History LimitedWardrobe / LiveActionTV

*** During the early part of the Fifth Doctor's era this was extended to companions as well. Adric (yellow Alzarian rompers), Nyssa (burgundy velvet jacket and trousers) and Tegan (mauve flight attendant uniform) wear the same costumes in every single story in Season 19, except for the fancy-dress party in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E5BlackOrchid "Black Orchid"]]. Poor Adric wore exactly the same clothes in '''every''' story he appeared in. Later on, Tegan got a few costume changes, but Turlough wears his school uniform shirt and suit in every story, apart from [[BeachEpisode his last]], "Planet of Fire".

*** The Sixth Doctor was referred to as "The BBC Colour Test Man".
*** And Colin Baker himself described it as "an explosion in a rainbow factory".

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes. She finally settles on what, in her first season, is her most unchanging costume since the Davies era, consisting of a blue T-shirt with a multi-coloured stripe across the chest (in what is a close approximation to the colours of Four's scarf), high-waisted blue trousers, yellow braces, a long fawn overcoat, and hiking boots. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]", she wears a purple variant of the blue rainbow T-shirt she chose, suggesting the TARDIS wardrobe helpfully created some spares. She sometimes also wears a zip-up hoodie between the T-shirt and overcoat, and wears comically oversized safety goggles (and occasionally a full welding mask) while doing sciencey stuff.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes. She finally settles on what, in her first season, is her most unchanging costume since the Davies era, consisting of a blue T-shirt with a multi-coloured stripe across the chest (in what is a close approximation to the colours of Four's scarf), high-waisted blue trousers, yellow braces, a long fawn overcoat, and hiking boots. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]", she wears a pink variant of the blue rainbow T-shirt she chose, suggesting the TARDIS wardrobe helpfully created some spares. She sometimes also wears a zip-up hoodie between the T-shirt and overcoat, and wears comically oversized safety goggles (and occasionally a full welding mask) while doing sciencey stuff.

* Dr Harrison Wells in ''Series/TheFlash2014'' always wears black sweatshirts, pants and sneakers, although very occasionally he'll wear a dark grey sweatshirt, and he sometimes swaps the sneakers for black dress shoes. In flashbacks to before the accident, he is only ever seen in a black suit, white (or black, on one occasion) shirt, and the same black sneakers with white soles.

** In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Cal's wardrobe consists of upper-middle class business attire (one or two drab, conservative suits), reflecting the fact that he's been stuck in the moment when he lost his family.

* [[BenevolentAI Janet]] from ''Series/TheGoodPlace'' uses the "variations on a set outfit" variation on the trope. Her basic outfit is a vest, skirt and patterned blouse ensemble that looks vaguely like an air stewardess outfit. Each time she's [[HaveYouTriedRebooting rebooted]] the colour of the vest and skirt, the pattern of the blouse and her hairstyle change. The default, unactivated Janet wears a completely [[WomanInWhite white]] version of the look, while the Neutral Janet seen in "Janet(s)" wears a beige version. Bad Janets appear to be the only ones that don't use this set outfit, instead they have their own version that includes a leather jacket, leggings and long blonde hair.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes. She finally settles on what, in her first season, is her most unchanging costume since the Davies era, consisting of a blue T-shirt with a multi-coloured stripe across the chest (in what is a close approximation to the colours of Four's scarf), high-waisted blue trousers, yellow braces, a long fawn overcoat, and hiking boots. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]", she wears a pink variant of the blue rainbow T-shirt she chose, suggesting the TARDIS wardrobe helpfully created some spares. She sometimes also wears a zip-up hoodie between the sweater and overcoat, and wears comically oversized safety goggles (and occasionally a full welding mask) while doing sciencey stuff.

* Mike from ''Series/BurnNotice'' seems to pull something similar, except he prefers a wider range of colours. His favorite suit is pretty much a khaki version of Horatio's, which has been established to be Armani. He will generally wear whatever's appropriate to the job, otherwise. In season two, he started wearing thermal shirts. [[{{Fanservice}} A lot.]]

** Sheldon's usual topmost shirt is a t-shirt with a superhero logo on it. He seems particularly fond of the various Lantern Corps emblems.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes. She finally settles on what, in her first season, is her most unchanging costume since the Davies era, consisting of a blue sweater with a multi-coloured stripe across the chest (in what is a close approximation to the colours of Four's scarf), high-waisted blue trousers, yellow braces, a long fawn overcoat, and hiking boots. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]", she wears a pink variant of the blue rainbow T-shirt she chose, suggesting the TARDIS wardrobe helpfully created some spares. She sometimes also wears a zip-up hoodie between the sweater and overcoat, and wears comically oversized safety goggles (and occasionally a full welding mask) while doing sciencey stuff.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa Rosa]]", she wears a pink variant of the blue rainbow T-shirt she chose, suggesting the TARDIS wardrobe helpfully created some spares.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]], the Thirteenth Doctor spends at least several days, possibly up to a ''week'', wearing the remains of Twelve's clothing before it is suggested to her that she get some new clothes.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' (pictured): Wilson Fisk is a creature of habit. In season 1, he is always selecting a black suit from his wardrobe and the same pair of cufflinks that used to belong his father. When he consummates his relationship with Vanessa, she selects a gray suit and different cufflinks, helping him break out of his shell. When he's in prison during season 2 and the start of season 3, he's only ever seen wearing orange InstitutionalApparel as an inmate. After he's released into FBI house arrest early in season 3, Fisk adapts to wearing the [[ManInWhite white three-piece suits]] [[MythologyGag he's known for wearing in the comics]] which symbolize his loneliness in light of Vanessa's absence[[note]]since she's been forced to live in exile ever since he was arrested[[/note]]. Since the shirt underneath (and sometimes the vest) is still black, this also symbolizes how Fisk paints himself to the public as a wrongly accused savior which is just a mask for the ruthless crimelord he really is.

*** In "Shadows in the Glass", Wilson Fisk's wardrobe is compromised almost entirely of black suits like the ones he's only ever been seen in since he was introduced. Later in the episode, Vanessa persuades him to start wearing lighter shades. In season 3, his wardrobe is made entirely of [[ManInWhite white suits]].

** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jessica Jones almost always wears the same leather jacket, jeans, scarf, and boots. Justified in the case of the jacket, as Season 2 reveals that it's a TragicKeepsake from her relationship with Stirling. Lampshaded in ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' when she complains she hasn't changed her clothes since she took the case that got her involved in this war against the Hand.

[[caption-width-right:350:Fisk can't decide which suit [[LightIsNotGood looks the least evil]] on him.]]

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wilson Fisk is a creature of habit. In season 1, he is always selecting a black suit from his wardrobe and the same pair of cufflinks that used to belong his father. When he consummates his relationship with Vanessa, she selects a gray suit and different cufflinks, helping him break out of his shell. When he's in prison during season 2 and the start of season 3, he's only ever seen wearing orange InstitutionalApparel as an inmate. After he's released into FBI house arrest early in season 3, Fisk adapts to wearing the [[ManInWhite white three-piece suits]] [[MythologyGag he's known for wearing in the comics]] which symbolize his loneliness in light of Vanessa's absence[[note]]since she's been forced to live in exile ever since he was arrested[[/note]]. Since the bottom layer or two of said suits is still black, this also symbolizes how Fisk paints himself to the public as a wrongly accused savior which is just a mask for the ruthless crimelord he really is.

** Ninth Doctor: Utilitarian garb with black shoes, black trousers, a brown/black leather jacket and a jumper (pullover sweater) of varying colours. This trope was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead "The Unquiet Dead"]] when his companion complained about having to change into an elaborate dress for the time period while the Doctor only changed into [[ChangedMyJumper another nearly identical jumper]] while wearing the same leather jacket.

* ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'': In season one, Wilson Fisk is shown to be a creature of habit, always selecting a black suit from his wardrobe and the same pair of cufflinks. When he gets a girlfriend, she selects a gray suit and different cufflinks, helping him break out of his shell.

* ''Series/{{Darevevil}}'': In season one, Wilson Fisk is shown to be a creature of habit, always selecting a black suit from his wardrobe and the same pair of cufflinks. When he gets a girlfriend, she selects a gray suit and different cufflinks, helping him break out of his shell.

*** His original getup was inspired by a magician's outfit: an austere ensemble with navy blue Crombie coat (with red lining for a splash of colour), dark blue waistcoat, dark blue trousers, black Doc Marten boots, and a white shirt buttoned to the top. He also wears a signet ring (although that's because Creator/PeterCapaldi refuses to remove his wedding ring for roles, so they covered it with something more Gallifreyian). He mixes it up a bit in his first series, wearing different shirts or a holey jumper with the Crombie coat as his signature clothing article.

*** "Shadows in the Glass" reveals that Wilson Fisk's wardrobe is compromised almost entirely of black suits like the ones he's only ever been seen in since he was introduced. Later in the episode, Vanessa persuades him to start wearing lighter shades.
*** Given Matt Murdock is a lawyer, he always wears a suit and tie when out of costume and never wears T-shirts except when sleeping.
** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Jessica Jones almost always wears the same leather jacket, jeans, scarf, and boots. Lampshaded in ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' when she complains she hasn't changed her clothes since she took the case that got her involved in this war against the Hand.

* Justified in ''Series/TwentyFour'' where an entire season takes place in 24 hours, giving most characters no chance to change outfits between episodes.

* Justified in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Most of the cast are military and wear uniforms, and the rest are pretty much stuck with whatever they happened to have in their suitcases when the Cylons attacked.
** In ''{{Series/Caprica}}'', the first three or so episodes feature Zoe-A and/or Zoe-R (It's Complicated) appearing in exactly the same outfit. For a while, it looked like this was going to be a JustifiedTrope with the reason being Zoe's inability to change her wardrobe (due to her being dead) but then immediately thereafter it turned into an AvertedTrope, with Zoe showing off a new costume for each episode since.

* Justified for Annie in ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'': she's a ghost, and always wears the clothes she died in. However, there are subtle changes depending on her mood, etc. The benchmark seems to be her strength and confidence in herself; the stronger she is, the more form-fitting her outfit is, but when she's more scared and self-conscious, she develops more layers to hide in.

* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had a more realistic approach to this show especially with Shawn. He would wear, for a few seasons the same few shirts and jackets. Mostly justified as he's poor so he doesn't have the money for a lot of outfits.
* Saga Norén in ''Series/BronBroen'' practically always wears what may or may not be the same pair of black leather trousers, usually with a black jumper on top. Justified, since she's more than a little autistic and would quite plausibly have several sets of identical garments.

* Both Sheriff Carter and Deputy Lupo only ever wear their uniforms on ''{{Series/Eureka}}'', so, justified. In the pilot, though, Carter has a different justification, as he's not yet Sheriff. He spends several days only wearing one suit. He's stranded in a small town by a car wreck and only ''has'' the one suit.

* Justified on ''Series/{{Lost}}:'' Most of the characters are plane crash survivors living on a deserted island, and the only clothes they have access to are the ones in the luggage that survived the crash, and so they often wear the same outfit for several episodes at a time.
** Further justified by the fact that multiple ''Lost'' episodes routinely took place over the course of a single day. For example the framing portions of "Dr. Linus", "Recon", "Ab Aeterno", and "The Package" all took place on the same day.
** The most notable example is Ana Lucia, who wore the ''exact'' same clothes her entire time on the Island...even after they reunited with the main group. The only difference was that sometimes she had the jacket, and sometimes she didn't.

* Ryan on ''Series/TheOC'' wore either a wifebeater or a black t-shirt most of the time, although he did get a more varied wardrobe as the show went on. Possibly justified to show that he's poor and basically has nothing, and the first thing Kirsten says they need to do after adopting him is buy him some clothes. It's also lampshaded several times by Seth.

* If you're a regular viewer of ''Series/RaisingHope'', you're likely to become familiar with the recurring pieces of clothing in the Chances' wardrobe, such as Jimmy's "[[http://www.glarkware.com/adult/bigfoot-vs-abe-lincoln Bigfoot vs. Abe Lincoln]]" and "[[http://www.kotapparel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_131&products_id=149 Mr. Natural]]" tees. Justified in that the Chances can't afford a huge closet full of designer clothes.

* Justified in ''Series/StargateUniverse'', where, like in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', the occupants of the ship only have the clothes they escaped with. The limits are explicitly referenced when we see Young repairing socks by hand.

* Contrajustified on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': they're a zillion light-years from home, they have to make do with what they can scrape together, but the top priority is getting the rebels out of their leather trench coats and steampunk armor, and into the exact same Starfleet uniform as everyone else. Flag on the play.
** Justifiable as they were seriously trying to ''integrate'' the Maquis crew into the Voyager one. There's a reason teams wear uniforms - keeping them in their markedly different outfits would've been counterproductive.
** A slightly less extreme example of the straight version is Deanna Troi who (as one humorist put it) went from cheerleader to aerobics instructor after the first season typically wearing one of only two or three full body unitards throughout most of the series.
* It's an incredibly rare event when one of the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' boys gets a new piece of clothing. Sometimes they have to wear the same clothes for episodes at a time -- Sam, for example, didn't change from ''Salvation'' to ''In My Time Of Dying''. WordOfGod says that they tend to stink a bit. Justified in that they pretty much live in the [[CoolCar Impala]] and with the trunk packed with their weaponry, there probably isn't a lot of room for many wardrobe changes other than their disguises.

* Justified in the reality shows ''{{Series/Survivor}}'' and ''Series/TheAmazingRace''. On the former, teams are dumped in a remote location with only the clothes on their back, while in the later teams have to carry their entire wardrobes on their back.
** This was best exemplified with Richard Hatch, who at one point [[NakedPeopleAreFunny just stopped wearing clothes pretty much altogether]], much to the annoyance of the other characters. [[spoiler:He won, by the way.]]

* In ''Series/{{Taxi}}'' Louie usually wears [[RealMenWearPink a pink shirt]], a red tie and a gray suit [[note]]In an early publicity photo he wore a white shirt and in "Bobby's Big Break" he's seen with a dark grey shirt and a black tie, except for TheStinger[[/note]] while Jim would always wear a blue blazer, a blue shirt [[RuleOfThree and blue jeans]]. Justified with Latka, as he's only seen with his mechanic outfit.

* Played completely straight in ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' and ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''. One assumes the costume designers didn't want to create any alternate outfits. It's justified, though, in that the main characters of both series are WalkingTheEarth; it's not like they'd have a place to store alternate outfits.

* ''{{Series/Monk}}'' uses this for its DVD covers, but this is also justified as it is very in character for Monk.
** This also becomes a plot point in one of the episodes, as Monk buys a new shirt identical to all his others, down to having been inspected by the same person. He stumbles onto the crime of the week by noticing the shirt's minor flaws, which never would have slipped by his preferred clothing inspector if she weren't distracted by her own problems. He solves the crime mainly so she'll get back to inspecting shirts.

* Justified, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, and then parodied in the character of Spike from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. The leather coat he continuously wears through his time on Buffy is revealed through {{Flashback}} to have been stolen from the body of the last Slayer he killed and as such is a trophy. In an episode of ''Angel'', he's caught in an explosion and his coat is destroyed. He complains that the coat had incredibly sentimental value to him and was "irreplaceable". GilliganCut to his new employers providing him with a new identical coat as well as a wardrobe full of them, which he seems quite pleased with and wears for the rest of the show's run.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d, [[PlayingWithATrope subverted, justified, and discussed]] on ''{{Series/Glee}}''

--->'''Donna:''' You've even got the same suit! ...Don't you ever change?
** The Tenth Doctor's companion Martha also wore the same burgundy jacket for the first 6 and episodes and of series 3, since they take place over only a few days for her. She also wore it again for the last 2 episodes of the series.

*** In series seven, Eleven switched to a much more elaborate Victorian-style three-piece suit and overcoat (reminiscent of the First Doctor's garb) during and after his [[AchillesInHisTent self-imposed alone time.]] Although he still wore a bow tie.

** Eighth Doctor: Cream trousers, black boots, green velvet frock coat, silk cravat and double-breasted waistcoat. This was based on a stylized "Wild Bill Hickok" fancy dress costume he stole (though it doesn't seem to much resemble any genuine outfit worn by Wild Bill Hickok).
*** For his Big Finish series ''Dark Eyes'', the Eighth Doctor introduced a new costume: a blue leather naval coat, jeans and a brown pouch bag.
** Ninth Doctor: Utilitarian garb with black shoes, black trousers, a brown/black leather jacket and a jumper (again, a pullover sweater for you Yanks out there) of varying colours. This trope was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead "The Unquiet Dead"]] when his companion complained about having to change into an elaborate dress for the time period while the Doctor only changed into [[ChangedMyJumper another nearly identical jumper]] while wearing the same leather jacket.

*** His companion Martha also wore the same burgundy jacket for the first 6 and episodes and of series 3, since they take place over only a few days for her. She also wore it again for the last 2 episodes of the series.
** Eleventh Doctor: Tweed jacket with a dickie bow tie, braces, rolled up black trousers and black boots.
*** While these clothes are items he stole from the cloakroom of a hospital in order to look decent for his imminent showdown with the Atraxi (he had spent [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour the episode]] up to that point wearing the badly stained, tattered and scorched blue dress shirt and tie worn under the Tenth Doctor's pinstripe suit when he regenerated... which became the IconicOutfit of ''Amy[='s=]'' imaginary friend the "Raggedy Doctor"), and jokingly kept the new clothes as recompense for saving the earth.
*** He tends to swap his bow-tie and braces for either a red or blue herringbone set.
*** After alternating two differently-coloured but otherwise identical designer herringbone shirts for his first season, he switched to an assortment of white shirts with different patterns for his second.

** The Twelfth Doctor, by contrast, possesses arguably the most diverse set of outfits over the course of his run that do ''not'' follow a single theme. His original getup was inspired by a magician's outfit: an austere ensemble with navy blue Crombie coat (with red lining for a splash of colour), dark blue waistcoat, dark blue trousers, black Doc Marten boots, and a white shirt buttoned to the top. He also wears a signet ring (although that's because Creator/PeterCapaldi refuses to remove his wedding ring for roles, so they covered it with something more Gallifreyian). He mixes it up a bit in his first series, wearing different shirts or a holey jumper with the Crombie coat as his signature clothing article.

*** His companion Martha also wore the same burgundy jacket for the first 6 episodes of series 3, since they take place over only a few days for her.

** Fifth Doctor: Wore a Panama hat, white tennis shoes, orange, cream and brown stripes trousers, a V-necked cricketing jumper, and a buff frock coat with red piping. And a stick of celery on his lapel.

* On ''Series/{{Preacher}}'', Jesse almost exclusively wears a black suit and jacket with a clerical collar.