Often a character in a work dresses in an outfit practically identical to an outfit worn by another character or
Real Life person, as a kind of
Cosplay on the character's part, and a
Shout Out on the part of the costumer, designer, and/or artist.
The
Whole Costume Reference is when you take the cosplay part out. The character is just wearing that outfit.
There is no indication or clue within the work that this character is dressing as that other person.
- There's no fan convention.
- It's not Halloween.
- It's not a costume party.
- No one mentions what the costume is based on.
This can include live action works, when the costume actually is the costume worn in an earlier work, as a form of
Prop Recycling. Many low budget works do this. But again, there has to be no mention or clue of the work it was reused from.
Compare
Historical Domain Character,
Serial Numbers Filed Off,
Whole Plot Reference.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
Comic Books
Film
- A number of characters — the Bride in Kill Bill being the most famous — have worn Bruce Lee's Game of Death tracksuit.
Live Action TV
- Land Of The Giants had an episode where one of the girls ends up in the skating dress from the beginning of Snow White And The Three Stooges.
- It was said the reason Klinger stopped crossdressing on MASH was that he had worn just about every dress in the studio wardrobe stock that would fit him. So inevitably many of the dresses would be this trope.
Theater
- Christine's dress in The Phantom Of The Opera when she sings "Think of Me" is inspired by one worn by Elisabeth of Bavaria (also the subject of the musical Elisabeth.
Video Games
Web Comics
- This happens all the time in Erfworld, due to the hundreds of pop-culture references the characters make unconsciously. Significant ones include Ansom fighting while dressed as Evel Knievel, Jillian dressing as Sandy from Grease while Vinny and his group dress as West Side Story thugs, several of Wanda's costumes referencing horror movies, and Jack veiling himself as Kain from Final Fantasy IV. In addition, this is a game mechanic that gives them more bonuses.
- The man in this
& a few following cartoons of The KAMics isn't a Mountie, he just likes dressing as one.
Western Animation
