i always wondered what this phrase meant
" Dressed to the nines "
Dressed flamboyantly or smartly.
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."
got this from phrases.org.uk.