Dress to the Nines: What does it mean?

[shamus]

So you say you're "Dressed to the Nines"

Yes, I know you're saying you look great, in your best... but...

Where does the phrase come from? What does it mean?

 

[Vanessa]

According to Here:

There are at least half a dozen theories about this one. What we do know is that the phrase is first recorded in the late eighteenth century in poems by Robert Burns.

One very persistent theory is that the British Army?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s 99th Regiment of Foot were renowned for their smartness, so much so that the other regiments based with them at Aldershot were constantly trying to emulate them?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùto equal ?¢‚Ǩ?ìthe nines?¢‚Ǩ?. The big problem with this theory is that the story dates from the 1850s, and the phrase is older.

Other attempts at explanation connect it with the nine Muses, or with the mystic number nine, or even perhaps reaching a standard of nine on a scale of one to ten?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùnot perfect, but doing very well.

Walter Skeat (the editor of the Oxford Etymological Dictionary and the first secretary of the English Dialect Society) once proposed that it could originally have been ?¢‚Ǩ?ìdressed to the eyes?¢‚Ǩ?, which in medieval English would have been ?¢‚Ǩ?ìto then eyne?¢‚Ǩ?; the phrase could afterwards have mutated by the same principle that caused ?¢‚Ǩ?ìa norange?¢‚Ǩ? to change to ?¢‚Ǩ?ìan orange?¢‚Ǩ?. But the reverse problem of dating arises here, in that if it were truly medieval in origin one would expect examples to have turned up before Burns?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ time. As a result, that suggestion is now not accepted by anybody.

Short answer: nobody knows.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

There are a number of possible origins for this idiom. One of the more popular theories is that to make a good suit a tailor would use 9 yards of material in order to cut the cloth in the best manner. Thus, dressed to the nines meant you had on a well-made expensive and good suit.

Another theory was that in Shakespeare's time, a ticket to the theatre cost anywhere from one pence to nine pence, which were the best seats in the house; if you were sitting there, close to royality, you would want to dress your finest, i.e. dressed to the nines.

I have also heard of it used for military as was discussed by Vanessa, also there was supposed to be some Scottish regiment known to spend their entire pay on clothes. Their pay was 9 -- whatever it would be in Scotland, so dressed to the nines meant they spent their pay on the clothes.

Before I read all the above, I thought it meant dinner was a 9 (which it sometimes is for the upper class) and you dressed up for dinner, so you were dressed to the nines.

karol

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I just told my mother about the idiom being discussed on the Lounge and that I had written that one theory had to do with a tailor using 9 yards of material in order to cut the cloth in a certain manner to make an excellent suit, thus the idiom "dressed to the nines."

She thought about it for a minute and said, maybe that's where the term "The whole nine yards" come from, too.

karol

 

[Wild Root]

Very interesting! I have often wondered about this my self. It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s nice to read some of the ides there are and possibilities of the true meaning and origin.

Sorry, I haven?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t any to offer but, it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s nice reading nevertheless!

=WR=

 

[BellyTank]

We already had 'the whole nine yards' one.
Nine yards/27ft. of .50cal...

I think the oldest one is the best one- a corruption/confusion of dressed to the 'eyen'- Old English for 'eyes.

Cloud nine???

B
T

 

[green papaya]

my fouth grade teacher use to say "plenty and nine"

when we asked how old she was, she just said: "plenty and nine"

 

[Mimi Thomas]

There's an article (or even booklet, I can't remember) about how to dress appropriately, based on a scoring program. You'd give yourself a certain number of points for each item...i.e. a plain suit would be 1, then you'd add for fancier accessories. Some jewelry would be worth 2-5 points, based on whether it contained rhinestones, pearls, etc.

So, apparently, 9 was an ideal score. If you got any higher, you'd be overly accessorized and too low would be too plain.

I'll have to look up the particulars of this article, if I can find it again.

 

[BellyTank]

The term turns up in pre-Victorian literature-
it must hark back further in history...

B
T

 

[Travis]

She thought about it for a minute and said, maybe that's where the term "The whole nine yards" come from, too.

I read once that "the whole nine yards" referred to the 9 yards they use to make a proper kilt.

 

[JazzBaby]

From: Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep (sequel to Red Herrings and White Elephants) by Albert Jack, the phrase Dressed Up To The Nines is defined as following: (not transcripted ver batim due to copyright laws) Gold and silver are not classified as 100% pure in the precious metals industry, but as 99.99% so the finest metals are known as the 'nines'. So dressed up to the nines was originally meant to refer to wearing your finest jewellery. He backs this up with some evidence referring to some of the Queens guards wearing gold lace for some reason - something about the 99th Foot.

The Whole Nine Yards isn't here - it's probably in Red Herrings and White Elephants which I have yet to read.

Interesting book - highly recommended.