The Exact Same Clothes Every Day!!!

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bluegas101

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Here are some cartoon examples of how a character's wardrobe consists of the exact same outfit. Add any more examples if you know some.

THE SIMPSONS:
- Homer donated his clothes to the homeless and they're all seen wearing white shirts and blue pants.
- Marge is seen folding identical versions of Bart's clothes.
- Lisa feels like she's been wearing her dress for years.

FAMILY GUY:
- Lois is seen folding blue shirts and beige pants like the ones she always wears.
- Lois scolds Stewie for getting lipstick all over Peter's "favorite shirt".

DEXTER'S LABORATORY
- Dexter's only "average" outfit was his old baby clothes.

MIKE, LU & OG
- Mike decides to change her wear after finding her closet full of nothing but red t-shirts, skirts, and sneakers.

TEEN TITANS
- The gang wears Robin's spare outfits while he's away.

THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY
- Billy spills coffee all over Grim's "good robe".

PHINEAS AND FERB
- It only takes them a few seconds to pick out clothes for school.

MICKEY MOUSE WORKS
- Mickey packs his bags with multiple red shorts and white gloves ("Mickey's Mechanical House").
 
Doug:
In one episode, Doug shows his friends the clothes in his closet, showing that they all match.

Darkwing Duck:
In Twitching Channels, somebody asks Darkwing is Launchpad always wears the same clothes.
 
Here's an example from tonight's episode of Generator Rex:

Six walks into his closet to find one of his many green suits taken by Rex for the prom.

There are maaany examples of this, though, that's why when I find a cartoon where the characters that do change their clothes on a somewhat daily basis (ex. Weekenders) it stands out to me.
 
Wearing the same outfits every day happens so often in cartoons that naming an example is almost redundant.

It's more notable to point out the cartoon characters who don't wear the same outfits every day (e.g. The Weekenders, Kim Possible, Kimiko from Xiaolin Showdown).
 
I remember that line.

"Hey, what's the deal with Launchpad? Does he ever change his clothes or do all his clothes just look the same?" :D

On a similar vein, there was this exchange from an episode of The Venture Brothers:

Hank: I had to sleep in my clothes! Now I feel gross wearing them 2 days in a row!
The Monarch: What are you talking about? You've always worn that 1 outfit every time that I've seen you!
Hank: That doesn't mean I don't wash it!
 
One issue of The Simpsons Comics includes a reference to the characters wearing different clothes that looks the same. The issue is titled "The Simpson Family Circus", and was reprinted in "Simpsons Comics Hit the Road!"

Anyway, the issue begins with The Simpsons getting a free satelite hook-up in exchange for the company monitoring what programs they watch. After one week, research shows that they watched all of the highest-rated programs on each network, which gets marketing people (including Lindsay Negal) thinking that The Simpsons are an indicator of what's popular (and not just regarding television), leading to production on clothing like what each member of the family wears, which everybody in springfield suddenly wears. The Simpsons get tired of this and try a few new outfits, which keep getting mass-produced and popular when the Simpsons wear them.

I don't know if a spoiler warning should be required here or not, but I'll put one up anyway:
Lisa then decides to have the family wear their regular clothing again, knowing that people wouldn't dare to wear last seasons fashion. The clothes get released in stores again, marketed as a "Retro Line", but nobody wants to buy them... And Marge points out that "Everything's remaindered!", to which Homer remarks "Woo-hoo! We never have to buy clothes again!" And then a small circle of an animated Matt Groening appears, saying "And that's why the Simpsons always wear the same clothes!"
 
I remember on Bonkers his rabbit friend (whose name escapes me at the moment) only wears one sock. When I was a little kid, I thought it was because he only owned one sock. Then I saw an episode when he did his laudry and he had several of the same socks, I wondered why doesn't he wear two.
 
It happens alot in cartoons. There are two main reasons for it too: marketing and animation reuse.

Having the charactes wear the same stuff makes them easier to identify, especially among kids, which makes sell merchandise easier. And it takes less effort to draw the same clothes than having to come up with new ones for each episode.

I'd prefer more series where the cloting changes, but that's no liely to happen often.
 
The main characters on The Weekenders didn't wear completely new outfits in every episode; the shows' animators designed about 3 different outfits for each character and would merely rotate between those 3 outfits each episode.

Then there was Kimiko from Xiaolin Showdown, who would change her hairstyle and outfit at least once per episode, but no one else on the show did.

On Peanuts, Charlie Brown and company always wore the same outfits, but (in the comic strips, at least), the colors of their clothes would change regularly.

It would be interesting if more cartoons had their characters change clothes more than occasionally, but as a practicing cartoonist, I can understand why most shows don't employ this technique. The process of animation is time consuming enough without having to design a new outfit for each character in every story. Plus, as previously stated, having characters always wear the same outfits is distinctive and it makes them much easier to identify for merchandising purposes. It is show business, after all.
 
Alas, the main problem with character models. Sometimes they change the models and hence the clothing, but other than that, usually they have the same clothes on all the time. A nice way around this though is to have them be school uniforms, or something to that effect.
 
Personally, I don't see this as being a bad thing. In many cases, a cartoon character's daily outfit becomes associated with who they are. Try to imagine Shaggy from Scooby Doo without his trademark green T-shirt or Inspector Gadget without his signature trench coat and fedora hat.
 
Well, Inspector Gadget has had a successful movie, where Michael Brodrick plays the role. He does wear something other than the trench coat, so it isn't so hard to imagine. Shaggy however even in live action form wears the same clothing.
 
Live action and animation are completely different animals, though. I still fail to see why toons always dressing the same is something bad. If cartoon characters wore different clothes in every episode, would it really improve the quality of the content? Or would it just be different? I mean, sure, cartoon characters wearing different outfits every day would be more realistic, but who the smeg watches cartoons for realism? I watch cartoons to escape from reality, not to see it reflected on the screen.
 
But even there, she had a "default" outfit she'd return to time and time again.

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It seems like some live-action characters always wear the same clothing (not just puppets or walk-around characters). On Taxi we often see Louie, Jim, and Latka in the same outfits (with Latka it makes most sense since he is a mechanic). I think Steve Urkel always wore the same thing on Family Matters. And Ernest P. Worrell alwasy wore the same outfit (I think there's a scene in Ernest Goes to Jail in which he looks in his closet and all his shirts are the same).
 
I don't think Steve Urkel always wore the same thing in Family Matters. He was always in suspenders and highwaters, but they weren't always the same thing.

Beavis and Butt-head characters definitely wear the same thing in pretty much episode. They even poked fun at that fact once, when they're watching a video, and they talk about how long they've been wearing their shirts. One mentions wearing the same shirt for six months or so, while the other mentions wearing the same shirt for seven months or so.
 
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