On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:47:35 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

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

>> 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. :-)

Sorry Wayne. I wasn't implying she was. I could have worded my
question better.

>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.

This girl "needed" to look nice. I figured out she was bulimic so the
rest of the obsessions made sense.
>
>> 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.

Very interesting. Thanks for responding.

Lou