History Main / ImpossiblyTackyClothes

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', the outfit the PlayerCharacter starts the game wearing is very much this. How else would you describe an ensemble that includes a forest-green blazer, a wide collar satin shirt, mustard-yellow bell-bottom pants, high-heeled green snakeskin loafers, and a paisley necktie, which consists of no less than five different patterns, and the game openly admits is "Horrific". Along the way, you get the chance to pick up even more tacky clothing articles such as a heavy metal BarbarianHero T-shirt covered in flames, NerdGlasses and sunglasses you can barely even see through, and an ultra-trendy jockey tracksuit that you are way too old to wear.

* [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]]'s gotten some flack over the years for several of his costuming choices, mostly his "Discowing" suit and the fact that he decided to run about Gotham in a leotard with a t-shirt over it as Robin. He generally puts up a token defense of these choices when others bring them up but seems to understand why people found them tacky. His fondness for bright colors and shining accents has found its way into his civilian attire as well but his undisputed status as the most successful MrFanservice in comics indicates he can pull it off.

* One of ComicBook/KittyPryde's [[http://www.superpunch.net/2011/01/wait-second-kitty-pryde-really-used-to.html outfits]], which was ''very'' short-lived and lampooned whenever she wore it.

->'''Lucina's mother'''[[note]]May be a female Robin, Sumia, Sully, Maribelle, or Olivia[[/note]]: Now let me get a look at this gorgeous... Er... dress? Oh dear. I've never seen so many... unusual colors and shapes in one piece of clothing. \\
'''Lucina''': I know! It's very modern. See all the giant pink polka dots? If you look carefully, you'll see that each one is a portrait of Emmeryn herself! I wager when Father sees you in this, he'll just scream with delight! \\
'''Mother''': (I bet he'll scream, all right...)

* Early in ''Duty Calls'', Literature/CiaphasCain is attacked by followers of Slaanesh, one of whom wears a jacket so hideous that Cain claims wearing it is a capital offense. He refers to the man thereafter as "Vile Jacket". He also mentions that local fashion is so hideous that even a Slaaneshi cultist would look down on it.
* In the Creator/LouisaMayAlcott novel ''Literature/EightCousins'', NaiveEverygirl Rose is dressed a very "fashionable" outfit. As it's a book, much is left to the imagination, but the narrator and characters comment on how overdone and awful it looks on her, except for the slave-to-fashion aunt who put her in it in the first place. Rose's uncle even lambasts the aunt on how unhealthy it is. (Then again, whalebone corsets? He has a point.) This is a case of WriterOnBoard, as Alcott has Rose then put on a much more modest and simple outfit to emphasize the simple, modest young lady she is (and that all her readers should strive to be).

--> "...Goldfinger had made an attempt to look smart at golf and that is the only way of dressing that is incongruous at the links. Everything matched in a blaze of rust-coloured tweed from the buttoned 'golfer's cap' centred on the huge, flaming red hair, to the brilliantly polished, almost orange shoes. The plus-four suit was too well-cut and the plus-fours themselves had been pressed down the sides. The stockings were of a matching heather mixture and had green garter tabs. It was as if Goldfinger had gone to his tailor and said 'Dress me for golf--you know, like they wear in Scotland.'"

* In the ''Literature/ShadowGrail'' series by Creator/MercedesLackey, the main character has to attend the school's New Year dinner and formal dance, but doesn't have any formal wear. She goes to the storage room of dresses that [[WizardingSchool Oakhurst Academy]] has to find something suitable. Unfortunately, as a friend puts it, it's where 'bridesmaid dresses go to die'. Fortunately, said friend is a good seamstress and is able to make a nice formal dress out of two terrible ones from the "Little Closet of Horrors". The boys apparently have their own version of said closet, with secondhand rent-a-tuxes.
* In ''Literature/ToSayNothingOfTheDog'' by Connie Willis, all of Tossie's over-designed dresses tend towards this, at least in the eyes of the time-traveling protagonists, who are pretty put off by most Victorian design. But especially Tossie's dresses. Girl loves ruffles.

** Near the end of ''Literature/{{Barrayar}}'', Miss [[DoNotCallMePaul Droushnakovi]] had in mind a lacy wedding dress, but -- fortunately, as it turned out -- Lady Alys Vorpatril took an interest in her case and averted this trope.
--->"No, no, no!" she cried, recoiling. "All that lace--you would look as furry as a big white bear. Silk, dear, long falls of silk is what you need--"
** Taura's civilian wardrobe also tended to this, which was why Miles had her consult his Aunt Alys when she arrived for his wedding in ''Literature/WinterfairGifts''. Alys' first stop in giving the bioengineered supersoldier a makeover was to have her previous wardrobe burned.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', the Tinkers, wandering ActualPacifist expies of the Romani, tend to wear rather blandly-designed clothes compared to some of the other cultures that Robert Jordan indulged his CostumePorn tendencies with, except that the color choices are best described as eye-searing. The combinations could be described as having been picked by someone who was completely colorblind, but they're so hideously clashing, and uniformly so, that you can't get there by mere chance.
* In the ''Literature/WildCards'' series, Dr. Tachyon is frequently described as dressing like this whenever he has the opportunity to dress himself. Canary yellow, emerald green, royal purple, cardinal red, and sky blue can all make an appearance in the same outfit. Apparently, this is considered a normal Takisian wardrobe, but since he's living on Earth, almost every human who looks at him comments on how ridiculous he looks. It's compounded by his metallic-red hair.

* ''ComicBook/ForgottenRealms'' In one issue, Foxy Cardluck takes it upon himself to make a new outfit for Priam Agrivar after the latter's clothes get destroyed in battle. The result is a [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/original/6/61750/1307456-priam_004.jpg garish ensemble]] consisting of a purple cape and hat, a red tabard and boots, a pink scarf, a gold belt and gloves, and green-and-pink striped undershirt and pantaloons. Vartan bursts out laughing at the sight of it, the other members of the crew struggle to find anything kind to say about it, and Agrivar is left covering his face in embarrassment.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Zaphod Beeblebrox was voted "Worst-Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe" ''[[UpToEleven seven times]]''.

** Jake has [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006083 an array of wearable computers]] that make him look like an [[UpToEleven even more pimped out]] version of the already impossibly tacky series BigBad Lord English. Oh, and that skull thing to his left? That's a helmet computer that [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006088 he could've also been wearing]]. In this scene, the narration states:

* [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]]'s gotten some flack over the years for several of his costuming choices, mostly his "Discowing" suit and the fact that he decided to run about Gotham in a leotard with a t-shirt over it as Robin. He generally puts up a token defense of these choices when others bring them up but seems to understand why people found them tacky. His fondness for bright colors and shining accents has found its way into his civilian attire as well but his undisputed status at the most successful MrFanservice in comics indicates he can pull it off.

* ComicBook/LukeCage used to wear an open-chest yellow silk shirt with a high collar and a tiara. In ''Comicbook/ThePulse'', Janet Van Dyne is trying to design Luke's new outfit, and most of them make his old outfit look like an Armani suit. When Franchise/SpiderMan mocks him for the old ensemble, Cage's response is "It was the '70s!"

* In ''Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians1996'', particularly the live-action adaptation and its sequel starring Glenn Close, Cruella's outfits are monstrously over-the-top and shock anyone who sees them -- but nobody is brave enough to confront her about it. Cruella is in search of the "perfect" fur coat and is convinced that it must be made from the skins of the dalmatian puppies.

* ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'': Toula's initial wedding dress had a massively oversized veil and figure-hiding ruffles, leading to Toula exclaiming "I'm a snow beast!" There are also hideous bridesmaids dresses that her cousin Nikki picked out. While the rest of her family coos in awe, Toula's response is a horrified gasp.

* Discussed in ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' when the cabbie's wife Helen is brought to Narnia in the middle of doing her washing-up. The narrator notes that if she had time to prepare by putting on her "fancy" clothes, which apparently included a hat with fake fruit on, she would have looked extremely tacky. As it was, UnderdressedForTheOccasion in her simple workday clothes, she looked quite beautiful.

* Hologram Al's favoured outfits in ''Series/QuantumLeap''. Vividly coloured, shiny, embellished, and frequently [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]: a small child (who could see Al) described him as "a man in a yucky shirt", and on one occasion when he was soberly dressed, Sam was alarmed in case someone had died. (In practical terms, the loud costumes made Al easy for the viewer to spot, and contrasted well with the green screen for the times when he had to walk through a solid object.)

* ''Dark Folk'', a vintage third-party ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement from Role Aids, states that hobgoblins are color-blind and select articles of clothing based solely on pattern and texture. This means that to races with color vision, they typically look like this trope personified.

* One of many, ''many'' torments inflicted on Black Mage in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' ([[{{Jerkass}} to be fair, he deserves them]]) is that while everyone else gets a reasonably cool look after their class change, Black Mage is stuck with what is presumably the traditional Blue Mage costume (actually the Magus sprite from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII''): Music/MCHammer pants and a bell on his hat. For the rest of the comic, half the people he meets mistake him for some sort of clown.
-->'''White Mage:''' It seems you've made some progress since we last spoke. Even your wardrobe is a statement about the repulsiveness of violence through image.\\
'''Black Mage:''' No, this is just what I wear now.\\
'''White Mage:''' Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.
* ''WebComic/KevinAndKell'':
** Kell has to wear an embarrassing number with feathers and a tail when she was a bridesmaid in her secretary's wedding. (Said secretary is a bird, should be noted.) She thought in her head she could use it for a Halloween costume.
** When Lindesfarne was a bridesmaid in Tammy's wedding, she had to wear a cocoon, since this was an insect wedding. She's less than thrilled about it, but admits that it does hide the fact that she's an insectivore among insects. [[spoiler: She rips it off to take on a spider that crashed the wedding with the intention of eating everyone.]]
** Kell talks Sheila into helping her stepdaughter Leona with planning her wedding with the threat that if she didn't, Leona would make her a bridesmaid instead and make her wear a dress which we don't see, but Sheila declared hideous. (The actual wedding shows that her bridesmaids avert this...kinda. Leona had held a poll on social media on which wedding dress she should pick for her wedding, and the bridesmaids wore the dresses that didn't win.)
* After Seffie of Webcomic/GirlGenius gets into a, uh, sticky situation[[note]]she got candy in her hair when she didn't stop her meal when the submarine launched[[/note]], she [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200501 improvises an excuse for Albia]], then she [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200511 tries to save her dignity]], puts on [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200520 a good show]] and some of the [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200527 locals are unimpressed]]... at first.

* Jon Arbuckle, in the various incarnations of ''Franchise/{{Garfield}}'', is well known for this. Mismatched patterns and polyester abound. It becomes a plot point in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' when the only way to stop a monster that ate clothing was polyester plaid leisure suits as found in Jon's wardrobe, which the monster hated.

** The outfit worn by the Sixth Doctor was, according to Creator/ColinBaker, included by producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner to be deliberately terrible to show how over-the-top the new Doctor could be. Baker himself was rather unhappy with the result, which he described as "an explosion in a rainbow factory", and would later state on record that he had actually wished for his Doctor to wear a more subdued black velvet suit to reflect the character's new, slighter darker nature (compared to the gentler and more human Fifth Doctor's prominently beige and white costume), but that Nathan-Turner had vetoed the idea and gone ahead with the deliberately tasteless design. It actually got an InUniverse nod in AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho027TheOneDoctor The One Doctor]]'', when Banto points out how ridiculous the Doctor looks in it.

*** The [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novelisation]], written by the era's script editor, Creator/EricSaward, has a lengthy paragraph of what can only be described as Anti CostumePorn, including suggesting that the watch chain may have been stolen from a public lavatory.
** Nathan-Turner himself later admitted the outfit had been a mistake - since it was so bright and colourful, the sets had to be designed in a similar range of colour and brightness, due to the cameras' limited range of brightness values. He's reported as saying that if the design or lighting people had told him this was an issue, he would have dumped the thing.

** In publicity photos for the Big Finish Eighth Doctor ''Stranded 4'', an incarnation of the Curator played by Colin wears a ''marginally'' more subdued version; the coat has darkened to plum and lost the patchwork look, the waistcoat now has the yellow and black stripes that used to be on the trousers and coat cuffs, rather than being its own combination of clashing patterns, the trousers themselves are striped in light brown and dark brown, and the bright blue polka-dot cravat is replaced with a teal bowtie. There's still a cat badge, but no question marks.
* Hologram Al's favoured outfits in ''Series/QuantumLeap''. Vividly coloured, shiny, embellished, and frequently [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]: a small child (who could see Al) described him as "a man in a yucky shirt" and on one occasion when he was soberly dressed, Sam was alarmed in case someone had died. (In practical terms, the loud costumes made Al easy for the viewer to spot, and contrasted well with the green screen for the times when he had to walk through a solid object.)

* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' features Topanga excitedly waiting for her bridesmaids to come out in their hideous southern belle-themed dresses, complete with parasol. While Topanga finds them completely beautiful, Angela and Rachel are much less enamored but hide their feelings to spare their friend's feelings, pretend to be as enamored with them as she is (Morgan is much more blunt, ripping hers off and beating it with her parasol). Amy however gives Topanga a taste of her own medicine when she lovingly insists that Topanga wear an heirloom wedding dress that dates back to the civil war.

[[caption-width-right:305:''"But the guests will mistake me for a present!"'' she cried.]]

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' album ''Obelix and Co.'', the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed familiar-looking]] Roman economist Preposterus, who is trying to introduce free-market capitalism to the village (hoping to cause their decadence with money), buys lots of Obelix's stock at inflated prices and tells him that he should now put some of the money back in the economy by spending it on expensive clothes more appropriate for a businessman. Obelix is so rich that he buys an entire peddler's stock of fabrics and then pays a lot of money to the village seamstress to make his dream outfit from them. This turns out to be strange-looking purple and blue breeches and a huge yellow bow. Obelix is convinced he is a SharpDressedMan, but everyone else hates it, with only Asterix retaining the good humour to ''laugh at him'' instead of just shooting him waves of contempt. Then he gets everyone else into the menhir craze, and they all start dressing like that, too.

->'''Robin''': Now let me get a look at this gorgeous... Er... dress? Oh dear. I've never seen so many... unusual colors and shapes in one piece of clothing. \\

'''Robin''': (I bet he'll scream, all right...)

*** The [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novelisation]], written by the era's script editor, Eric Saward, has a lengthy paragraph of what can only be described as Anti CostumePorn, including suggesting that the watch chain may have been stolen from a public lavatory.

* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' features Topanga excitedly waiting for her bridesmaids to come out in their southern belle themed dresses, complete with parasol. While of course they are hideous, Topanga finds them completely beautiful. Angela and Rachel, wishing to spare their friend's feelings, pretends to be as enamored with them as she is. Morgan however is less than subtle, ripping her's off and beating it with her parasol. Morgan however gets the last laugh, after Topanga gets a taste of her own medicine, when Amy lovingly insists that Topanga wears the family wedding dress that dates back to the civil war.

->''"Short in the front, long in the back. That is the mullet of wedding dresses."''
-->-- '''Robin''', ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''

* In ''Film/Bridesmaids'', Helen goes to all the trouble of getting a fancy dress from a famous French designer commissioned for Lillian's wedding, making Annie jealous. But on the day of the wedding, when Lillian reveals the dress to Annie, it's an incredibly over-the-top, frilly couture dress that Lillian is embarrassed to wear, symbolizing how Helen's takeover of the wedding has overwhelmed Lillian.

* ''Series/Absolutely Fabulous'': Eddy's taste in fashion obviously runs to the high end but not to the tasteful. It's far more important for her clothes to be designer than for the garments to make an actual outfit.

* ''Film/JohnnyBeGood'': Johnny returns from California with a purple and gold suit and multiple cold chains. Everyone around him thinks his outfit is ridiculous.

* ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} used to wear an open-chest yellow silk shirt with a high collar and a tiara. In ''Comicbook/ThePulse'', Janet Van Dyne is trying to design Luke's new outfit, and most of them make his old outfit look like an Armani suit. When Franchise/SpiderMan mocks him for the old ensemble, Cage's response is "It was the '70s!"

* After Seffie of Webcomic/GirlGenius gets into a, uh, sticky situation[[note]]she got candy in her hair when she didn't stop her meal when the submarine launched[[/note]], she [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200501 improvises an excuse for Albia]], then she [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200501 tries to save her dignity]], puts on [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200520 a good show]] and some of the [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200527 locals are unimpressed]]... at first.