Not precisely the same phrase, except perhaps by phonetic analogy, but does anyone know where the similar-sounding "gussied up" comes from?

It's used to mean "made to look pretty, at least superficially." Presumably there was once a personage named Gussie?

There is a scene in A Tree Grows in Brooklyninvolving "giving baby the Gussie," but that doesn't really sound like quite the relevant source...

Any ideas?