Changed My Jumper: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

When people are engaged in [[Time Travel]], they will very frequently be wearing clothing that is inappropriate or out of fashion for the time period. After the obligatory initial comments about the time traveler being dressed "very strangely", the locals will all, in effect, [[Weirdness Censor|shrug and move on]], and however bizarre or inappropriate the clothing may be by their standards, they will rarely mention it again. An [[Improbable Hairstyle]] doesn't faze the peasants, either. Occasionally caused by [[Limited Wardrobe]]. Of course, in some cases, it's not a problem because [[Fashions Never Change]].

 

 

(Note: For those of us [[Separated by a Common Language]], a jumper is a sweater, not a dress for little girls. Or a kind of conductor. Or a guy on a bridge. Or a cable. And is not to be confused with the book (or film of the book) ''[[Jumper (novel)|Jumper]]''.)

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* Kagome from ''[[Inuyasha]]'' wears an extremely short skirt in feudal Japan. Near the beginning, a man comments that "Her kimono is shorter than mine" while fingering her skirt. After this, though, aside from a rare passing comment about "strange clothes", no one she meets is ever really surprised by her modern clothes and hair.

** Considering how much school she misses because of [[San Dimas Time]], [[Fridge Logic|one wonders exactly why she wouldn't bother with a more practical outfit whenever spending extended time in feudal Japan]], [[Rule of Cool|aside from]] [[Fetish Fuel|the obvious]].

** Given that Kagome is possibly the most powerful miko alive and she's traveling with a powerful half-demon at her side... yeah, the skirt is possibly the ''least'' unusual thing about her.

* Hitomi in ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' goes gallivanting through the fantasy world with knights, princesses and giant magical robots, wearing her school sailor uniform. She gets some comments about strange clothes in the early episodes, though. In their defense, they ''did'' try to get her into a more... appropriate dress, but then she had to run down Van and a big, billowy dress really gets in the way of a good runner.

 

 

* On the rare time-travels of Milligan's ''[[Shade the Changing Man]]'', it was easily [[Handwaved]] by Shade only appearing to personalities known to stay under the influence of substances, sometimes including hallucinogens. In one unique aversion, all of Hotel Shade and everything inside reverted gradually to earlier analogues and fashions, until they finally arrived in colonial Salem. Constantine mused on the fit of various underwear through history.

 

 

* The hero of [[L. Sprague de Camp|L Sprague De Camp]]'s ''[[Lest Darkness Fall]]'' is transported from Rome in 1938 to the same spot in 535 CE. He's wearing a light wool suit, necktie, modern shoes and hat. No one seems to particularly notice.

* Discussed and averted in the ''[[Time Scout]]'' series. Even small changes in dress are considered dangerously anachronistic and treated as life or death.

 

 

== Live Action TV ==

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has had this a fair few times and it's sometimes remarked on by the locals. There are also some interesting subversions.

** Amy Pond is the absolute champion of this trope. She's managed to wear a mini-skirt pretty much ''everywhere''.

{{quote|'''Malokeh:''' The female seems more resistant to the cold than the male.

'''Amy:''' I dressed for '''RIO!''' }}

** Possibly the most extreme example of someone noticing the incongruous clothes is in the [[Spin-Off]] novel ''The Many Hands'', where a soldier in 18th century Edinburgh comments on Martha's "pantaloons", and she sarcastically asks if it's against the law. It is.

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the 2008 series, where Donna asks whether her clothing (jeans, tunic top) won't be a little conspicuous in a Roman city in AD 79. The Doctor's answer: "Nah, ancient Rome? It's like Soho. [[City of Weirdos|Anything goes]]." Sadly, it turns out the TARDIS landed in Pompeii instead. Later in the same episode, Donna, trying to fit in, is shown wearing a stola instead.

** The Doctor himself, in the original run, compensated by dressing so outlandishly he was simply never in fashion: the fourth Doctor's scarf and bohemian coat, the Sixth's multicoloured coat, and so on.

** Sarah Jane just happens to dress up in (2nd Doctor companion) Victoria's outfit before the events of ''Pyramids of Mars''.

* In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' story ''The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith'', teenage assistant from 2009 Rani Chandra time travels back to 1951. Everyone is shocked to see her in such ridiculous clothes and wonder if it can really be the fashion in "the Punjab".

** She, hilariously, assumes at first all the strange looks she's getting are due to her race, when she's really getting the looks due to her clothes, and probably only getting away with it because she looks foreign.

** In the same episode, knowing that she's going back in time, Sarah Jane dresses appropriately for the time period. Apparently "the 50s came back in the 70s". Luke is suitably embarassed.

* Repeatedly in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'':

{{quote|'''Colonel:''' What is that? Is that a uniform of some kind?

'''Kirk:''' This little thing? Something I slipped on. }}

{{quote|'''Kirk:''' We seem to be costumed a little out of step with the time.}}

** Averted in "Assignment Earth": When Kirk and Spock beam down to the 1960s United States, they wear appropriate clothing.

**** This is justified, actually. Before filming Paramount had non-Trek actors walk around San Francisco in costumes. Nobody noticed.

***** Well, with the rank insignia and more obvious military trappings removed, the late 23rd century Starfleet uniforms really aren't all that abnormal-looking...and remember, only ''Kirk and Uhura'' were even '''in''' uniform. Everyone else was wearing the same civilian clothing they wore when they stole the ''Enterprise'' in the previous film, and their civvies are pretty much identical to late 20th century attire.

** Parodied in "Almost...But Not Quite" by Dayton Ward (''Star Trek: Strange New Worlds II'') where two Temporal Investigations agents (based on a report of Kirk's visit to 20th Century San Francisco) disguise themselves as punk rockers...when visiting Griffith Observatory. Needless to say, they stick out a bit.

** Also, on one episode of ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'', several characters found themselves in the Original Series, and changed their jumpers to fit the Star Fleet uniform of the period.

* In an episode of ''[[Farscape]]'', Moya's crew find themselves on Earth, on Halloween, in 1986. Aeryn's faux-hippie outfit is... [[Fetish Fuel|interesting]], to say the least.

* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' "1969" the team are sent back to the titular year and swap their uniforms for stereotypical hippie garb. This is, however, justified - they're on the run and want disguises that'll make people dismiss them.

 

== Real Life ==

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

 

* [[Star Ocean]]: Needed for the human to enter the first town

** And then totally ignored for the subsequent games, which while not involving time travel, are functionally equivalent in having space travelers visiting primitive planets.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

{{quote|"Yep, I think they're time travellers."

"You think so?"

"If the future did a documentary of the last fifty years, this is how badly the reenactors would dress." }}

 

 

** Although by the year 3000, Fry's red jacket and blue jeans combo is deemed snicker-worthy.

* [[Kim Possible|Team Possible]] found themselves wrongly dressed when they entered the [[Bad Future]] in ''[[The Movie|A Sitch in Time]]'' because, according to little more than mere fashion rules, everyone should be wearing [[Evil Overlord|Shego's]] uniform.

{{quote|'''Danny:''' Oh, great, I blend in.}}

* In the ''[[Men in Black (animation)|Men in Black]]'' cartoon, Agents Jay and Kay are sent back in time to a Wild West town. Agent Kay's suit transforms into period-appropriate clothing. However, Jay is stuck with his normal suit and is mistaken for an undertaker.