Nonuniform Uniform: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"Okashi City Junior High School's Dress Code Manual, Guideline #5A states, and I quote, 'Ladies, if they elect to wear socks, must wear the appropriate school-provided socks or a comparable white or black store-bought version. Otherwise, ladies must wear stockings instead of socks.' These, I feel I should point out once again, are stockings, and the manual says nothing about what type of stockings one is allowed to wear. So, as you can see, I am fully within the guidelines determined by the dress code."''|'''Tristan''', ''[[Angel Moxie]]''}}

 

 

This is often done in fiction to make things more visually interesting while still keeping a team feel. In Real Life this is a key reason why novelty neckties are so popular. Big earrings, watches laden down with gadgets, mismatched socks, you get the idea. In the professional world, this is popular with men, who tend to have fewer options for "proper" attire than women.

 

 

Compare [[Distinctive Appearances]].

 

{{examples}}

* The Guardians of ''[[Shugo Chara]]'' wear mantles on their shoulders, though this isn't out of rebellion but rather a symbol of their status. Amu, on the other hand, tends to wear her uniform in a slightly more disheveled fashion. Jacket unbuttoned, shirt un-tucked, and belt with a fanny pack on over the shirt. The fanny pack, used to keep Amu's Guardian Character Eggs, was added after she joined the Guardians.

* In ''[[Bleach]]'', nearly every one of the captains have something customized with their uniform. [[Justified Trope]] in that they're among the thirteen strongest Soul Reapers.

** The starlight's also have different accessories on their uniform and different strap colors. Kakyuu's version (Which only appears in the manga) has a unique skirt and shoulder pads and her crown remains.

** Sailor Senshi as a whole have wildly different uniforms based on their team with the only real rule being it must have a Sailor collar, a bow of some kind on their chest and some from of tiara or head gear.

* [[Revolutionary Girl Utena|Utena]] seems to be following the school rules by wearing the approved uniform (for men) but we never actually see a male student wearing the style.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

** Basically, every artist put him into something different. Maybe, unlike the other Rogues, he doesn't have a [[Limited Wardrobe]].

** In the novels, Corran Horn sometimes wore his pilot-suit from his old job with the Corellian Security Service. Of course, given that supply shortages are a constant problem for the Rebel Alliance and nascent New Republic, the last line of their official dress code probably reads "Or whatever you can get your hands on that fits and doesn't have too many holes in". The "standard" orange pilot suit only became standardized because it was the kind the Rebels had been able to scrounge up the largest numbers of. By the time they had the resources to make this no longer an issue, orange had become a tradition in Starfighter Command.

* Members of the [[Green Lantern Corps]] are allowed to customize their uniform pretty much however they choose so long as they keep the green-black-white color scheme and the Lantern badge is clearly visible.

* For a short time in the nineties, [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]] wore brown leather jackets with the Avengers' logo on the shoulders. This gave the team a uniformed look while maintaining their individual identities.

** Perhaps as a reference to this, the "uniforms" of [[Nextwave]] were just a roughly knee-length trenchcoat (usually grey with black lapels) over whatever their normal outfits were. Or perhaps it was just [[Warren Ellis]]' love of trenchcoats. Either way, it worked.

* Currently, the [[Fantastic Four]] has been remodeled as the Future Foundation. The group wear black and white body suits similar to their original F4 designs. Thing and [[Spider-Man]] both have different costumes that accomodate their powers and past costumes while Reed and Susan Richards seemingly have identical suits with their chest emblems slightly different. Their children have gender-based uniforms.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Joker from ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' wrote 'born to kill' on his helmet and wears a peace pin on his jacket. When a colonel gives him heck for it, he claims he was trying to make a statement about the dual nature of man.

* Coraline from ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]'' wants rainbow-colored knit gloves because she has to wear a school uniform and those are something no one else will have.

* In ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'', the crew on the Nostromo all wear various pieces of the uniform (jacket, jumpsuit, shirt, hat, etc.) combined with their own choices. Since they're traveling by themselves in deep space, it's not like the Corporation is going to notice whether they follow the dress code or not.

* The eponymous ''[[Mystery Team]]'' wears color-coded outfits that make them look like children.

* According to the "Children of the Atom" behind-the-scenes documentary this was done purposefully in ''[[X-Men: First Class|X Men First Class]]'', not only because the comics did so [[Fridge Brilliance|but also because each member required something slightly different]], like Xavier having more body armor (as the leader) and Magneto having less (since he can stop bullets) or Hank's collar being torn off.

** Even the original ''[[X-Men (film)|X Men]]'' movies invoked this trope. The team wore black leather bodysuits with slight variations (Cyclops' visor was incorporated into his, Beast's costume was modified for his bulky frame, Angel went shirtless, etc.).

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Cloudcuckoolander|Luna Lovegood]] from ''[[Harry Potter]]'', wears her mandatory Hogwarts robes accessorized with bottlecap necklaces and radish earrings.

** The film adaptations use this trope realistically; some of the extras display the same variety of creative, non-standard ways of wearing a tie as they probably did in their [[Real Life]] ''alma maters''.

*** They actually got the extras to adjust and modify their uniforms as they would at a normal school.

*** In the fifth film, one of Umbridge's decrees imposed that "proper dress and decorum is to be maintained at all times." Either the filmmakers were sloppy or the students didn't care to follow this rule. We'll go with the second explanation because we hate Umbridge.

** The Monstrous Regiment's uniforms weren't very uniform anyway, mostly because they were odds-and-sods mashups of whatever was left. The City Watch demonstrates this trope as well for the same reason, looking like a museum exhibit of "[[Nice Hat|Funny hats]] through the ages."

* In ''Scarecrow'' by [[Matthew Reilly]], the bodies of some Delta Force operatives are discovered. They don't wear unit insignia or any personal identification, but each man has customised his uniform slightly.

* Myn Donos of the [[X Wing Series]] sports a variably-customized uniform. Though his gear is New Republic issue, some of it still bears the patches from his ([[My Greatest Failure|nearly wiped out]]) former command. When he's in the middle of a [[Heroic BSOD|BSOD]], he wears a bare-bones Wraith Squadron uniform with no ornamentation, but when he starts recovering he sports his Talon Squadron insignia and the various decorations and medals he's earned.

* Endemic among the [[Gaunt's Ghosts|Tanith First And Only]], starting with the fact that they've been amalgamated from three separate commands and didn't have entirely uniform equipment to begin with. Aside from Gaunt (who has a [[Custom Uniform]] to go with his unique rank), notables include [[Kill It with Fire|flame trooper Lyse]], who goes sleeveless to emphasize that [[The Big Guy|even her muscles have muscles]], and Sergeant Criid, who sports a fur bomber jacket. They also have a surprising mixture of smaller equipment, including sidearms and utility tools, that comes from various sources (up to and including the enemy, if they're not using it any more).

 

** Basically: Worf's sash is okay, but initially Ro's earrings are banned. Note that after that Bajoran extras in the movies are seen to wear them, making it likely there was some sort of change. Also note that, despite the earrings being religious in nature, Ro doesn't follow the Bajoran religion yet wears them anyway.

*** Which makes for a certain level of [[Fridge Brilliance]], when [[Deep Space Nine]] makes a point that Bajorians of the Prophets wear the earring on the right ear, but Ro wears hers on the left ear (which is code for a follower of the Pah Wraith, although that doesn't apply to thoroughly non-religious Ro; she just does it to be contrary).

* Will Smith on ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]''. He always turned the jacket of his school uniform inside out, displaying a colorful silk liner instead of the single color shell.

** Not to mention the time he wore his tie ''[[Refuge in Audacity|as a headband]]''. (Tied in a Windsor knot, as specified in the student handbook.)

* The main characters in ''[[Scrubs]]'' have, er, scrubs that are a different shade than everyone else's. In particular, The Todd makes his scrubs [[Sleeves Are for Wimps|sleeveless]] so his "DOC" tattoo is visible and Doug Murphey is seen with with a red fannypack.

** There is [[Truth in Television]] to this, as some hospitals require different colored scrubs for different departments and even different levels of staff. There are problems because supply management departments tend to not care about carrying five different shades of blue just to satisfy staff vanity.

* ''[[Degrassi]]'''s gone in this direction in Season 11. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that the school had only implemented uniforms earlier that school year, and one of the teachers stated flat-out that they don't like enforcing it any more than the students like wearing it.

* Taiwanese series ''KO 3anguo'', a [[High School AU]] take on [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]], naturally does this. Of special note, Huang Zhong is no longer the oldest of the five Shu generals, but his school jacket has been altered into a [[Badass Longcoat]] to help him stand out.

 

== [[Music]] ==

* [[Destiny's Child]] made this their signature look. In a [[Music Video]] or live performance, the girls' outfits always had the same theme, but the specifics were different for each girl. For example, if the theme is a red shirt and black skirt, one might wear a tank top, another would wear a tube top, another would wear a halter, and when there were four members, the fourth might wear a baby tee or crop.

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

* ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'' had April, who was going to an Ontario high school, have to buy certain clothes that fit exact specifications, but the list didn't mention socks, so she wore knee-high socks with rainbow stripes.

 

== [[Theatre]] ==

* In ''[[Wicked (theatre)|Wicked]]'', the characters at Elphaba's school technically don't wear uniforms so much as all their clothes are made of the same cloth.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' has each playable character has some sort of [[Iconic Item]] or [[Custom Uniform|personal style variations]], while still keeping the basic uniform intact.

** The ''[[Persona 2]]'' duology has Eikichi "Michel" Mishina, who wears some sort of kilt-thing over his uniform pants and under his jacket. The other playable high school student characters keep with the standard uniform, believe it or not.

** ''[[Persona 4]]'' is better about this than ''Persona 3'', though. Three of the eight (one of whom doesn't go to school, another is explicitly a delinquent) party members wears the full winter uniform, and five wear the full summer uniform. One of the characters who regularly does wear the full uniform is a [[Bifauxnen|cross-dresser]] who's wearing a regulatory uniform of the opposite gender.

* ''[[Bully (video game)|Bully]]'' seems to give some leeway in what is considered a uniform for Bullworth Academy; You need to have something on displaying the school's name or logo at all times, but other then that go nuts customizing Jimmy's outfit.

* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', Soldiers of Arachnos must have a soldier/widow costume for their base slot, but are given some customization options so they don't all look the same.

* Rin Tezuka of ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' doesn't have arms and does everything with her feet. Obviously, she would have [[Panty Shot|certain problems]] with a skirt, so she wears the boys' uniform.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Similar to the ''For Better or For Worse'' example, Tristan Stallings of ''[[Angel Moxie]]'' exploits a loophole in her school's dress code to wear striped stockings to school. When a teacher tries to call her on this she gives the page quote.

* The Dogs of war in [[Cry Havoc]] all wear customized versions of the same basic uniform. This is explained away by their jobs as mercenaries who chose their own gear.

** There is also Sarah's beret worn during the school uniform story. She gets away with it by giving the principal [[Puppy Dog Eyes]] even though hats were against the rules even before the uniforms showed up.

* [[Super Soldier|Jägers]] in ''[[Girl Genius]]'' wear wild [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111214 variety] of [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111216 uniform-looking] [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111230 garb] even when prepared to fight. At least, "goot lookin' vunz", i.e. not working for Klaus.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Subtle example in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': when Aang goes to {{spoiler|a fire nation school}} in season 3, he isn't wearing a belt like the other students. This is justified because they stole the clothes from someone's clothesline not realising it was a school uniform and only separately went to buy accessories. More noticeably, he wears a headband to cover his arrow (explained as covering a scar), which seems to work against him when he gets into trouble and the teachers look for the headband to find him in a crowd, but then it's revealed that, in a show of support, all the other students are wearing headbands as well, making finding him impossible.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* When working at Wal-Mart, there are really only two things you have to keep in mind: dark blue shirt and khaki pants. Sky's more or less the limit on exactly ''how'' you wanna wear those two things (or, even, what ''style'' of those things you want to wear).

** Best Buy has more or less the same uniform. [[Improv Everywhere]] decided to take advantage of this flexibility in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utkkXCF8ZV Operation Best Buy]; they sent 80 people dressed in blue polo shirts and khaki pants into a single Best Buy solely to [[Mistaken for Servant|cause confusion]].

** Same deal with Starbucks, you just have to have a black or white shirt, and black or khaki pants along with black shoes. Quite a flexible dress code.

** [[Mistaken for Servant|This gets very annoying]] if you just happen to be dressed that way.

* Go to any school that has a uniform policy and you'll probably struggle to find ''anyone'' averting this trope if they can get away with it.

* After WWI, ex-soldiers of the German army often formed "Freikorps" militia groups, using modified versions of their old uniforms, notably, one of the decorations to their helmets included the Skull and Crossbones, which would later be one of the insignia of SS.

* In the armed forces, obviously everybody has to wear uniforms that cause them to more or less dress exactly the same. For example, the current-issue US Army uniform is the Army Combat Uniform - exciting name, right? The shirt worn under the "blouse" is just a tan t-shirt. Any tan t-shirt can be worn under the blouse with anything on it, as long as it doesn't show when the blouse is on. Depending on the chain of command, the blouse may not be allowed to be removed if the shirt underneath is non-uniform. Since most Soldiers wear t-shirts with unit-specific designs on them, this isn't often a problem. Another example would be the wearing of unit-specific baseball caps instead of the issue headwear. This is more common in the Air Force, and ironically its ''required'' in several Navy uniforms, but some Army units allow it as well.

** On the other hand, the same laws and customs has provisions to give some slack when times are tough, which leads to soldiers with limited supplies using mostly civilian clothing with a prominent identifier such as a [[Nice Hat]]. This is most common when a smaller or less militarized nation is taken by surprise, such as Finland during the Winter War.

* Modern Russian Army is notorious for its lax uniform regulations, so everyone often just wear whatever they like (or whatever is in stores, not a small consideration during the [[Why We're Bummed Communism Fell|period of spotty funding]] in [[The Nineties]]), as long as it can be at least distantly construed to fit the regulations, especially in combat or when the unit commander doesn't care. This creates characteristic rag-tag look that's often [[Fan Nickname|ironically dubbed]] "Uniform #8" after a satirical couplet: "Форма номер восемь -- что спёрли, то и носим" ("Uniform #8 -- we wear what we steal"), although the awards and insignia are a [[Serious Business|much bigger deal]]. Air Force is often just as bad, but Navy is usually [[Serious Business|much more fussy]] about its uniform.

* During [[WWII]], Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery was notorious for this, wearing khaki shorts rather than trousers at almost every opportunity, along with the black beret of a tank crewer rather than an officer's hat.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]