Number than numbness itself...

[Birchy]

What's "dressing to the nines" originate from"

[andy hughes]

The perceived wisdom on this is that it's a mutation of an olde English expression "to then eyne" meaning "dressed to the eyes" which has gradually corrupted into "the neyne", then to "the nine" and finally "the nines". Other theories advise that "nine" is the top of the single figures, representing a pinacle, or it may refer to "the whole nine yards" - the standard length of cloth used to make a suit, and using all of it means not skimping on the cut or fit.