Any cartoons where people change their clothes?

February 16, 2009 8:38 AM

Are there any cartoons in which the characters regularly wear different clothes?

There are so many reasons why it makes sense to keep the characters in the same outfits episode after episode, season after season. Are there any examples of cartoons where the animators have gone above and beyond and created an actual wardrobe for their characters?

posted by phunniemee to grab bag (18 comments total)

Mr Ben - well he always used to go in to a fancy dress shop and change costume to start a new adventure.
posted by aTrumpetandaDream at 8:50 AM on February 16

Archie. Especially Veronica.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:55 AM on February 16

This entry on TV Tropes has examples at the bottom in the Exceptions list.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:57 AM on February 16 [2 favorites has favorites]

Have you ever seen (or heard of) "Cardcaptor Sakura"?

One of the running jokes in the series is that Sakura's friend Tomoyo is an otaku about magical girls, and creates lots of costumes for Sakura to wear when she goes into action. As a result, Sakura's costumes not only change every single battle (Tomoyo insists) but they're all silly looking.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:58 AM on February 16

Mexican wrestler Mil Máscaras has a different mask and outfit almost every time he wrestlers (his name means (a thousand masks). He is also a popular cartoon character in Mexico.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:01 AM on February 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

burnmp3's link rightly mentions As Told by Ginger, but I think it deserves extra points for allowing a major character's braces to be removed from his teeth permanently.
posted by Phanx at 9:10 AM on February 16

Coraline goes through a pretty impressive wardrobe change throughout the movie.
posted by ElmerFishpaw at 9:12 AM on February 16

Jem & The Holograms? I remember different outfits, but I don't remember how often they changed. Each character definitely had a "signature outfit" which they could be identified by.
posted by Bunglegirl at 9:15 AM on February 16

There was a cartoon on Disney Channel called The weekenders where the kids all wore different outfits every day
posted by legotech at 10:13 AM on February 16

I'm not sure this quite counts, but while the characters in ReBoot only had one outfit apiece, every episode (in the earlier seasons, anyway) would involve them becoming a part of an interactive computer game, and usually getting a costume change for the duration of the game.
posted by tomatofruit at 10:39 AM on February 16

Are you limiting it to animated cartoons, or do comics count? Questionable Content (also mentioned in the TV Tropes list above) characters change clothes all the time, mostly band t-shirts.
posted by elendil71 at 10:44 AM on February 16

I know this isnt an actual wardrobe, but the characters in Zits occaisionally change their clothes. Its funny though, because most teenagers iconically wear similiar outfits everyday, so when they DO change, its not that far from the usual dress. Its pleasantly ironic, i guess.
posted by theMONster at 11:20 AM on February 16

My female friends used to admire Brenda Starr's wardrobe. That was a long time ago, though.
posted by vilcxjo_BLANKA at 11:26 AM on February 16

The characters in Avatar change their look quite a bit; Their hair and clothes change. scars become permanent parts of the characters' design. Weapons are lost and gained.
posted by lekvar at 1:51 PM on February 16

A lot of anime has characters that change their clothes a lot. Off the top of my head, Sailor Moon and Genshiken come to mind.
posted by CoralAmber at 2:20 PM on February 16

Roger the Alien on american dad is constantly wearing new disguises...
characters on shows like "King of the Hill" have their prototypical clothing, but will wear other clothes as circumstances dictate (ie, if they're going to a fancy dinner or if it's part of the plot in some way)
posted by mdn at 2:54 PM on February 16

If comics count: Mary Worth. And what deliciously heinous outfits they are.
posted by hardcore taters at 3:08 PM on February 16 [1 favorite has favorites]

As far as comics go, there's "For Better or for Worse" and "Get Bucky," among others (in the latter, the cartoonist likes to use the main character's wardrobe to reflect his own personal likes, such as the Red Sox).

I would think that the civilian wear in the various superhero animated series such as "Justice League" or "Batman" would qualify. Although I seem to recall Lois Lane in the "Superman" series always wearing that lavender outfit...

(Coming up with examples in TV is a lot harder than I thought it would be.)
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 4:50 PM on February 16