If you’re ‘dressed to the nines’ it doesn’t mean that you have nine layers of clothes on!

It actually means you are dressed very smartly or elaborately.

This phrase dates from the 18th century, and was already in use when Robert Burns used it in a poem in 1796, as ‘Twad please me to the Nine.’

The dressed is a later addition, so the nine does not necessarily refer exclusively to clothing. The phrase is also often seen as ‘up to the nines’.

One explanation is that nine, in some numerological systems, connotes perfection. So that dressed to the nines means that you have achieved sartorial perfection.

Another explanation, which relates more to clothing, is that this saying refers to the amount of fabric required to make a quality suit – nine yards. This may seem like a lot of fabric, but enables the tailor to cut all the pieces in the same direction.

So next time you look in the mirror ask yourself; Am I dressed to the nines? (Or would you only give yourself a seven or eight?)