I feel dumb for asking, but what exactly does that saying mean?
I've heard it before, but never actually known the meaning...
Found this on
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a.html
not exactly sure on how accurate it is..
but in any case here you go ... and sorry it's so long
Dressed to the nines
Meaning: Dressed flamboyantly or smartly.
Origin: The phrases 'to the nines', or 'to the nine', were used to indicate perfection - the highest standards. That was in use in the 18th century, as here from William Hamilton's
Epistle to Ramsay, 1719:
"How to the nines they did content me."
'To the nine' also appears in a translation of
Voyages de Jehan de Mandeville chevalier, which appeared anonymously in France, circa 1357 and is attributed to Sir John Mandeville:
"Sir king! ye shall have war without peace, and always to the nine degree, ye shall be in subjection of your enemies, and ye shall be needy of all goods."
The original work was written in Anglo-Norman French and is much translated. Whether the 'to the nine' is a literal translation from the original or whether it was added by translators later, and possibly as late as 1900, isn't clear. It doesn't seem likely that the phrase existed in English as early as the 14th century, not to appear again in print until the 18th century.
'To the nines' has now gone out of use and only persists in the more specific 'dressed to the nines' (or sometimes 'dressed up to the nines').
Dressed to the nines, or
dressed up to the nines are merely a version of the phrase that is applied to clothing. That is first cited in John C. Hotten's
A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, 1859 as:
"DRESSED UP TO THE NINES', in a showy 'recherché' manner."
Many theories abound as to what prompted the phrase to be used in reference to dress. The fact that the prior phrase
to the nines had been in existence for at least 150 years before we see
dressed to the nines makes it obvious that the derivation of the variant version of the phrase need have had no connection with the number nine. Despite this, various attempts have been made to guess at the origin. One has it that tailors used nine yards of material to make a suit (or according to some authors a shirt). The more material you had the more status, although nine yards seems generous even for a fop. Another commonly repeated explanation comes from the reportedly smart uniforms of the The Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburghs) 99th Foot, which was raised in 1824. The problem with these explanations is that they come with zero hard evidence to support them, apart from a reference to the number nine (or even 99, which seems to be stretching the cloth rather thinly). The regiment was raised in the early 19th century, which is the right sort of date for the phrase to begin to be used in the middle of that century. It is at least plausible that the
to the nines phrase was matched with the 99 of the regiment's name to and reputation to coin
dressed to the nines.
As we have seen ad nauseam with similar attempts to explain
the whole nine yards, there are many things that come in groups of nine. Almost anything associated with the number has been at some point put forward as the origin of this phrase. The fact is, we aren't sure.
While no one knows the origin of 'to the nines' it is worth noting that nine has been used as a superlative in other contexts. Classical mythology gave us the nine Muses of arts and learning. The Nine Worthies were drawn from the mythology, history and the Bible. This distinguished group was Joshua, David, Judas Maccabæus, Hector, Alexander, Julius Cæsar, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon. We also have the
nine days' wonder. All of the above would have been well-known when this phrase was coined. A more recent link between nine and excellence is 'cloud nine'.
