History Main / GirlinessUpgrade

* In the book of ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'', Leslie is a boyish-looking girl with short-cropped hair who wears plain, androgynous clothes. In the 2007 adaptation she has medium-length blonde hair ([[AdaptationDyeJob instead of brown]]) and dresses in more feminine looking, brightly toned clothes. WordOfGod is that the change in design was due to the SettingUpdate. What was unusual for a girl in the 1970s was different from what's unusual in the 2000s.

** Zig-zagged. Her first design had a round cupcake country-cottage look, then she became a cute tomboy then became slightly more feminine looking in a {{timeskip}}, and the third reboot has her as a long-haired strawberry blond girly tween.
** Raspberry Torte (originally "Raspberry Tart") inverts and then plays it straight. She was originally just as feminine as the other girls but was made into a sporty {{tomboy}} for the 2003 reboot. The 2009 reboot made her even more feminine than originally, being a big GirlyGirl.

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/girliness-upgrade_1876.jpg]]]]

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. This reflects the changing relationship between Triela and her handler, German cop Victor Hilshire. All the girls are brainwashed to obey their handlers so take their cues on how to behave and dress from them. But Hilshire doesn't know how to relate to his cyborg killer at first, leading to confusion on Triela's part. She starts off as a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak, wearing a BadassLongcoat and then a [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]] to match Hilshire's. After they become FireForgedFriends, Triela starts thinking of Hilshire as a ParentalSubstitute and wears a pleated schoolgirl skirt as if she's his daughter.

* [[GenderFlipped Male]] examples occur in ''Anime/CuteHighEarthDefenseClubLove''. While [[TheHero the]] [[MagicalGirl Battle]] [[GenderFlipped Lovers']] costumes already edged on the feminine side with how they [[{{Parody}} resemble]] traditional MagicalGirl uniforms, they became even ''more'' girly in the beginning of season 2 with the addition of even more frills and ''angel wings'' sprouting from the mid-backs.

* Princess Daisy from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' was redesigned in the late N64 and early GameCube eras to be an energetic TomboyPrincess in order to [[DivergentCharacterEvolution differentiate]] herself from Princess Peach, whom she was conceived as an {{Expy}} of in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand''. However, sometime around the Wii U era, Daisy [[CharacterizationMarchesOn started to develop]] more and more feminine mannerisms, almost to the point where players wouldn't know she was a tomboy unless they [[InformedAttribute were told she was]].

* Princess Daisy from ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' was re-designed in the Gamecube Era to be an energetic TomboyPrincess in order to [[DivergentCharacterEvolution differentiate]] herself from Princess Peach, whom she was conceived as an {{Expy}} of in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand''. However, sometime around the Wii U era, Daisy [[CharacterizationMarchesOn started to develop]] more and more feminine mannerisms almost to the point where viewers wouldn't know she was a tomboy unless they [[InformedAttribute were told she was]].
* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' Sheik received one ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. While she still looks androgynous to the point where she [[ViewerGenderConfusion is often mistaken for male]], they made her more "obviously" female and gave her a braid. Sheik also isn't referred to neutrally or as male like in most official ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' sources, instead being explicitly referred to as female.

* Maria from the comic book ''Oblivion Song'' is quite muscular, with short hair and a strong chin, and dresses in masculine clothing. Many readers thought she was a guy until [[BoobsOfSteel she took her jacket off.]] But apparently this was just a matter of survival, since once she escapes [[DeathWorld Oblivion,]] she starts dressing in a much more feminine manner.

* Music/BillieEilish became famous for her casual, modest style, wearing baggy clothing and dyeing her hair colours like black and green. In 2021, she caused a stir when she appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' with blonde hair and a corset. British tabloid ''The Daily Mail'' ran an article calling her "a sellout," which she swiftly refuted with a statement that she was regaining autonomy over her body. At the start of Billie's career, she was a teenager but had a [[DCupDistress rather generous puberty]]; not only was she uncomfortable with the newfound attention towards her body as many teenage girls are, but wearing anything the least bit form-fitting as a public figure would have gotten her skewered by MoralGuardians. As an adult, she's now free to dress how she wishes.

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Cassie Cage is introduced in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' with BoyishShortHair and a [[ContraltoOfDanger low-sounding voice]]. In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', her hair is long and worn in a ponytail, her voice is higher and she wears pink nail polish.

* Creator/KeiraKnightley's early roles were the likes of ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'', ''Film/TheHole'', ''Film/KingArthur2004'', ''Film/TheJacket'' and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' - where she had a slightly tomboyish image (she described herself as "a real scruff"). But she soon got typecast as the SpiritedYoungLady in period pieces and became a FashionModel as well. ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005'''s director in fact nearly didn't cast her because he thought she'd be too glamorous to play a {{Tomboy}} like Lizzy Bennet.

* Baiken in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' was originally made as an {{Expy}} of [[Manga/RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]], and looked fairly masculine and on the slim side. She looked a bit more feminine with each successive release, but when she returned in ''Xrd Rev 2'', she got a huge FanservicePack upgrade, if you couldn't tell by her new GagBoobs.

* Music/BillieEilish became famous for her casual, modest style, wearing baggy clothing and dyeing her hair colours like black and green. In 2021, she caused a stir when she appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' with blonde hair and a corset. British tabloid ''The Daily Mail'' ran an article calling her "a sellout," which she swiftly refuted with a statement that she was regaining autonomy over her body. At the start of Billie's career, she was a teenager but had a [[DCupDistress rather generous puberty]]; not only was she uncomfortable with the newfound attention towards her body as many teenage girls are, but wearing anything the least bit form-fitting as a public figure would have gotten her skewered by MoralGuardians. As an adult, she's now free to dress how she wishes--whether it's her signature baggy look or something conventionally sexy--without that baggage.