clothing "DISTINCTIVE TO" a particular position

Habit: to dress somebody in clothing distinctive TO a particular position or office (literary) Microsoft® Encarta® 2009.

What is the meaning of TO here? Is distinctive a postnominal adjective? I cannot parse the sentence properly

Solution 1:

"Distinctive" means "characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from others."

"To" here is a preposition linking "distinctive" to the following noun phrase "a particular position or office".

So the whole means "characteristic of a particular position or office, serving to distinguish it from others". e.g.: "Scarlet vestments are distinctive to cardinals in the Catholic church"; "Red berets are distinctive to the Parachute Regiment in the British Army".

The entire phrase "distinctive to a particular position or office" is a postnominal adjectival phrase.

"Of" would be a more normal preposition than "to", but the meaning is the same.