Idiom – All dressed up and nowhere to go

All dressed up and nowhere to go – Idiom of the Day

Meaning:

1. Fashionably or smartly dressed for an anticipated occasion that does not take place.
2. Ready for an event or occasion that has since been canceled.
3. Prepared for action but having nothing to do or unable to be proceeded with.

Origin:

The initial version of the idiom was all dressed up and no place to go. This idiom started being commonly used in the early 1900s, and is attributed to a 1910 musical production, The Girl of My Dreams. All dressed up and no place to go began as American slang, and is sometimes rendered as all dressed up and nowhere to go.

Usage:

1. Joey cancelled on our date tonight, so I am all dressed up and nowhere to go.
2. What, the golf match got postponed? Damn, now I am all dressed up and nowhere to go.
3. The big shoot got cancelled, so all the models are all dressed up and nowhere to go.
4. Now with the pandemic, the HR department’s proposed team building exercises are all dressed up and nowhere to go.
5. The teams were all dressed up and nowhere to go as heavy rains completely soaked the cricket pitch, leaving it unfit for playing on.