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Whenever you try to fit a round body into square pants, something bad is bound to happen.Just ask Sarah Calhoun, a former Outward Bound...

Randy H. Lippman has joined the World Emblem sales team as their new Midwest regional sales manager.  Lippman spent over 15 years working in...

World Emblem International has announced that CEO and President, Randy Carr, was a featured guest on The Growth Strategist™, a nationally known Internet radio...

Whoever coined the phrase "big things come in small packages" had in mind people such as Mai Cong Haworth.   Although she stands 4...

The Advertising Specialty Institute®, the largest media and marketing organization serving the advertising specialty industry, today announced it named Jason Ostrow executive director of...

Do you ever wonder what certain phrases mean? Do you ever use certain words or terms without having a clue regarding origin or meaning? Here's one for you: "Dressed to the nines." We use it more with the upper crust than the lower, and maybe more with women than men. But the term itself has been around for a few hundred years; perhaps longer than that. It's been used with the height of couture fashion, covering designs for daytime and evening wear; it's been used to describe the average Joe who is one step above; and it's been used with top-notch uniforms.

In truth, no one knows where "dressed to the nines" comes from, but there are numerous possible origins: Some say it has to do with the nine muses from Greek mythology and the arts—the best that aesthetics had to offer in every genre: Some say it refers to the nine Worthies, who are outstanding heroes from both literature and history—King Arthur, David, Joshua, and the like. The number nine is the last and highest of the single digits, and its square root is the mystical number three; nine has always been regarded as magic.

There is 18th century poetry from Scotland, with Robert Byrnes waxing over nature as being painted beautifully to the nines. There is the possibility of the medieval phrase, "dressed to thine eyne," referring to one's eyes being the loveliest ever—with the words gradually evolving to "the nines." In 18th century England, poet William Hamilton referred to the nines—how they contented him. In 14th century France, John de Mandeville wrote that war without peace would always be to the ninth degree if his king were not to reform.

"Dressed to the nines" simply means that one's fashion statement is tip-top. For the uniform industry, we are talking about an identity that puts our best feet forward, that advertises us as par excellence, that outwardly displays the kinds of qualities that we apply to our companies inwardly, with our entire collective focus as a team.

When it comes to apparel, some say that it refers to the "whole nine yards," which at one time was the amount of fabric used to make up a suit for an elegant gentleman or, imagine a single elegant shirt! (Figure narrow, 36" wide goods, or even the most foppish 18th century dandy would drown in ruffles and lace at this quantity if it were a 45" or 60" fabric width).

Prime-Tex International led by President Victor Harary, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Wedekind as Southeast regional sales director for SafetyFirst Uniforms. After...

In the late 19th century, a fellow from Vienna, Austria—John Frederick Boepple—who was as bright, inventive, and dedicated as they come, came to the United States in search of what was known as "fresh water pearls." Because of European tariffs and difficulties overseas, his craft of making buttons out of multiple materials, such as horn, wood, lead, and "salt water pearls" had become an outrageous expense, and he was looking for a material less expensive. He found an abundance of it along the Mississippi River, in Muscatine, Iowa; what was to become the button capital of the world.

Boepple, who was really the founder of the button industry, is well documented in books, articles, and even museums; his is indeed a remarkable story. But also from Vienna, arrived around the same time, came another young and hardworking man in the button business—John Weber. Weber, too, arrived in Muscatine, and it is more than likely—although the two men went their separate ways—that they knew one another.

This is about John Weber, his family, "fresh water pearls" that are also known as clams, and the manufacture of buttons. There was an enormous abundance of clams along the river—literally mountains of shells—and that part of gathering raw materials for the buttons was called "clamming." Fresh water clams or "pearls" were 1/100th the cost of European salt water clams; hence, a fortune was to be made in the American button industry as a result. While many other firms came and went, Weber & Sons Button Company, Inc. not only still exists, but is one of the original manufacturers of buttons in this country.

John Weber and his wife had 9 children, enough to run an entire factory at that time. What began as a two-story 20,000 square feet building erected in 1860, grew and grew, and is now 45,000 square feet spanning two separate dwellings with 25 employees, many of whom remain family. Muscatine is a blue-collar factory town, population 34,000, polka-dotted with churches, shopping centers, and monuments to a simpler way of life. "It's two degrees of separation," says Lynne Weber, fourth generation office manager. "If you don't know someone, the person sitting next to you does." There are still multiple factories in existence, and they are operating despite the recession. Farm country surrounds the area, but Muscatine, itself, is pure industry: Yes, in complete compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sharon Carlquist, who has worked on the Metro-North Railroad for 31 years, bounded into Grand Central Terminal on a recent morning, fresh off the...

The continuing revitalization of Lancaster Avenue just east of downtown Fort Worth through mixed-use development projects took a leap forward with the recent opening...