School Uniforms Are the New Black/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A character wears their school uniform even when other clothing options are available or would make more sense.

  • Straight: Alice, a student at Tropeford Academy, wears her uniform when hanging out with her friends (on a non-school day)
  • Exaggerated: Alice wears her school uniform to a fancy ball.
  • Downplayed: Alice occasionally wears her uniform outside of school.
  • Justified:
    • Tropeford Academy has rules requiring students to wear their uniforms even in certain situations outside of school.
    • Alice is too poor to afford other clothes. (See also Limited Wardrobe/Playing With.)
    • Alice's other clothes are in the wash.
    • Alice just likes the uniform, or just has a lot of school spirit.
    • Alice is a Magical Girl or Superhero whose powers only work when she's wearing her school uniform.
  • Inverted: Alice never wears her uniform, even in school.
  • Subverted: Alice seems to wear a school uniform outside of school in one scene, but they turn out to be casual clothes.
  • Double Subverted: Alice is seen in something that looks like a school uniform, but it's just her casual clothes. Her casual clothes actually are school uniforms, because she really likes the fashion.
  • Parodied: Alice literally never wears anything else: she wears her uniform to formal occasions, she bathes in it, and she even sleeps in it.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice alternates between wearing her uniform in school, wearing non-regulation clothes in school, wearing her uniform outside of school, wearing casual clothes outside of school, and just forgoing clothes entirely.
  • Averted: Alice wears her uniform in scenes where it would be expected, and casual (or otherwise appropriate clothes besides her uniform) at other times.
  • Enforced: "We can't afford a lot of outfits, so let's just have Alice wear her school uniform for everything."
  • Lampshaded: When asked why she's wearing her school uniform while camping, Alice says, "How else would people know I go to school?"
  • Invoked: ???
  • Exploited: ???
  • Defied: See Averted.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: "Sheesh, Alice, don't you you have any other clothes?"

Look, Alice, why don't we get you some nice casual clothes on the way back to School Uniforms Are the New Black?

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