History Main / UnderdressedForTheOccasion

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', as Jack plans to show up to an upper-class dinner in his grungy clothes; a kind-hearted friend lends him some formal wear.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw "Tooth and Claw"]] has the Doctor and Rose landing in 1879 at a house where Queen Victoria will be staying. Rose is wearing a denim miniskirt and a tight-fitting, low-cut shirt. Throughout the episode, she is described by other characters as being naked. In fact, she gets called a ''feral child''.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', George showed up for the Red Banquet wearing his usual outfit with a new T-shirt, contrasting ''everyone else's'' fancy suits and gowns. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by several people, including Captain Puffy, who commented that George was "[[SarcasmMode clearly]] dressed for the occasion".

Showing up underdressed for a formal event can simply be played for comedy: it's frequently invoked in romantic comedies as part of a disastrous date. As such, it functions as a minor obstacle on the path to romance. However, being underdressed can also be used dramatically. Arriving underdressed to a party or other social event often signals that the underdressed character is in some way an outsider. Frequently, the underdressed character is of lower class status than the rest of the guests. A poverty-stricken character may be underdressed due to an inability to afford formal wear. Alternatively, failure to adhere to dress codes indicates ignorance of the social code. Especially when this is part of an InWithTheInCrowd situation, some of the humiliation stems from the way the character is displaying that he or she is not yet able to navigate these social waters. It's not uncommon for a savvier (or simply wealthier) friend or LoveInterest to provide some assistance because IWantMyBelovedToBeFashionable.

* In the ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' episode "A Night In Terror Tower", Eddie and Sue aren't allowed to wait in the hotel restaurant because Eddie isn't wearing a dinner jacket, which is the dress code. The waiter does actually fetch one for him, though Sue is also wearing casual clothes [[DoubleStandard and they don't have a problem with hers]].

* ''Series/TheNanny'': In the pilot, after her introduction to the blue-blooded Sheffield family, she starts her first day as their new nanny arriving to breakfast still in her bathrobe and slippers while they're all fully-dressed. Despite this, she still has breakfast this way throughout the whole series.

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[[quoteright:310:[[Music/JustinBieber https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/justin_bieber_and_steven_harper.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:310:[[ComicallyMissingThePoint Wearing a two-piece suit to an international pop concert?]] How boring.]]

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* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' The Major once shows up to a meeting with Chief Aramaki wearing what are essentially workout clothes after she gets thrown in the garbage during a mission. Aramaki asks if she's trying to get his attention, much to her displeasure and Batou's amusement. This is especially funny because she usually wears only a sleeveless leotard and a leather jacket, dubbed the "battle teddy" by fans, but the workout clothes are ''even skimpier than that'' to even draw comment.

* In ''Manga/CandyCandy'', Candy once shows up in her uniform to class... but it's the ''wrong'' uniform, since her BoardingSchool has a normal white one ''and'' a black one for Sundays. She gets mocked by the other students, and the nuns punish her by not letting her go back to the dorms to change.
* Downplayed in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' when Ishigami shows up to the second French exchange event in his school uniform. While it is technically part of the dance's dress code (and he even points out that several other people are in their uniforms), it still annoys [[spoiler:Iino]] because she went through the effort of picking out a nice dress to wear for him. Fortunately, [[CrazyPrepared Kaguya]] figured that something like that would happen and brought along a suit for him to change into.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', as Jack plans to show up to an upper-class dinner in his grungy clothes; a kind-hearted friend lends him some formalwear.

* ''Film/PulpFiction''. Vincent and Jules wear some very casual clothing to a meeting with their boss Marcellus because they had to change out of what they were wearing due to the old clothes having [[spoiler:[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace Marvin's brain matter]] splattered all over them]].
* ''Film/RealGenius'': Chris shows up to his job interview wearing deelyboppers and an "I Heart Toxic Waste" T-shirt. In this case, it's meant to establish the character as a BunnyEarsLawyer.
* In ''Film/HappyGilmore'', the titual character shows up to his first professional golf match (and pretty much every other match he golfs in) wearing his usual casual clothing as opposed to more conventional golfing attire such as a polo shirt and slacks. His trainer, Chubbs, even calls him out for it sarcastically.
-->'''Chubbs:''' By the way, thanks for dressing up.\\
'''Happy:''' Hey, if I ever saw myself in clothes like those, I'd have to kick my own ass.
* In ''Film/IHeartHuckabees'', one of the weird coincidences that kick off the plot involves Albert finding a business card in the pocket of a jacket loaned to him by the restaurant where he tries to dine without one.
* In ''Film/FirstKid'', Sinbad's character Sam Simms is refused entry to a black tie event.
-->'''Sam:''' I know, sir, and I've got it covered: I'm black and I'm wearing a tie.
* In ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve,'' the Chiwetel Ejiofor character arrives at a formal White House event in casual clothes (having rushed back from the other side of the world, discovering the world is going to end). He needs to speak to powerful government people there. At first, he's not allowed in, but then he is after someone finds a suit jacket for him to wear.
* In ''Film/MyCousinVinny'', this is a recurring point of friction between Vinny and Judge Haller.
--> '''Judge''': Mr. Gambini, didn't I tell you that the next time you appear in my court that you dress appropriately?
--> '''Vinny''': You were serious about that?

* In the title essay of ''A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again'', Creator/DavidFosterWallace admits that he hadn't seen the point of bringing a tuxedo on a Caribbean cruise, even though the cruise line recommended it, and that he had brought along a "tuxedo"-design T-shirt basically to show what he thought of the suggestion. He quickly saw that the recommendation was completely serious, as meals at the ship's restaurant were a formal, black-tie affair, and he was quite embarrassed when he saw literally everyone else wearing formalwear at the first dinner. He never wore the "tuxedo" T-shirt after the first day, opting for a button-down shirt and sport coat, and feeling rather sheepish about his state of undress.
* Inverted in the ''Literature/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRelaunch'' novel ''Losing the Peace'': during an EscalatingPrankWar between T'Ryssa Chen and Dina Elfiki, Dina not only convinces Trys that an event is dress uniform when it isn't, she also alters Trys's measurements in the replicatior so the always-uncomfortable whites don't ''quite'' fit properly.

* Invoked deliberately by Omar in ''Series/TheWire'' when he had to appear in court as a witness. He was only told that whatever he wore had to include a necktie, so he shows up wearing his normal clothes [[ExactWords with a necktie over them]] (and simply looped through itself like a scarf, at that). He does this to tell the police that while he's cooperating with them there are limits to what he'll do.
* Inverted in the ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' episode "Children of the Comet": Ortega hazes Uhura by telling she "might want to" wear her dress uniform for dinner with the captain. It turns out everyone else isn't even in their duty uniform, but in civvies.

* Played with in ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', where the distinctions between black tie, white tie, and merely "wearing a tie", are terribly important to the characters, but can seem opaque to the viewers. Tom can show up to dinner very well-dressed by 21st century standards but is treated like he's in a t-shirt.