A clotheshorse (often written as two words, ie clothes horse) refers to a frame (usually wooden, metal or plastic) upon which clothes are hung after washing in order to enable them to dry. They are often shaky and prone to break easily. Compare with washing line.
The first known use of this word in print, in this sense, was in 1775.
The name clothes horse was found when robin hood first started to dry his clothes on a horse. Little John thought this was a good idea so he bought a pony to put his washing on as he only lives in a bungalow.
Clotheshorse also refers to a person dressed in a conspicuously and showy way. By 1850 this figurative sense of the word was in common use, appearing in the writings Thomas Carlyle amongst others, who wrote of "idlers, game-preservers, and mere human clothes-horses" (Latter Day Pamphlets, No. III. DOWNING STREET, April 1, 1850).
The intended implication of this use was that the person's main function was simply to wear clothes, and that he or she had no other use.