History Main / WardrobeFlawOfCharacterization

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'': Cracker Jack wears a shirt with tie, a NiceHat, and blue trousers. Except that, being a thug, his shirt is sleeveless and his tie is tied directly on his neck. [=EX2=] has him become a proper SharpDressedMan, though.

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': Ta-Matoran, associated with the [[ElementalPowers element of]] [[PlayingWithFire fire]], tend to be varying shades of red, yellow, and orange. Takua, on the other hand, wears a blue mask, signifying his status as an oddity among his village (to the point where he was briefly TheExile due to his poor work ethic). As it transpires, it was a subtle clue that he wasn't a Ta-Matoran at all - he was instead a disguised Av-Matoran, and became the [[LightEmUp Toa of Light]], [[MeaningfulRename Takanuva]].

* One chapter of ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' has the [[GenderBender gender-bent]] protagonist Matsuri dress up as a YukiOnna along with Rochka. Matsuri did the far worse job putting on his kimono (his sash is tied in a messy ribbon in front with a lot of slack; he also left the decorative cord and cloth Rochka included), showing months of living as girl [[GuysAreSlobs hasn't given him a neat or feminine fashion sense]]. A couple chapters earlier, Suzu even insisted she dress Matsuri herself for a summer festival because he wouldn't be careful enough.

** The Sixth Doctor dressed in an outfit that was frequently compared to that of a clown, both in-universe and out. Of note is that producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner intentionally made the outfit as eye-searingly ugly as humanly possible in order to highlight this incarnation's more unstable personality.

** The First Doctor dresses in slightly unusual but rather appropriate Edwardian clothing. The Second Doctor dresses in a similar outfit (supposedly the same outfit), but the clothes are all clownishly large and baggy, his bowtie is perpetually askew and he has an unkempt mop-top hairstyle. When he is put into a machine in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E7TheMacraTerror The Macra Terror]]" that makes him look sharp and gorgeous, he moans about it and immediately resets his outfit to normal [[SheCleansUpNicely much to Polly's displeasure]].
** The Third Doctor thinks sharp but inconspicuous dress for a wealthy gentleman in 1970s Britain ([[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture or at least a time aesthetically based on it]]) consists of brightly-coloured velvet suits, frilly dress shirts, bow ties, and a satin cape. Other characters derisively comment on his ridiculous dress sense, and in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival of Monsters]]" Vorg even assumes from his outfit that he's a working-class carnie.
** The Fourth Doctor dresses in well-coordinated and obviously very expensive AwesomeAnachronisticApparel with a [[ByronicHero Byronic]] or [[PerkyGoth gothic]] vibe topped with a designer hat, but wears it with a tackily-coloured stripy knitted scarf that is far, far longer than necessary. And never does the buttons up right. And CantTieHisTie. And doesn't iron anything. And the hat's visibly crumpled because he tends to just shove it into his pocket. And [[MessyHair he rarely even brushes his hair]]...
** The Fifth Doctor dresses in a sharp UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} outfit... with the exception of a celery stalk attached to his left lapel and a pair of sneakers.
** The Sixth Doctor dressed in an outfit that was frequently compared to that of a clown.
** The Seventh Doctor wears mostly somewhat casual formal wear with a hat, beige or dark dress jacket on top of (usually) tartan trousers with a shirt and a tie. He also wears a sweater vest, which wouldn't be an issue, if the thing wasn't ''covered in question marks''. When he shows up in the TV Movie he's ditched it, (and the hat) but he's gone with Albert Einstein's hairdo.

* In ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'', Charlie Watson's a ShortTank tomboy, whose [[WhoWearsShortShorts short-shorts]] are actually jean cut-offs, her [[TankTopTomboy tanktops]] are shirts with the sleeves cut off, and her shirts and jackets are stitched together from mix-mashed clothes. A lot of what she wears is men's clothing that she's cut together to fit her, and it's strongly indicated (confirmed by WordOfGod) that it was all her dad's clothes she's reworked to fit herself to be closer to him after his death. The fact they're all darkly colored helps to contrast her against the brightly colored AlphaBitch and the rest of the town, and her preference for male clothing comes in handy when she's able to loan a jacket to her male love interest.

* ''Toya/{{BIONICLE}}'': Ta-Matoran, associated with the [[ElementalPowers element of]] [[PlayingWithFire fire]], tend to be varying shades of red, yellow, and orange. Takua, on the other hand, wears a blue mask, signifying his status as an oddity among his village (to the point where he was briefly TheExile due to his poor work ethic). As it transpires, it was a subtle clue that he wasn't a Ta-Matoran at all - he was instead a disguised Av-Matoran, and became the [[LightEmUp Toa of Light]], [[MeaningfulRename Takanuva]].

* ''Toya/{{Bionicle}}'': Ta-Matoran, associated with the [[ElementalPowers element of]] [[PlayingWithFire fire]], tend to be varying shades of red, yellow, and orange. Takua, on the other hand, wears a blue mask, signifying his status as an oddity among his village (to the point where he was briefly TheExile due to his poor work ethic). As it transpires, it was a subtle clue that he wasn't a Ta-Matoran at all - he was instead a disguised Av-Matoran, and became the [[LightEmUp Toa of Light]], [[MeaningfulRename Takanuva]].

** Hank notices during his brief questioning of Lydia that she mismatched her shoes, suggesting that she's suspiciously more stressed about by the investigation than she's letting on.

* In ''Series/{{Reacher}}'', Captain Finley dresses in very fine suits, but everything is a little too gaudy for a police detective. Reacher's analysis is that Finley is using the pension he earned at a previous job to indulge in finer things but that his estrangement from his wife means that there's no one at home to pull him back from fashion mistakes.

* While most of the Sandford police force in ''Film/HotFuzz'' wear normal police uniforms, Inspector Butterman dresses in an Victorian-era constables' outfit that looks more like a costume. This shows how lax he is with his job as DaChief, and how homey and laid-back the atmosphere of Sandford is. [[spoiler: Except not really. When it becomes clear that Butterman is the BigBad complicit in several murders, the uniform shows that he's stuck in the past and wants to keep Sandford a unrealistic fantasy no matter what the cost.]]

* In ''Film/XXx'', the title character makes a point of commenting on Milon Sova's bad suit, described as "motel drapes". Later on, we see Sova wearing a better suit because he's sold information on Xander to the BigBad -- "My government doesn't pay as well as Yorgi."
* In ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'', Charlie Watson's a ShortTank tomboy, whose [[WhoWearsShortShorts short-shorts]] are actually jean cut-offs, her [[TankTopTomboy tanktops]] are shirts with the sleeves cut off, and her shirts and jackets are stitched together from mix-mashed clothes. A lot of what she wears is men's clothing that she's cut together to fit her, and it's strongly indicated (confirmed by WordOfGod) that it was all her dad's clothes she's reworked to fit herself to be closer to him after his death. The fact they're all darkly colored helps to contrast her against the brightly colored AlphaBitch and the rest of the town, and her preference for male clothing comes in handy when she's able to loan a jacket to her male love interest.

* In ''Series/Constantine2014'', John wears a tie that is much too short for him if worn properly. However, when he wears it loosely, as he usually does, the tip touches the top of his belt buckle perfectly as a proper tie should indicating that his rumpled appearance is a calculated choice.

* [[ManipulativeBastard Gendo Ikari]] in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a number of visible shortcuts in his clothes. His jet-black outfit is actually a CustomUniform, but he can't be bothered to button up the front of it. The conspicuous white gloves he wears (to cover some burn scars) obviously don't match the rest of his clothes, and he's perpetually sporting a thick chinstrap beard. It's all meant to show that Gendo is professional but also deeply jaded and doesn't quite care about the overall goal of NERV despite being the guy in charge of it.

** [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Stephanie Brown]], AKA Spoiler, formerly Robin IV and Batgirl III, when she's not wearing purple sweaters/hoodies, tends to wear loose, baggy jeans, men's flannel shirts, and army jackets, and generally dresses in a bit of an ill-fitting manner. Besides [[{{Tomboy}} indicating what]] [[TheLadette kind of girl]] [[OneOfTheBoys Stephanie is]], it also goes a ways of showing her financial state compared to most of her contemporaries, as she's a WorkingClassHero from a low-income home and can't afford nicer clothes... so she doesn't bother.

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The Red Prince is illustrated with fine clothes that are torn around the edges as a nod to his NobleFugitive status.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': The pilot episode reveals that Walter wears white brief underwear, which is quite unfashionable and embarrassing in the 21st century. Actor Bryan Cranston noted that the choice shows that Walter had "given up."
** Walter also wears shirts that are a couple of sizes too big, making him appear rather meek (which fits his personality [[FromNobodyToNightmare at first]]), accentuating the weight loss that comes with his cancer treatments, and highlighting his tendency to miss details when he makes plans.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. Jerry invokes this in one episode, when he mentions he is disappointed in an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' he saw because the Monster didn't wear a blazer. Jerry likes the idea of the Monster in a blazer, on the grounds that he shows he at least makes an effort to make himself presentable.

* Omar Little invokes this deliberately in ''Series/TheWire''. When Ilene Nathan tells him to buy an outfit with a tie for a court appearance, he buys just a tie and wears it with a baggy tracksuit to mock the request and show there are limits to his cooperation.