History Main / CostumeEvolution

* The most significant example in ''Series/DoctorWho'' is the Cybermen, who have had a succession of very different designs over the years. Major redesigns occurred in "The Moonbase" (replacement of the original BodyHorror-inflected look from "The Tenth Planet" with a cleaner robotic appearance), "The Invasion" (introduction of the "square-headed" or "earmuff" head design), "EarthShock" (replacement of the skin-tight appearance of the outer suit of earlier designs with a baggier look reminiscent of military combat fatigues), and "The Rise of the Cybermen" (the cloth-like outer suit of earlier designs replaced with a segmented, hard-shelled armour).

A SisterTrope to BetaOutfit.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' started out with gray tights and a [[SuperheroesWearCapes black cape with blue lining]], that [[CapeWings was shaped like bat wings]]. The biggest change change from this was the cape changed into a standard cape but with a jagged hem. Changes since then have been various coloring changes, such as adding yellow to the mix, mostly for his UtilityBelt and the outline of the bat symbol.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' has had several tweaks to his outfit over the years, many involving the coloring and form of his ChestInsignia. In TheNineties he had a white and blue outfit, but that was reverted to the classic form. The ComicBook/{{New 52}} relaunch brought a major change in that he lost the red UnderwearOfPower and now wears just a blue bodysuit.
* Every member of the ''Franchise/XMen'' has had major upgrades. Even Professor X exchanged his wheelchair with a gold hover chair powered by alien tech.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' the studio updated the costume from ''Film/BatmanBegins'' with sleeker design.
* Costumes are frequently updated between Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movies. One change that had attention called to it was Captain America getting a modern replacement for his old WWII uniform in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. Other especially noticeable ones were War Machine getting a red, white, and blue paint job, along with a name change to "Iron Patriot" in ''Film/IronMan3'' (and then reverting back afterwards); and Falcon painting his wing pack red and white by the time he joined the Avengers.

* ''VideoGame/KingOfFighters'': many outfits are era-specific, i.e Orochi Saga Kyo wears a school uniform with headband while NESTS Kyo wears jeans and white jacket without headband. Other examples include Ralf and Clark, who at first just look like headswaps of each other, but later evolved in different ways; King and Benimaru, who has the same case as Kyo; and Robert and Athena who change clothes practically every installment.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''Ultimax'' place a couple years after ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', so the characters from that game have different clothes. Yukari now is an actress, so she wears {{pink| means feminine}} tights, while Mitsuru wears [[PrettyInMink a white fur coat]] to reflect her status as the head of a major company.

** At present he's wearing the Spider-Armor Mark IV, which is metallic red and blue with underarm webbing and a glowing outline around the spider-emblem.

%%* The Series/{{Arrow}} and Series/{{The Flash|2014}} often update their costumes near the start of a new season.
%% Need context, alphabetizing, and NOT treating two works as one entry.

* The ''{{LEGO}}'' toyline, ''{{Ninjago}}'', will periodically update the look of the characters to reflect new outfits given every season in their show.

** [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Princess Zelda]] originally had a [[PrincessesPreferPink pink dress]] with puff sleeves, and a wide bell skirt that had white ribbons and bows near the hem. This only lasted the first couple of games. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' she had a white dress with some purple trimmings and gold accessories. This would be the first form of her standard dress, which would evolve over further games.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''Ultimax'' place a couple years after ''VideoGame/Persona3'', so the characters from that game have different clothes. Yukari now is an actress, so she wears {{pink| means feminine}} tights, while Mitsuru wears [[PrettyInMink a white fur coat]] to reflect her status as the head of a major company.

->''"In the fourth months since the last episode aired, I've created a brand new, ultra efficient, technologically advanced '''Dual Disk System'''! And that's not all. I also have a sexy new outfit."''

** Princess Zelda originally had a [[PrincessesPreferPink pink dress]] with puff sleeves, and a wide bell skirt that had white ribbons and bows near the hem. This only lasted the first couple of games. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' she had a white dress with some purple trimmings and gold accessories. This would be the first form of her standard dress, which would evolve over further games.

* The Series/{{Arrow}} and Series/{{The Flash|2014}} often update their costumes near the start of a new season.

* ''Franchise/IronMan'' started out with a gray, bulky suit of armor before it changed into the sleek, red and gold armor it is now. This is noted in the fist ''Film/IronMan'' movie where the prototype armor was based on the one in the first years of the comics. Beyond that, smaller details are regularly in flux since Tony is always tweaking and enhancing his armor.

The reasons for this can be due to the creators just liking the new designs, or them feeling the current costume is SoLastSeason, to them trying to reflect cultural changes (which is one of the most common reasons for uniform updates in RealLife), to needing new content in a MerchandiseDriven show. In live action works, changes can be to make a costume more comfortable and easier to work with for the actors wearing them (so it's an EnforcedTrope to avoid actors risking physical harm).

* ''Franchise/IronMan'' started out with a gray, bulky suit of armor before it changed into the sleek, red and gold armor it is now. This is noted in the fist ''Film/IronMan'' movie where the prototype armor was based on the one in the first years of the comics.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' has had several tweaks to his outfit over the years, many involving the coloring and form of his ChestInsignia. In TheNineties he had a white and blue outfit, but that was reverted to the classic form.

* In the first few seasons of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', the members would get their suits updated along with their powers, to keep up with the concurrent ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' was the last series to do this. The series past that just had different teams.

** Early games had Mario and Luigi wear red and green overalls with blue shirts, respectively. Later games swapped the colors, starting with the cover and instructions for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' was able to render the changes in-game.
** Princess Peach has always had her pink dress with the tiny puff sleeves and bell skirt. Just graphical increases allowed more details to be shown, and then added. In the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games after ''Brawl'' her outfit is a full PimpedOutDress with extra overskirts and lace trimmings.

A SuperTrope to FrillyUpgrade (as this trope happens a lot to FrillsOfJustice), FanservicePack (where a character's costume becomes increasingly sexualised), SignificantWardrobeShift (CharacterDevelopment shown through costume changes) and EarnedStripes (when it's directly tied to rankings and tiers.)

* ComicBook/SpiderMan's first costume, as drawn by Steve Ditko in 1962, was red and black with under-arm webbing. In 1966, John Romita Sr. changed Peter's costume to what is considered his classic look: red and blue with no underarm webbing. In 1984, Peter acquired the [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} black suit]] but returned to his classic look. In 1989 he became the host of the Uni-Power and became Captain Universe, with the lower part of his mask staying the same. In 1990, Todd [=McFarlane=] made the blue parts of Spider-Man's costume darker and re-added the under-arm webbing, though in the wake of the Clone Saga he returned to his classic look. His 2004 Secret War outfit was black with blue spider-leg like stripes, his 2006 Iron Spider costume was red and metallic gold with a large spider-emblem, and his 2010 Future Foundation outfit was white with black sides, eye-pieces, and spider-emblems. His 2011 "Big Time" Stealth Suit was black with green/red TronLines. At present he's wearing the Spider-Armor Mark IV, which is metallic red and blue with underarm webbing and a glowing outline around the spider-emblem.

-->-- '''Kaiba''', ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''

A SuperTrope to FrillyUpgrade (as this trope happens a lot to FrillsOfJustice), SignificantWardrobeShift (CharacterDevelopment shown through costume changes) and EarnedStripes (when it's directly tied to rankings and tiers.)

A SuperTrope to FrillyUpgrade (as this trope happens a lot to FrillsOfJustice), SignificantWardrobeShift (CharacterDevelopment shown through costume changes) and EarnedStripes (when it's directly tied to classes and rankings.)

A SuperTrope to FrillyUpgrade (as this trope happens a lot to FrillsOfJustice), SignificantWardrobeShift (CharacterDevelopment shown through costume changes).

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': He originally possessed a standard Soul Reaper uniform with a belt strapping his Zanpakutou sheath to his back. His Shikai transformed the belt to a red strap and his Bankai turned the ''kosode'' into a tattered longcoat. Awakening his Fullbring gave him a uniform made of black flame that eventually transformed into a black body suit with white skeletal armour. The restoration of his Soul Reaper powers merged with the remnants of his Fullbring to add neck armour and X-shaped straps to his Shikai and Bankai uniforms. After training with Squad Zero, he obtains a tattered, black-streaked, white waist cloth and shoulder armour that crosses his chest in an X-shape.

** Princess Zelda originally had a [[PrincessesPreferPink pink dress]] with puff sleeves, and a wide bell skirt that had white ribbons and bows near the hem. This only lasted the first couple of games. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinktoThePast'' she had a white dress with some purple trimmings and gold accessories. This would be the first form of her standard dress, which would evolve over further games.

* In the fourth season of ''TheLegendOfKorra'' Tenzin and his family have traded their traditional Air Nomad robes for modern wingsuits designed by Asami, which lets them glide for longer distances. This also reflects CharacterDevelopment on Tenzin's part, as during previous seasons he tried to hold up all the Air Nation traditions his father told him about, even when they didn't seem to hold up in that world anymore.