History Main / EmbarrassingButEmpoweringOutfit

* In ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' {{Everyman}} Ralph Hinkley is given a "super suit" by some friendly aliens. He is very embarrassed being seen in it, but eventually he gets used to it.

* Haley in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has a pair of magical [[SprintShoes Boots of Speed]], but considers them a fashion disaster because they're lime green, and refuses to wear them until she can get them dyed brown to match her armor.

-->'''[=KillItWithFire=]''': "Reminds me of this one group I ran with. The barbarian in our group found, and I quote: "a pink frilly tu-tu of Strength +6", [[RealMenWearPink and he wore it with]] [[DoubleEntendre pride]] for the rest of the campaign."
* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' has a subversion, when Minmax complains loudly about Forgath forcing him to wear a suit of magical pink armor. He doesn't realise that one of the armor's properties is the ability to take on any color he chooses.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', most God Tier outfits (a.k.a. God Hoods) are pretty decent-looking, but some of the class-based variations are just embarrassing -- particularly the Page, Prince, and Bard outfits. The hypnotic terribleness of Jake and Gamzee's speedo shorts and jutting codpiece respectively get PlayedForLaughs. Fortunately, while the outfit comes with ascending to the God Tiers (and is super-comfy and self-cleaning), it isn't required to access any of the other perks. Furthermore, Meenah reveals that it ''is'' possible to modify them.

* In ''GirlGenius'' Gilgamesh Wulfenbach acquires a hat so impressive that no one who sees it can doubt who he is. It's huge, purple, on fire, and has "Gilgemesh Wulfenbash: Schmott Guy!" written on it. The moment he's done using it to establish his identity, he orders it taken away and never spoken of again.

However, the visor's function doesn't become clear until the fourth movie: Final. It [[spoiler: allows B-ko to breath in outter space. Seen when she flies A-ko into space, to get C-ko back, at 11.5 G's!]] Taken UpToEleven and subverted when her '''father''' steals the design and wears one, and '''she's''' the one embarrassed by it.

* In the ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'' strip titled [[http://www.xkcd.com/1065/ shoes]] a character is rewarded shoes that make their wearer immortal. He can't decide whether or not to wear the shoes since the have creepy individual toes.

* ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8895129/1/Starbound Starbound]]'', a ''Manga/LuckyStar'' fic, involves a variation of this, in which Kagami, Konata, and Miyuki's hair end up being [[BeehiveHairdo restyled against their will]]. Trying to undo them doesn't work either, as any strands pulled just arrange themselves back into position. Kagami and Miyuki are both embarrassed by this, although Konata doesn't mind so much and finds {{moe}} in their new hairstyles. Responsible for their hair situation eventually turn out to be [[spoiler:some magical crystals, eventually revealed to contain potent psychokinetic powers]].

* [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/2/13/ A strip]] from ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' makes fun of the trope.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', the title character possesses a full body super-suit that gives her numerous super abilities, but it's also made of extremely thin and fragile material. The suit [[ClothingDamage tears easily]] and even when it's fully intact, it's so [[SensualSpandex form-fitting that it leaves little to the imagination,]] and nothing can be worn over or [[GoingCommando under]] it. These are huge problems for a superheroine like Empowered who has numerous body-image issues.\\\
What makes this worse is [[spoiler:it is guessed/implied by the main character no less that the suit is as powerful or weak as the user's confidence (with some ''VERY'' notable examples of the guess being implied as correct). This applies both to the abilities it gives, and the fragility of the material. Given how paper-thin the title character's confidence is and how it gets even thinner after every failure...]]

* In ''GirlGenius'' Gilgamesh Wulbenbach acquires a hat so impressive that no one who sees it can doubt who he is. It's huge, purple, on fire, and has "Gilgemesh Wulfenbash: Schmott Guy!" written on it. The moment he's done using it to establish his identity, he orders it taken away and never spoken of again.

* There's a scene in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' where Lina and Amelia put on silly dresses and sing a silly song in order to cast a powerful spell and kill a demon. [[SubvertedTrope It produces some lights. The spell was actually for a festival]]. Lina then killed the demon with her classic [[KamehameHadoken Dragon Slave]] as punishment for watching her embarrass herself.

** In [[VideoGameRemake Persona 3 FES]] you can actually see [[http://imgur.com/0uRG04y what it looks like]].

* In ''Webcomic/SlimyThief'' a male warrior goes to Azamat's store and asks for the most powerful armor. Azamat pulls out some magical armor that [[http://slimythief.com/true-warrior-1/ He initially refuses to wear it]] because "[[BreastPlate It has boobs]]".

* The anime ''{{Anime/Bleach}}'' has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX7z4iGBm6M Amazing Headband of Justice]]. It's not its looks that make it embarrassing; it's the incantation you have to say to make it work.

* In ''{{Homestuck}}'', most God Tier outfits (a.k.a. God Hoods) are pretty decent-looking, but some of the class-based variations are just embarrassing -- particularly the Page, Prince, and Bard outfits. The hypnotic terribleness of Jake and Gamzee's speedo shorts and jutting codpiece respectively get PlayedForLaughs. Fortunately, while the outfit comes with ascending to the God Tiers (and is super-comfy and self-cleaning), it isn't required to access any of the other perks. Furthermore, Meenah reveals that it ''is'' possible to modify them.

* The Armor of Zeldron, from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', grants its wearer flight and protects them from just about anything (even ghosts!). In the episode "Blood Under the Skin" Finn and Jake go quest to find the armor, but when they do find it Finn refuses to wear it since it's "[[BreastPlate girl armor]]"

[[caption-width-right:241:Upside: [[ChainsawGood Magical Chainsaw.]] Downside: [[PinkIsForSissies Wearing a pink dress.]]]]

* On ''Anime/KillLaKill'', this is a plot point: Godrobes bare your torso from the chest to the upper leg, in a very skimpy way. You need to be able to wear them without shame or rejection in order to access their full power. This later gets some justification when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Godrobes are sentient aliens and in order to get as much power as possible from them without them overwhelming the wearer's mind they need to be touching as little skin as possible.]]

* On ''Anime/KillLaKill'', this is a plot point: Godrobes bare your torso from the chest to the upper leg, in a very skimpy way. You need to be able to wear them without shame or rejection in order to access their full power.

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' has something like this with its 'threads' system. Instead of buying armor or the like, you buy designer clothing that grants you bonuses. Female clothing tends to have very high bonuses, but most of your characters are male. To get them to wear it requires [[LevelGrinding incresing]] the "Bravery" stat. Shiki, the only playable girl, starts with a moderately high Bravery stat.

* The manga ''Miracle Lingerie'' parodies {{Stripperific}} costumes with a set of actual lingerie that gives superpowers, but only when nothing is worn over it. The heroine is understandably not keen on wearing it in public.

* The Armor of Zeldron, from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', grants its wearer flight and protects them from just about anything. In the episode "Blood Under the Skin" Finn and Jake go quest to find the armor, but when they do find it Finn refuses to wear it since it's "[[BreastPlate girl armor]]"

* In ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', the title character possesses a full body super-suit that gives her numerous super abilities, but it's also made of extremely thin and fragile material. The suit tears easily and even when it's fully intact, it's so [[SensualSpandex form-fitting that it leaves little to the imagination,]] and nothing can be worn over or [[GoingCommando under]] it. These are huge problems for a superheroine like Empowered who has numerous body-image issues.\\\
What makes this worse is [[spoiler:it is guessed/implied by the main character no less that the suit is as powerful or weak as the user's confidence (with some ''VERY'' notable examples of the guess being implied as correct). This is both for the abilities it gives, and the fragility of the material. Given how paper-thin the title character's confidence is and how it gets even thinner after every failure...]]

* In ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' {{Everyman}} Ralph Hinkley is given a "super suit" by some friendly aliens. He is very embarassed being seen in it, but eventually he gets used to it.

* Played for laughs on an episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. After losing a bet, the guys have to dress up as female comic book characters: Howard as Batgirl, Leonard as Supergirl, Sheldon as Wonder Woman and Raj as Creator/HalleBerry version of Catwoman. Raj tells the others, "I don't know about you, but I feel empowered."

Compare to ImpossiblyTackyClothes, RainbowPimpGear, ChainmailBikini

!!InUniverseExamplesOnly

* In ''TheGreatestAmericanHero'' {{Everyman}} Ralph Hinkley is given a "super suit" by some friendly aliens. He is very embarassed being seen in it, but eventually he gets used to it.

* ActionGirl Tsubasa Tsubame in the anime ''AsuNoYoichi'' is made for this. While she appears to be a quiet NiceGirl, she switches into LittleMissBadass only when she's extremely embarrassed...so her guardian makes her wear extremely {{Stripperiffic}} undergarments and ''strips her in public.''

However, the visor's function doesn't become clear until the fourth movie: Final. It [[spoiler: allows B-ko to breath in outter space. Seen when she flies A-ko into space, to get C-ko back, at 11.5 G's!]] Taken UpToEleven and hilariously subverted when her '''father''' steals the design and wears one, and '''she's''' the one embarrassed by it.