tatty

Tatty means shabby and worn out from long use. Frayed at the edges, faded, still perfectly usable.

It is a British word and a mild one — calling a jumper tatty is nothing like calling it filthy, since tatty is about wear rather than dirt. A tatty paperback, a tatty armchair, a tatty old coat somebody refuses to throw out. It often carries affection, because the things people describe as tatty are usually things they have kept too long on purpose. Scruffy is the nearest everyday synonym, and it leans more towards people while tatty leans towards objects.