History Main / PauperPatches

''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'': After Blue Falcon and Dynomutt are fired for losing to Superthug, those patches and other damages to their superhero outfits gradually become evident. It turns out they're just pretending to be unemployed as part of a plan to locate Superthug's hideout and, once the plan works, they reveal non-ragged outfits underneath the ragged ones.

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* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014'' has the poorer farmer, Fritz, have patches on his jacket and pants as well as HoboGloves. It's stated in the game he repairs them himself. And thanks to a LimitedWardrobe, even if you choose to marry him and elevate him, he'll ''still'' have patchy clothes and no money--it's implied that, despite your being hitched, he wants to stand on his own two feet and maintain his own farm still.

* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons2014'' has the poorer farmer, Fritz, have patches on his jacket and pants. It's stated in the game he repairs them himself. And thanks to a LimitedWardrobe, even if you choose to marry him and elevate him, he'll ''still'' have patchy clothes and no money--it's implied that, despite your being hitched, he wants to stand on his own two feet and maintain his own farm still.

* Orphan Ann Marie from Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' is first seen clothed in scraps and rags, kept prisoner in the villain's riverboat-turned-casino. Understandable since ''dogs'' are in charge of dressing her; Ann Marie gets much better clothes once the Wallet couple adopts her.

* In ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'', Roly Beate, a London policeman or "bobby" and his young wife Patricia have patches on their clothes, since they are not well off. As a result, Patricia can only afford to buy Roly a single rose as a "bouquet" and wrap it in newspaper.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'', the struggling cobbler Tack's clothes have many patches.
* Orphan Ann Marie from Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' is first seen clothed in scraps and rags, kept prisoner in the villain's riverboat-turned-casino. Understandable since ''dogs'' are in charge of dressing her; Ann Marie gets much better clothes once the Wallet couple adopts her.

** [[WesternAnimation/ThePrinceAndThePauper In a version of The Prince and the Pauper]] starring WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, Pauper!Mickey wore this.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series, a cloak with many-colored patches is the signifying mark of a Gleeman, a profession of wandering minstrels and storytellers. Although Gleemen tend to be paid quite well for their performances, because they lead a necessarily nomadic lifestyle they tend to have few possessions nonetheless.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': In the illustrations, poor commoners, including Myne herself, often have patches on their clothes. The patches are also frequently mentionned in the text.

* Series/ElChavoDelOcho uses them, as he's supposed to be an orphan homeless child.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', [[spoiler: after the rich girl, Mila, [[RichesToRags ends up poor]] because of her father losing all his money]], she is shown from then on wearing a patched-up and ugly dress.
** [[spoiler: Maggie on the other hand has the reverse happen to her. She's poor at first, wearing a patched dress, but [[RagsToRiches becomes rich]] and switches to a PimpedOutDress.]]

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': The inhabitants of Twilight Town (not [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII that one]]) all sport raggedy, patched-up clothes to go with their "impoverished Eastern European villager" look and the general {{Uberwald}} atmosphere of the chapter they appear on.

* ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'': The setting has a social credit system. Low scores tend to come with limits to what a person is allowed to buy. A woman whose score is so low she's considered an UnPerson and can't buy necessities has patches on her clothing.
* Humorous take on this in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', contrasting [[https://www.kevinandkell.com/2003/kk0927.html upgrading]] Microtalon (Microsoft) and Carrot (Apple) computers.

* There are a couple of orphan characters on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' like this who show up from time to time. One of them is even [[{{OnlyKnownByTheirNickname}} named Patches]]. One of them has the IncurableCoughOfDeath.
* In a flashback in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS5E1FriendOrFoe Friend or Foe?]]", it is revealed that when Mr. Krabs was a kid, he and his Mom were going through some rough financial times, so Mama Krabs had to fashion Mr. Krabs' clothes from rags.

* ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'': After Blue Falcon and Dynomutt are fired for losing to Superthug, those patches and other damages to their superhero outfits gradually become evident. It turns out they're just pretending to be unemployed as part of a plan to locate Superthug's hideout and, once the plan works, they reveal non-ragged outfits underneath the ragged ones.

[[folder: Film - Animated ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' use them, as he's suppose to be an orphan homeless child.

[[folder: Theater ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': The inhabitants of Twilight Town ([[NameIsTheSame not]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII that one]]) all sport raggedy, patched-up clothes to go with their "impoverished Eastern European villager" look and the general {{Uberwald}} atmosphere of the chapter they appear on.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': In the illustrations, poor commoners, including Myne herself, often have patches on their clothes. The patches are also frequently mentionned in the text, as well.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': In the illustrations, poor commoners, including Myne herself, often have patches on their clothes. The patches are also frequently mentionned in the text, as well.

What's one of the easiest ways to show that a character doesn't have much money? Have their clothing, often grey or especially brown in color (though not always), worn out to the point where patches, often rags, needed to be sewn-on. The patches are usually placed on the sections of clothing that face the most friction, such as the elbow area for shirts and knee area for pants. The patches are almost always square in shape, but they don't need to be, and they often don't match the color of the clothes. Some examples have the clothes ''entirely'' be covered in patched rags. You can mostly find characters such as hobos, orphaned children, [[StreetUrchin Street Urchins]], peasants, and literal examples of RagsToRoyalty dressed like this.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': The inhabitants of Twilight Town ([[NameIsTheSame not]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII that one]]) all sport raggedy, parched up clothes to go with their "impoverished Eastern European villager" look and the general {{Uberwald}} atmosphere of the chapter they appear on.

What's one of the easiest ways to show that a character doesn't have much money? Have their clothing, often grey or especially brown in color (though not always), worn out to the point where patches, often rags, needed to be sewn-on. The patches are usually placed on the sections of clothing that face the most friction, such as the elbow area for shirts and knee area for pants. The patches are almost always square in shape, but they don't need to be, and they often don't match the color of the clothes. Some examples take this UpToEleven and have the clothes ''entirely'' be covered in patched rags. You can mostly find characters such as hobos, orphaned children, [[StreetUrchin Street Urchins]], peasants, and literal examples of RagsToRoyalty dressed like this.

*
''VideoGame/FreddiFish'': Laren the shy jug musician from Freddi Fish 5 wears an orange patched sleeveless shirt exposing his tummy.

''VideoGame:FreddiFish'': Laren the shy jug musician wears an orange patched sleeveless shirt exposing his tummy.

Often combined with the related tropes BarefootPoverty and/or FingerlessGloves to complete the StockCostumeTraits of a poor character. Commonly found on a TinyTimTemplate. Compare BankruptcyBarrel.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'', the cobbler Tack's clothes have many patches.

* ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'' the setting has a social credit system. Low scores tend to come with limits to what a person is allowed to buy. A woman whose score is so low she's considered an UnPerson and can't buy necessities has patches on her clothing.

* There are a couple of orphan characters on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' like this who show up from time to time. One of them is even [[{{OnlyKnownByTheirNickname}} named Patches.]] One of them has the IncurableCoughOfDeath.

Often combined with the related trope BarefootPoverty, and/or the poverty variant of FingerlessGloves to complete the StockCostumeTraits of a poor character. Commonly found on a TinyTimTemplate. Compare BankruptcyBarrel.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', [[spoiler: after the rich girl, Mila, ends up poor because of her father losing all his money]], she is shown from then on wearing a patched-up and ugly dress.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Trial Captain Acerola wears a dress that is almost entirely made of patches. Something that fits her status as an homeless child and also the fact that she is a Ghost-type Pokémon user.

* Orphan Ann Marie from Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' is first seen clothed in scraps and rags, kept prisoner in TheVillain's riverboat-turned-casino. Understandable since ''dogs'' are in charge of dressing her; Ann Marie gets much better clothes once the Wallet couple adopts her.

Often combined with the related trope BarefootPoverty, and/or the poverty variant of FingerlessGloves to complete the common StockCostumeTraits of a poor character. Compare BankruptcyBarrel.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. The title character has a patch on his pants. The Genie points out this trope when he's turning him into Prince Ali. Provides the page quote.

-->-- '''The Genie''', ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''

** [[Disney/ThePrinceAndThePauper In a version of The Prince and the Pauper]] starring WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, Pauper!Mickey wore this.
** ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''. The title character has a patch on his pants. The Genie points out this trope when he's turning him into Prince Ali. Provides the page quote.
** In ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'', Jiminy starts dressed this way before the Blue Fairy declares him Pinocchio's conscience and gives him a clothing upgrade.

Note that for this trope to apply, the character ''must'' be in poverty; if they're wearing patched-up clothes only because they like that style, that's NotAnExample.

What's one of the easiest ways to show that a character doesn't have much money? Have their clothing, often grey or especially brown in color (though not always), worn out to the point where patches, often rags, needed to be sewn-on. The patches are usually placed on the sections of clothing that face the most friction, such as the elbow area for shirts and knee area for pants. The patches are almost always square in shape, but they don't need to be. Some examples take this UpToEleven and have the clothes ''entirely'' be covered in patched rags. You can mostly find characters such as hobos, orphaned children, [[StreetUrchin Street Urchins]], peasants, and literal examples of RagsToRoyalty dressed like this.

** In ''A Symposium on Popular Songs'', Ludwig Von Drake describes how his clothes were in rags at the turn of the century. As he speaks, his tuxedo briefly changes into a tattered one with patches.