Progressively Prettier/Playing With
- Basic Trope: An unattractive or strange-looking character's appearance improves when they appear again next season or in the sequel.
- Played Straight: Alice, who first appeared with Nerd Glasses and braces, and rather frumpy clothes is Put on a Bus at the end of the season. When she appears again this time looking prettier, the explanation given is that she spent time at a fancy "beauty farm" and got a makeover.
- Exaggerated: The girl claiming to be Alice doesn't even remotely resemble a prettier version of the Alice that left; she looks like someone completely different.
- The Hand Wave given is that Alice did a stint in the Peace Corps helping starving children in Darkest Africa, which brought out her true beauty.
- Inverted: Alice is one of The Beautiful Elite and gets Put on a Bus at the end of the season. When she returns, she has gained about 20-30 lbs, her hair is frizzy, and she has acquired Nerd Glasses and braces.
- Justified: Alice is one of those characters that was Beautiful All Along
- During her time off, Alice decided to change her appearance for the better
- Alice had a Heel Face Turn or a Face Heel Turn, and her new look reflects that.
- She's All Grown Up
- Subverted: Alice starts off with a purple mohawk, multiple piercings, and a really tough demeanor. When she appears again next season, she is still recognizable as "uniquely Alice"
- Double Subverted: But her hair has grown longer, more like conventional pretty-girl hair than punk-rocker hair.
- Deconstructed: Every season, Alice looks more and more attractive, because she's been compulsively changing her appearance to look pretty, hoping to catch the attention of Happily Married Dirk.
- Reconstructed:
- Parodied: Every girl on the show except the lead is replaced by someone completely different.
- Lampshaded: "Wow! You look great, Alice! That trip away did you some good!"
- Averted: Alice leaves Hollywood Homely, and comes back looking exactly the same.
- Enforced: "We need to make this character more appealing, especially in light of the changes of last season."
- Invoked: Alice, at the end of the season, wins a trip to a high-end medical spa.
- Defied: Alice refuses to go, on the grounds that she (and everyone else) thinks that she looks good just as she is.
- Discussed: "Does Alice look different to you? Like...prettier?"
- Conversed: "Yeah...it's weird. She looks prettier, but still like herself."
- Played For Laughs:
- Played For Drama: Her new look lands her in a showdown with the Alpha Bitch.
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