Tawdry, as you must know, means cheap and gaudy but this was not always true. The name comes from Saint Audrey’s Lace, a silk ribbon worn around the neck during the Middle Ages. Medieval merchants sold cheap, bright substitutes to country bumpkins who couldn’t afford the real thing. They called it “tawdry” an obvious take off of St. Audrey.
— William W. Lawrence Sr.
“Sleazy” has a similar origin. It originally referred to lace made in Silesia.