She Cleans Up Nicely/Playing With
Basic Trope: A character (usually female) who normally dresses down dresses up for an occasion, surprising and impressing the people around her (including her Love Interest).
- Straight: Alice, who normally dresses in jeans and a scruffy jacket and spurns makeup, appears at a function in an elegant evening dress and make-up, amazing Bob with her beautiful appearance.
- Exaggerated: Alice appears in a ball-gown, literally glowing with beauty. Her very appearance is enough to bring everyone to their knees weeping with joy.
- Justified: Alice rarely feels the need to dress up, and it's an aspect of her that people rarely see, thus making it a surprise when she makes an effort.
- Alice is a genuinely beautiful person but normally lacks the confidence to present herself to best effect.
- Inverted: Alice, normally known to dress elegantly in every appearance, shows up in relaxed and slightly scruffy attire, surprising Bob.
- Bob, who normally has unkempt hair, scraggly five o'clock shadow and dresses in a ratty tank-top and jeans, shows up showered, and shaved, in an Armani suit. Alice is in awe when she sees how handsome he is.
- Subverted: Alice dresses up elegantly. No one notices.
- Doubly Subverted: At least, that's what Alice thinks; Bob in fact did notice.
- Parodied: Alice's idea of what is 'elegant' and 'fashionable' is quite different from everyone else's; people's reactions of surprise and amazement are not for the reasons she thinks.
- Perhaps the girl in the dress is really Allen.
- Deconstructed: Bob falls in love with the "cleaned-up" Alice, which leads to dissatisfaction in the relationship when Alice prefers to dress down afterwards.
- Reconstructed: Bob realizes that Alice is Alice despite what she's wearing, and falls in love with her actual persona instead of the image of her dressed up.
- Averted: Alice has a changing sense of style, and is known to dress appropriately regardless of the context.
- Enforced: "We have to show that the tomboy has her feminine side."
- Lampshaded: "Wow, you really do clean up nice!"
- Invoked: Alice, who wants Bob to notice her, invites him to a formal event and dresses up for it.
- Defied: Not wanting to attract too much attention, Alice either wears the shabbiest clothes she is allowed to, or avoids the event entirely.
- Discussed: "Hmm, Alice isn't here yet. Bet you five bucks she shows up all Disney Princess'd and totally wows Bob."
- Conversed: "In shows like this, the tomboy always gets dolled up for the big dance and everyone always oohs and ahhs like she's the Second Coming."
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