On Wed 16 Jan 2008 05:25:13p, Lou Decruss told us...

> On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:34:37 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> > wrote:
>
>
>>> I have one - only one, and I leave it in the trunk of the car when I
>>> shop. DH carries the money ;-)) I carry my medicare card!
>>>
>>> What a tease! ;-))
>>> Dee Dee
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Well, I'll be. There actually is one thing you only have one of! I'd
>>have never guessed. :-)
>>
>>My mom, OTOH, had dozens. She was a clothes horse.
>
> This is only the second time I've heard the term "clothes horse."
>
> Many years ago I briefly dated a chick that referred to herself that
> way. She had clothes with the tags still on them packed in her living
> room end tables. About half of her kitchen cabinets had clothes in
> them. She had a few loose screws so the fling never went anywhere.

My mother was definitely not like that. :-) She loved beautiful clothing
of top quality and had a huge collection of such. She wore all of it.
This extended to handbags, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. She always
dressed well but was never overdressed. I never saw her leaving the house
without being properly dressed. In fact, I rarely saw her inside the house
without being properly dressed. She truly enjoyed looking nice.

> So do you know what the origin of that term is? I could never figure
> it out.

In the early 19th century, "clothes horses" were wooden racks used for
drying or airing out clothes. The jocular use of "clothes horse" to
describe a person who seems to "live to display clothes" was a natural
extension of the phrase, and first appeared around 1850.

--

Wayne Boatwright

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Date: Wednesday, 01(I)/16(XVI)/08(MMVIII)
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Ivana used to be Donald's trompe l'oeil.
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