Line #48 Main/GravityIsAHarshSeamstress


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gravity_is_a_harsh_seamstress.png]]]]
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7	A character falling, usually between two skyscrapers in a city, hits a clothesline on the way down and ends up wearing something from the line. If the buildings are tall enough, they can hit several lines, acquiring one item from each, resulting in a hilariously mismatched costume by the time they land. Alternatively, they can get a full outfit off a single line. These can be combined, too, resulting in a gag where the character ends up with several impromptu changes of clothes before the sudden stop at the end.
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9	In theory, this is possible in real life, but you'd have to fall perfectly in line with the clothing, somehow pull the clothing off the line along with you without tearing it, and still have enough time to fit your arms through the holes of your shirt before you land.
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11	Contrast ClotheslineStealing (a character in need of clothing steals from a clothesline). Compare ToTheBatPole (when accessing the headquarters requires a secret entrance from which they exit fully in costume) and HumanSnowball (tumbling down a snowy hill always results in characters trapped in a giant snowball). Might result in a CoincidentalAccidentalDisguise (when through a series of coincidences, a character's appearance gets altered to resemble something; they get mistaken for it) or UnplannedCrossdressing (when the character gets attire from the opposite gender by accident or out of ignorance). If the victim is a heteronormative guy, then that latter situation will definitely be a MakeoverTorment for him.
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13	The {{Trope Namer\|s}} is a pun on GravityIsAHarshMistress. Not to be confused with the {{slapstick}} convention of pants falling down, aka WardrobeMalfunction.
14	----
15	!!Examples:
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17	[[AC:Advertising]]
18	* A Stella Artois ad on TV had a man hit on a woman at a hotel rooftop pool, only for her husband to show up. The guy hops over the wall, falls past several clotheslines, and ends up [[SharpDressedMan in a smart three-piece suit]]... with ladies' high heels.
19	* {{Inverted}} in a Bud Light ad that played during the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl one year. Guy's wife is trying to seduce him away from the TV. She finally tells him she's got cold Bud Light, and he goes tearing up the stairs ripping his clothes off, dives across the bed for the beer, [[DestinationDefenestration and goes out the window]], leaving his boxer shorts hanging in the tree.
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21	[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Vash has this happen to him.
23	-->'''Vash''': Mama, why does this keep on happening to me? I haven't done anything wrong but I'm always in trouble and everyone is always picking on me. What do I do, Maman?!... Why am I crying in French? ''Notices he's been crying on boxers'' AHH!!!
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25	[[AC:Comic Books]]
26	* ''ComicBook/CaptainKlutz'': Ringo Fonebone acquired his costume this way (along with amnesia). His mask is actually a very tasteless hat.
27	* ''ComicBook/EarthX'': {{Inverted}}. When Daredevil drops into the Realm of the Dead, he leaves his judge's cassock on a clothesline and lands in his old yellow-and-red costume.
28	* ''ComicBook/NotBrandEchh'': This is how Forbush-Man gets his costume. That's why it's a mismatched mix of untied combat boots, long johns pajamas, and tablecloth cape.
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30	[[AC:Comic Strips]]
31	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': In a more intentional version, Calvin fantasizes about a machine that would ready him for bed. To get him into his pajamas, it drops him head-first into his shirt, then flips him so he falls legs-first into his pants, all in one fluid arrangement. He apparently doesn't think about that [[GroinAttack last part]] too hard...
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33	[[AC:Films -- Animation]]
34	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin2011'': During the motorcycle scene, Captain Haddock collides with a clothesline and spends the rest of the chase wearing a pink dress. The icing is that he gently lifts the skirt to keep running after Sakharine's falcon.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Aladdin slides down a single clothesline to escape the city guards. He ends up wearing an [[AnachronismStew anachronistic]] bra.
36	* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': After being hurled out a window by a [[EekAMouse frightened woman]], Fievel falls through a sock hanging on a clothesline that had a hole at the end, and then grabs onto a hanging head scarf, using it to parachute the rest of the way down.
37	* ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'': {{Invoked}} by the Disney Princesses, who save the falling Ralph by slowing him down with frozen water and catching him into a dress, which is then parachuted away to safety. ToonPhysics is in full force.
38	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'': When Wilbur is coming in for a landing, Jake rigs up a bra as a dragline. Of course, Wilbur ends up wearing the bra.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'': This happens to the Thief after launching himself with a javelin (and missing his target) he falls onto various clotheslines donning, among other things, some cartoonish undergarments and three pairs of shirts.
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41	[[AC:Western Animation]]
42	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'': The opening has this happening to Jake in dragon form, resulting in him in women's sleepwear.
43	* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': While a possible clever reference to [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the movie]], this trope is {{subverted}} in a crossover episode with ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries''. Hercules gets tricked into flying Pegasus into Agrabah's "Alley of a Thousand Sheets", where it looks like the clothesline is going to send him flying. In spite of Phil's complaints, he manages to muscle through and break the clothesline.
44	* ''WesternAnimation/LetsGoLuna'': In [[Recap/LetsGoLunaS2E19AMoonsTripToParisIfAHamsterCouldFly "If a Hamster Could Fly"]]. When Jacques holds onto the hot air balloon rope, he crashes into a clothesline and gets Goofy Print Underwear on his head.
45	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
46	** "WesternAnimation/AHareGrowsInManhattan": As Hector falls off a building, he hits several clotheslines on the way down, ending up dressed in baby clothes and then a nightgown.
47	** "WesternAnimation/TheHepCat": Rosebud falls through some clotheslines and ends up dressed in a baby bonnet, booties, and a diaper.
48	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': The title character has had trouble with this a few times, most notably when he was under a bad luck curse.
49	* ''WesternAnimation/NumbChucks'': In "Fan Boy", Dilweed gets flung through the air and crashes through a clothesline. He emerges with a towel tied around his neck like a superhero.
50	* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': In one of the episode intros, Rocky and Bullwinkle are in the air. Rocky glides to the ground while Bullwinkle falls, ending up bouncing and trapped in a suit of men's long johns hanging from a clothesline.

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