration by Tristan de léonois

then this is clearly not the case: motley is not the only wear:


photo by Craigboy

Still, anything multicoloured can be described as motley, and people do wear some interesting things, though all too often they scuttle around the winter streets in brown or black or some other depressing colour. 

Perhaps if we all wore motley everyone would be more cheerful.

If you are at a school where everyone is forced to wear the same boring colour, then motley can also describe anything made of various bits and pieces. A meal consisting of all-assorted elements Irish stew, sweetcorn and chips) might be motley fare; a home-made go-cart made of pallets and pram wheels will be a motley construct; any group of people will be a motley collection of individuals because we're all so very different. 

I mean, I have an independent mind, you are eccentric, and he -

...he hath strange places crammed
With observation, the which he vents
In mangled forms.

And as variety is the spice of life, I think we should cherish the fact.

Spot the Frippet: motley. This word appeared in the 1300s and might come from mot, which means speck.