The Torah describes Shabbat as “a day to be declared sacred,”1 and the prophets say “You shall call the Shabbat a delight … and honor it.”2 The sages explain that sanctifying the day includes (1) honoring it with special, clean, dignified clothing, and (2) delighting in it through enjoyable food and drink.3

Accordingly, you should set aside attractive, refined clothing for Shabbat (within your means). As our sages teach, “Your Shabbat garment should not be like your weekday garment,” but rather you should change into cleaner, more distinguished attire.4

And since these clothes are worn in honor of Shabbat itself, not in honor of whoever may happen to see you, this applies even when you’re alone. If you’re spending Shabbat at home by yourself, you should still change out of your weekday clothes and into Shabbat-appropriate clothing.5

For women, it’s best to change into respectable Shabbat attire before lighting candles.6

Basic Requirement

At minimum, your outer garments (such as a jacket or suit) should be noticeably nicer than what you wear during the week. Since these outer garments are designated for Shabbat and Yom Tov, they don’t need to be laundered every single week, only once they lose their freshness.7

Other garments, such as shirts, pants and undergarments, don’t technically have to be reserved exclusively for Shabbat, but they should be clean in honor of the day. Shoes should also be polished.

If you don’t have different clothing altogether, you should still make some type of change. For example, in ancient times, people would wear their garments in a more dignified way by letting them hang longer. This was similar to the fashion of wealthier people of old who often let their garments reach lower because they didn’t have to worry about them getting dirty while working, so dressing this way reflected honor and distinction.8

If possible, it’s also proper to have a special tallit reserved for Shabbat prayers.9

The Widespread Custom

Many people have the custom, according to their means, to avoid wearing anything on Shabbos that they wore during the week, even items that aren’t usually seen. Their tallit gadol, kippah, belt, pants, sweater, and shoes10 are all reserved exclusively for Shabbos. Similarly, the tallit katan (tzitzis) should be changed in honor of Shabbos, either to a garment designated for the day or to one that has been freshly laundered.

The one exception is undergarments. Since they’re laundered every week, washing them specifically in honor of Shabbat gives them that designation.11

You should wear your Shabbat clothing at least until after Havdalah,12 and preferably Melaveh Malkah.13 However, the widespread custom is not to change into weekday clothing until bedtime.14

This goes beyond the basic requirement, reflecting a deep and meaningful commitment to honoring the day.