dowdy

Plain and unfashionable in style or dress.

Lacking stylishness or neatness; shabby.

[...she was] a perfect saint amongst women, but so dreadfully dowdy that she reminded one of a badly bound hymn-book.

Miss Marina Thompson, a distant cousin of my husband's. She's rather dowdy, is she not?

A plain or shabby person.

Besides these, however, and the determined dowdies, women who either do not understand dress, or who will not be troubled with it, there are certainly many who, while always anxious to appear to the best advantage, are not wealthy enough to do so […]

“I knew there were women-dowdies in Bengal. They come up here sometimes. But I didn't know that there were men-dowds, too.”

To press the crust into the filling during baking, to allow the juices to caramelize on top.

Topping the apples with squares of dough allowed steam to escape during baking, preventing the apples from overcooking. Dowdying the crust partway through created the dessert's sweet finish.