History Main / FormFittingWardrobe

Compare MostCommonSuperpower, SensualSpandex (which shows some skin as well as conforming to the skin it covers), SweaterGirl (although the sweater is designed to be form-fitting) and PaintedOnPants. Not to be confused with ClingyCostume or BodyPaint.

* [[StarTrekVoyager Seven of Nine]]

* Ah!MyGoddess: This is generally subverted, but especially so in the initial chapters, Keiichi and Belldandy's jackets are huge on them and it shows.

* In the ''Soul'' series, Taki usually has at least one costume that's so tight as to look like body paint.

* ''{{Liberty Meadows}}''. Brandy and Jen's jeans look more like they were painted on.
** Or inked maybe. Sorry, couldn't resist.
** In one strip, Brandy has difficulties with putting her jeans on.

* The ''Film/{{Batman}}'' films did this, leading to the [[ExaggeratedTrope most extreme form yet of this trope]]: the bat-nipples in ''BatmanForever'' and ''BatmanAndRobin''. Yes, I am blaming that on this trope. Sure, it was the choice of the costume designer, but they wouldn't even have been considered if not for this trope.
** Unfortunately, it was TruthInTelevision for Spartans.
*** The [[{{Badass}} Spartans]] could get away with it. Bat-Clooney? Not so much.
* Ask any female viewer about David Bowie's pants in ''{{Labyrinth}}''.
** [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Or for that matter many male viewers]]
*** Even those of us who are straight can still see it. From the moon.

* [[{{Metroid}} Samus Aran's]] PoweredArmor, at least compared to TheFederation [[SpaceMarines Marines]].
** Justified. The Space Marines are wearing standard armor (for their time). Samus is wearing advanced Chozo armor that bonds to her body, so much so that it required a surgical procedure to forcefully remove it when she was unconscious and therefore unable to allow its removal.

** In ''MassEffect2'', most of your squadmates: Miranda, Samara, Jacob, Thane, Kasumi, and, of course, [[FanPreferredCouple Tali]].

Another reason, particularly where superhero comics are concerned, is that artists are trained to draw human figures. It is faster and easier to add colors that imply spandex clothing than to actually draw the folds and wrinkles that come with wearing alistic clothing.

The reason this is done is likely a combination of RuleOfCool, RuleOfSexy and RealityIsUnrealistic, with a heaping bushel of FanService for good measure. If the character has a good figure, the artist likely wants to show it off, to advertise the beauty or natural athleticism. If they aren't, odds are high that the character will be drawn fat enough that ''anything'' they could fit in would be formfitting. Another possible reason is the way that artists are trained to draw the human figure. In order to get the proportions & everything right you have to start out with a naked figure & then draw the clothes on over it.

But then there is the realization that this trope actually makes these characters more time consuming to draw than skintight clothing drawn the way they would actually fit (or at least avoid some of the folds, which would be time consuming). This has likely been a contributor to the increasing sameness in SuperHero comics, where there seem to be a shrinking pool of faces, with just hair, costumes, and other features to set them apart.

This Trope is almost as universally prevalent in {{Anime}} and {{Manga}} as it is in {{Comic Books}}. A list of either that '''''don't''''' use this trope would be significantly shorter than ones that do. [[http://antoineblais.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/kaname_chidori.jpg Skin tight Sailor Suits]], anyone? Also, Gel and Danbooru call this "impossible_shirt", with "taut_shirt" the more realistic variant.

* DeathNote: Mello's [[{{HellBentForLeather}} leather]] wardrobe. I'm surprised his ass hasn't exploded out of his trousers yet.

* Good god, ''HistorysStrongestDiscipleKenichi''. Miu's clothing is so formfitting that she might as well be wearing BodyPaint. Even her ''apron'' is form fitting.

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** We're also shown how they get something so tight on: its very baggy and then it contracts to fit tightly.

** Also; Imperial Assassins (of all schools, but especially the majority-female Callidus), wear uniforms that are quite literally sprayed on - the substance (called SynSkin) defaults to matte black but can be any colour (with some variants including chameleonic colour-shifting) and provides whole-body protection from various airborne toxins and temperature variation whilst allowing the skin to breathe properly, but only works if applied ''directly'' to naked flesh.

This Trope is almost as universally prevalent in {{Anime}} and {{Manga}} as it is in {{Comic Books}}. A list of either that '''''don't''''' use this trope would be significantly shorter than ones that do. [[http://antoineblais.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/kaname_chidori.jpg Skin tight Sailor Suits]], anyone? Also, Danbooru calls this "impossible_shirt"; contrast "taut_shirt", the more realistic variant.

* The [[LatexSpaceSuit plug suits]] in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', but for specific reasons, as they are necessary for synchronization and are also a life-support system for the pilots.
* ''DragonBallZ'' has Vegeta's ever popular combat suit. It is a skintight bodysuit with chest armor over top, and take notice how the actual armor piece gets continually smaller until it's done away with completely in the Buu arc.

** A rare notable example would be Iron Maiden of ''[[MarvelComics Earth X]]'', though. She's wearing [[BreastPlate a suit of Vibranium (fictional metal) armor]] which molds to her attributes. All of them, apparently--the style of art in the original series makes it hard to see, but a concept drawing shows nipples, navel, and ''cameltoe''. Only the armor's head, which looks like Iron Man's original helmet, is an exception.
** In the Golden and Silver ages spandex usually wasn't so tight, and fit much more realistically. As time went on clothes got tight, to the point where a hero in spandex was essentially naked save for a few choice areas. Then it got even crazier and muscles just started appearing everywhere, reaching an apex with Rob Liefeld and his followers. Nowadays things tend to be more subdued, thanks to colouring techniques having enough depth to render all those muscles through subtle shading rather than hard lines.
** A particular notorious example involved the deeply religious and modest Afghanistani Marvel character Dust, who DependingOnTheArtist was sometimes drawn in a form-fitting '''[[CriticalResearchFailure abaya]]'''.

* Almost continually averted for female pilots in the [[XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] comics; the outfits pilots and other characters wore sometimes hinted a little, but were seldom overt. The most notable exception was the one time a character got into a formal gown which clung tight enough to reveal her abs - and rather than being an unusually uninteresting sight, the pilot she was dating saw it and said "Wow!"

* Just ask NostalgiaChick about David Bowie's pants in ''{{Labyrinth}}''.
** [[CrowningMomentofFunny Package!]]

* Armour in ''MassEffect''. The same suit that fits on a human male will have no problem fitting a human woman.

[[folder:Other]]
* One of the tags on Gelbooru, an anime image site, is "impossible shirt", devoted to anime shirts which somehow formfit to individual breasts as well as to the rest of the shirt.
[[/folder]]

* Just ask [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Nostalgia Chick]] about David Bowie's pants in ''{{Labyrinth}}''.