the whole nine yards

[Ray Ott]

British imposed sumptuary laws limited scottish highlanders to no more than
nine yards of tartan cloth each.  If they had as much as they were allowed,
they had "the whole nine yards".  This strip of home woven cloth was then
folded in a certain way,  wrapped around and secured with a waist belt to
form both the kilt and the "over-the-shoulder" part of the outfit: a belted
plaid.

Ray Ott