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[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ks002027_zpsd55ed6f7.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"They'll never suspect a thing!"]]
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->'''Lord Bottom:''' I have dispatched a hundred soldiers to Lannoch! They will be returning now!\\
'''William Wallace:''' (''indicating his disguise'') Were they dressed like this?\\
'''Lord Bottom:''' (''[[OhCrap eyes widen]]'')\\
'''William Wallace:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Actually, it was more like fifty]].
-->-- ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' (after Wallace's men sneak into and capture an English fort)
The heroes or villains need to get access to the enemy stronghold. But how? By DressingAsTheEnemy, of course. That still leaves the question of how to get enemy (or otherwise deceptive) uniforms. The solution to this is a time-honored technique:
# Get the attention of the enemy mooks or some innocent victims.
# Lure the mooks offscreen.
# [[BattleDiscretionShot Add fight sound effects to the audio track.]]
# Wipe to a scene of the muggers dressed in the mooks' uniforms, which are ''always'' just the right size.
This specific setup is optimized for comedy, and is usually PlayedForLaughs. If it is PlayedForDrama, one or more of the steps may be altered.
If the trope is subverted, the fourth step will be different:
# The plan to beat up the guards and pose as them won't even get off the ground, as the mooks will either beat up, kill, or capture the heroes that came up with the plan in the first place.
# The mooks are obviously a very different size from the heroes, but their uniforms [[OneSizeFitsAll fit perfectly anyway]].
# The heroes steal and wear absurdly ill-fitting uniforms that squeeze them half to death or sag all around them. Bonus points if [[PaperThinDisguise the disguise works anyway]].
In either situation, the victims will be subject to one or more of these things:
# [[KilledOffForReal Death]].
# Being BoundAndGagged and left in their underwear (possibly revealing GoofyPrintUnderwear or [[GoingCommando no underwear]]).
# [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Never being seen or mentioned again]].
# [[{{Call Back}} Coming back and exposing the impostors]] (doesn't happen often, but sometimes it does).
Sometimes leads to NotMyDriver, JanitorImpersonationInfiltration, DeliveryGuyInfiltration. May overlap with RemovingTheRival.
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' (and the ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' adaptation), Max pulls a random [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever Zentraedi]] into a bathroom and knocks him out to steal his uniform while trapped onboard an enemy ship. This example is notable for being done with a HumongousMecha against a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant alien]], meaning Max's ''mecha'' was the one in disguise.
** The novelization of ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' lampshades how impossible this was and what a CMOA this was for Max. Doubly so in versions of the universe other than the novel 'verse, which has mental interface controls - in the anime universes, Max is improvising with controls, programs, and likely limb-movement limits that were never intended to allow a mecha to put on clothing!
* Aisha poses as a female wrestler named Firecat in an episode of ''Manga/OutlawStar''. After her teammates question her about the outfit, [[BangingForHelp some banging is heard from a nearby locker]], and the ''real'' Firecat falls out BoundAndGagged in her undies.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In the RGB arc of ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', Red knocks out a Team Rocket Grunt and steals his uniform to get into their base.
** Diamond does this as well in his own arc.
** The original series episode "The Punchy Pokémon" has a scene where Jessie and James steal the outfit and Pokémon of a man who was entering a tournament. The real competitor is shown bound and gagged in his underwear before being locked away in a bathroom stall by the villains.
** Team Rocket also does this to a pair of security guards in another episode. While locking the bound and gagged guards in a closet, Jesse and James quip about having caught the men "[[{{Pun}} off-guard]]".
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': When infiltrating Soul Society, Orihime does this to two 12th Division officers to obtain shinigami uniforms for both her and Ishida. Ishida's left speechless by her combat skills. In the manga, she even [[ApologeticAttacker apologizes to her gagged victims]] before leaving them hidden away.
* In the ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'':
** In "¥$," the Chinese assassin Fem kills a pair of bank employees and steals the clothes of one of her victims in order to infiltrate the mansion where her target [[spoiler: (supposedly)]] lives.
** In "Angel's Share", the Major does this to a special forces police officer in London, getting his attention by [[ShowSomeLeg showing some leg (and cleavage)]] before knocking him out and stealing his uniform. It works better than many examples of this trope because the uniform includes a mask attachment that covers most of her face and the body armor is bulky enough to hide her figure.
** In "Lost Heritage," the members of Section 9 operate under the assumption that an assassin is going to use a sniper rifle to kill a visiting Chinese politician. [[spoiler: Togusa then finds a half-naked schoolboy BoundAndGagged in a bathroom stall, which causes Batou to realize that the assassin stole the boy's uniform to get close enough to the politician to stab him to death. Luckily, the Major is able to take him out right before the stabbing can occur.]]
* In the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' "World Tournament" Arc, Trunks and Goten beat up one of the {{Muggle}} competitors and steal his costume so they can use it to sneak into the adult division fights.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuzaki steal someone's outfit to enter the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship, in an example that has a surprising amount of similarities to the above example.
* The ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' manga has a scene where a female villain plans to kidnap a young author by posing as the child's female manager. After the villainess reveals her true identity, the real manager is briefly shown bound and gagged in a bathroom, stripped of the clothing she had been wearing prior to being replaced.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail - The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth'', the members of the Abyss Horn guild kidnap Yukino and send in an impostor back to Sabretooth in her stolen clothes. Sting immediately recognizes the new "Yukino" as an impostor since the real Yukino is never late.
* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' episode #1. When Naota goes to the hospital to have the growth on his head looked at, the nurse turns out to be Haruko. During the scene we see a nurse BoundAndGagged in her underwear. Haruko overpowered the nurse and stole her uniform. She wears it again in episode 5 "Brittle Bullet" when she's acting as a barber for Commander Amarao.
* MasterOfDisguise Kanako does this to Shinobu and Kaolla in chapter 92 of ''Manga/LoveHina''
* The final story arc of ''Manga/SoulEater'' features Kilik, Kim and Ox using the robes of some defeated Arachnophobia grunts to infiltrate one of the madness relay stations.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'': Extremely common for the franchise, given how much Lupin loves disguises.
** An episode has Fujiko and Lupin tying up and gagging a pilot and stewardess so they can steal their outfits and replace them on a flight.
** Fujiko does this to a female army officer in another episode. She leaves her tied up and gagged in a locked room while strutting about in the woman's uniform.
** Lupin does this to the Director of the New York police department in ''Anime/LupinIIIEpisode0FirstContact''.
** Happens in the pilot episode of ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine''. Fujiko subdues a cultist and swaps clothes with him, leaving him bound and gagged in her dress. The poor thug ends up getting executed while Fujiko escapes in his uniform.
** Lupin escapes from Zenigata during ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'' by switching places with the bartender Zenigata has been hanging out with (along with a dash of LatexPerfection to prevent Zenigata from figuring out the switch until too late).
** In the very first episode of ''WesternAnimation/LupinIIITheItalianAdventure'', Zenigata ''thinks'' Lupin has done this to Mr. Lionello, but is proven wrong when the real Lupin shows up. [[spoiler: It turns out Zenigata was half right. Someone did tie up and gag Mr. Lionello and steal his clothes for the heist, but it was ''Fujiko'', not Lupin]]. This series also provides a {{Deconstruction}} when Lupin is arrested on Italian soil: he can't be extradited to Japan as Italy doesn't have death penalty and refuses to extradite criminals who risk it such as Lupin, but under Italian law kidnapping to facilitate a robbery, such as this trope, is ground for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_41-bis_prison_regime hard prison regime]], thus justifying the increasingly harsh and desperate means used by Zenigata and the Italian prison guards to keep him in.
* Done on a number of occasions in ''Manga/CatsEye''.
** In one episode, Hitomi and Ai use some KnockOutGas on a pair of female wrestlers and steal their costumes and masks. A female cop later finds the real wrestlers BoundAndGagged in their locker room.
** In another episode, Hitomi actually does this to a ''[[DisguisedInDrag male]]'' gangster. The man she replaced is shown tied up and gagged in his underwear.
** There are a number of cases where this is also implied (the women often poses as guards or employees at the locations they plan to rob), but not shown.
* Happens in an episode of ''Anime/MichikoToHatchin'', where Michiko mugs a matador for his costume and mask.
* The title character of ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' does this to an unfortunate cleaning woman, leaving her BoundAndGagged in a closet while she dons her uniform.
* ''LigthNovel/DirtyPair'':
** Yuri does this to an unfortunate train attendant in an episode of the anime. Humorously, she [[ApologeticAttacker apologizes to the taped and gagged woman]] before locking her up in a cupboard.
** In the comic, Kei and Yuri knock out a couple of "entertainers" to steal their costumes and sneak aboard a ship. Unfortunately, the "entertainment" they provide involves working as waitresses while dressed in tight PlayboyBunny outfits.
* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' has the team members do this frequently. You'd think Galactor would at least ditch the face-hiding helmets. Bonus points for the ten-year-old member wearing an ''adult''-sized uniform -and the most any goon notes is he's 'a little scrawny'.
* In the ''Manga/HauntedJunction'' manga, Kazumi and Mutsuki do this to two kids from a ''very'' prestigious art school to help Haruto when he's he's investigating [[spoiler: the mysterious organization that is turning the usually friendly school spirits against the students and school staff.]]
* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':
** In the "Blue Mermaid Heist" story, Kaitou does this to Masumi Sera, leaving her BoundAndGagged in a bathroom stall. This proves [[SpottingTheThread to be crucial to how Conan actually solves the case]], since Kaitou didn't realize that [[LadyLooksLikeADude the person he was impersonating was a girl]]. It was accidentally out of character for him because he typically copies a woman's clothing beforehand rather than knock her out and undress her.
** In a much earlier chapter, a crazy woman does this to her former employer's wife. She plans on ambushing and killing the man for firing her, but the bound and gagged wife manages to toss an S.O.S message to Conan and his friends before the killer can carry out the plan.
** This is a hallmark of ''Manga/MagicKaito'' in general. One of the specials has Kid actually pretending that ''he'' was a police officer who was mugged for his outfit, with the real cop kept BoundAndGagged out of sight.
* ''Anime/KaitouJoker''
** Like ''Magic Kaito'', the series stars a PhantomThief who frequently ties up and replaces people as part of his heists.
** This is TheReveal of Chapter 50, which is about a young detective who is trying to help a family of musicians named the Otowas claim their inheritance. [[spoiler: It turns out the people he's been talking to the entire story are actually thieves who left the real Otowa siblings BoundAndGagged in the basement after stealing their clothing and instruments to impersonate them.]]
* In an episode of ''Anime/{{Trigun}}'', the heroes rescue and befriend a young girl named Jessica. At the very end of the episode, Nicholas hears some muffled whining and discovers the ''real'' Jessica BoundAndGagged among some rubble. He realizes too late that the "Jessica" Vash had earlier rescued is actually a [[CreepyDoll life-like puppet]] made by [[MarionetteMaster Leonoff The Puppetmaster]], which had stolen Jessica's clothes in order to get close enough to Vash to shoot him. [[spoiler: Brad [[TakingTheBullet Takes The Bullet]] for him and dies]].
* Sometimes happens in ''Manga/OnePiece'', like when Mr. 2 steals Hannyabal's outfit in Impel Down ([[WalkingShirtlessScene except that he doesn't have much of an outfit to begin with]]), or when the dwarves in Dressrosa knock out two of Doflamingo's goons so that Usopp and Robin can "borrow" their clothes to get closer to Trebol and Sugar.
* Near the end of ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'', Erika and Itsuki, trying to catch back up to Tsubomi and Yuri, power down and take out a couple of Snackies to steal their uniforms. And despite the fact that you can see that their disguise barely ''works'', it fools the other Snackies until they finally get wise.
* In the anime ''Anime/AgentAika'' (or Aika), episode #4, her partner Rion Aida, was trapped in the ship of Hagen, when she was taken to her room (like a prison) by a blue delmo, Rion is very clever and daring then leverages that is alone with blonde delmo, when the two come into the room, Rion knocks her with some punches (the scene unseen) only the knocks are heard and the cry of the blue delmo, moments after Rion appears at the door wearing blue uniform of the blonde delmo, Rion runs in one direction and then show the scene of blond henchwoman on the floor, tied hands and feet, unconscious and only in underwear, the room door closes, enclosing it and Rion escapes from her cleanly and very easy.
* Variant done in ''Fushi no Ryouken''. The three women ambush and tape up a pair of visiting police officers in order to steal their identities, but they leave them fully clothed.
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'': After Joseph Joestar knocks down two German guards, he strips them down to their underwear and dons one of the uniforms. Considering beforehand he tried a crossdressing disguise that fails instantly, he noted that it's either 'disappointingly easy' or 'dropping his self-esteem'.
* In ''Manga/YuragiSouNoYuunaSan'' chapter 37, Kogarashi tries to hide from Oboro in the nurse's office, only to see Oboro inside dressed as the nurse. She reveals that she used her [[ThinkingUpPortals portal]] ability to get inside, tie up and gag the real nurse, and then steal her uniform.
* In ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'', Reina arrives in the present ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' style, crouching naked in a ball of lightning. She immediately knocks Yukina out and steals her clothes. Since they are the same size and her face is very similar to Yukina's ([[KidFromTheFuture for a good reason]]), Reina briefly fools the others into believing she is Yukina.
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* One ''ComicBook/{{Mickey Mouse|ComicUniverse}}'' comic has Mickey get knocked out for his costume by a crook looking to get away. Unfortunately for Mickey, he got EasyAmnesia from the blow and is wearing the crook's old outfit, so the other criminals mistake Mickey for him.
* When the Thuggee cultist Ravan joins the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, he practically brags that he didn't get any blood on the uniforms he has just acquired for the team, leaving Bronze Tiger to remember just what kind of person Ravan is.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} 25'', Crimson Cowl decided to take revenge against the Thunderbolts by creating her own Masters of Evil (the group that the bolts were originally part of) with 25 super-villains. After she captured Moonstone, five bolts decided to infiltrate the group by knocking out five members and stealing their costumes. Charcoal puts on M'Baku the Man-Ape's suit. Songbird is dressed as Lodestone. Jolt is dressed as Joystick. Atlas is Shatterfist, and Hawkeye pulls up the Constrictor's mask.
* During an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', Wade and his team of mercenaries are hired to sabotage a satellite by hijacking a space shuttle. At one point, one of Wade's teammates complains about her suit being too bulky. The scene shifts to the cargo hold, where the real astronauts are shown tied up with their mouths taped shut.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ''ComicBook/GothamCitySirens'' features a scene where the gals [[http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt74/Larrson777/Gotham%20City%20Sirens%20-%2010/GothamCitySirens10011.jpg take out some henchwomen]] and [[http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt74/Larrson777/Gotham%20City%20Sirens%20-%2010/GothamCitySirens10014.jpg jack their gear]].
** In the ''[[ComicBook/GothamCitySirens Batman: Harley and Ivy]]'' collection, there is an issue where the girls try to sneak into a museum opening by posing as members of an entourage. After someone jokes about the entourage being too large for anyone to keep track of the real members, two young women (presumably the groupies Harley and Ivy replaced) are shown bound and gagged in a dark room.
** The comic book prequel to ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' has Harley Quinn murdering a female security guard and stealing her outfit. How she managed this isn't clear, as the mugging happens entirely offscreen.
** In the first issue of ''[[Comicbook/HarleyQuinn Harley's Little Black Book]]'', Harley Quinn renders WonderWoman unconscious with some knockout gas and then steals her costume so that she can stop some bad guys. Wonder Woman later wakes up and comes to her assistance...in Harley's discarded and very ill-fitting costume.
** The very first issue of the 2011 ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'' series has the title character posing as a bartender as part of a heist. The real bartender is quickly discovered taped up and gagged in a closet, blowing Catwoman's cover.
** The Knight and the Squire show us [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/skandha/ks002027_zpsd55ed6f7.jpg how they do it]] in Merrie Olde England.
** An issue of the 90's ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'' series had the title character tying up and gagging a maintenance worker so that she could steal the worker's uniform and infiltrate the building where they were employed.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Robin}}: Joker's Wild'', the recently escaped Mr. J returns to his hideout and apologizes for showing up in a green suit instead of his usual purple. He said that it was difficult enough finding someone his size with a green suit, let alone a purple one.
** In the controversial ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman Incorporated]] #3'', a young schoolteacher is chloroformed by some thugs and replaced by a female Leviathan agent. The impostor wears the woman's stolen clothes and glasses, with the only tip-off to the reader being that she has different hair and eye colors.
* ComicBook/ThePunisher does this in "Round Robin, the Sidekick's Revenge", a six-part story in ComicBook/SpiderMan's comic, ambushing Number III (probably killing him, seeing as this is the Punisher) and taking his robes and cowl to infiltrate [[NebulousCriminalConspiracy the Secret Empire's]] HQ. (He even comments to himself how fortunate it is that the leaders' cowls have synthesizers to disguise their voices when he has to speak to the other leaders of the group.)
* In ''ComicBook/BlackWidow'' (vol. 1) #1, the title heroine's rival, Yelena Belova, tapes up and gags a young flight attendant in an airport restroom in order to steal her uniform. She then stashes the unconscious attendant in an empty stall and scrawls "Out of Order" on the door with lipstick. After wishing the woman "Sweet dreams", Yelena takes her place on a flight so she can spy on the real Widow.
* An issue of ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' features a scene where ComicBook/BlackCanary finds a nurse tied up and stripped of her uniform. Turns out that the "nurse" that her partner passed in the hallway was an escaped lunatic wearing the stolen uniform.
* ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' #166 has a female mercenary being hired to impersonate ComicBook/BlackCanary. The real Black Canary is held bound and gagged in her undies while the impostor dons the heroine's trademark fishnet outfit in order to fool Batman.
* ''ComicBook/{{Femforce}}'':
** Issue #43 contains a scene where [[JunglePrincess Tara]] steals an Amazon uniform in order to infiltrate their base. The woman she ties up appears to have been [[GoingCommando following Joystick's lead]].
** Issue #48 features a scene where Lady Luger yanks a passing woman into an alley so she can appropriate her clothing in order to flee the city undetected.
* ''ComicBook/DangerGirl'':
** An early issue has feisty heroine Abbey mugging a waitress for this purpose. The disguise works, though she does find the uniform a bit too small.
** The "Army of Darkness" series employs this twice in one issue. Sydney Savage infiltrates a psychiatric hospital by subduing a doctor and stealing her uniform. Meanwhile, the patient she is attempting to rescue knocks out a security guard and steals his uniform.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Issue #207: [[ComicBook/JeanGrey Phoenix]] sneaks into the Hellfire Club and uses her mind-controlling abilities to put a waitress to sleep. She then steals her uniform so as not to be recognized upon entering the main section of the Club.
** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s [[https://uncannyxmen.net/sites/default/files/images/characters/wolverine/wolv-bigcostume4.jpg short-lived second costume]] was stolen from Fang, a member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.
** During a story in which the X-Men are out in space and (through a complicated series of events) have traveled back in time to the Skrull homeworld just as it is about to be destroyed by Galactus, Wolverine pulls this again, killing a Skrull who is wearing that same second costume in order to disguise himself as Skrull-Wolverine after he got cut off from the rest of the X-Men. [[spoiler:In a somewhat ironic twist, it is revealed a short time later that that Wolverine was also a Skrull impostor, while the real one had been turned into one of Apocalypse's Horsemen]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'':
** Kate Bishop does this to Madame Masque in an issue, leaving the villainess bound and gagged with her mouth duct-taped shut. This ends up annoying Masque so much that she becomes Kate's extremely dangerous ArchEnemy out of sheer humiliation.
** Kate did the same thing in an earlier issue. She infiltrated the Circus of Crime by replacing the group's female archer ([[ContrivedCoincidence who luckily had the same body measurements]]), with the real archer left beaten, bound and gagged in her dressing room.
* The first Comicbook/BlackOrchid employed this trope quite often. Nearly every one of her adventures had her infiltrating a gang by tying up the leader's girlfriend/secretary/any random bystander and taking her place. Often, her deception would not be revealed until the end of the story, when the real, replaced woman was discovered.
* ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and Obélix do this twice in the album ''Recap/AsterixAndTheGoths'': first with Roman legionaries, then with some Goths (not [[{{Goth}} these ones]]).
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'':
** Happens in the "Femizon" storyline. Black Mamba and Asp mug two female security guards working for Superia, and escape in their outfits. Humorously, the ladies only needed new clothes in the first place because they had opted to give their own costumes to Captain America and Paladin, who needed to disguise themselves as women for a complicated escape plan.
** The Serpent Squad do this to a group of ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agents in another issue. While stripping the dead woman she plans to impersonate, Sin jokingly mentions that they have to be sure not to get any blood on the uniforms, a detail usually ignored in other instances of this trope.
** In a much earlier issue of ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/TheFalcon'', Madame Hydra did this to Viper after shooting him. She took his CodeName as well in an attempt to claim she was "honoring" his legacy.
* Happened to the hero Marvel hero Torpedo, who was [[KillAndReplace taken out and replaced]] by a female Dire Wraith. After the alien was killed, Torpedo's [[ClothesMakeTheSuperMan suit]] was eventually bequeathed to the ComicBook/NewWarriors member Turbo.
* ''Franchise/GIJoe'':
** In one comic, a female Cobra agent ties up and gags a restaurant hostess and steals her uniform so she can plant a microphone in the General's hat.
** An old issue of ''G.I. Joe: Yearbook'' has Scarlett defeating the Baroness and her mooks offscreen, and then leaving them all bound and gagged in a closet. She strips Baroness of her catsuit and uses it as a disguise in order to rescue her friends.
* A hallmark of the ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'' series. One story published in an Italian fashion magazine even has Eva knocking out and stealing the clothes of several models. The real models are found bound and gagged in a closet at the end of the story. Notably, this series does ''not'' present the trope as almost harmless as it's usually done: it's still a kidnapping, and victims are often traumatized.
* A ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' one-shot has a scene where ComicBook/{{X 23}} steals the uniform of a waitress as part of an undercover operation. She tapes the real server's mouth shut and locks her in a closet.
* In an issue of ''[[ComicBook/NewMutants New X-Men]]'', X-23 knocked out Dust and stole her Burqa. It turned out that Dust was about to walk into a trap set by William Stryker, so Laura rendered her unconscious and went in her place. The hail of gunfire that would've killed Dust had no effect on X-23 thanks to her HealingFactor.
* ''Comicbook/{{Venom}}'' #13 has ''another'' X-23 example. This time, she knocks out a cocktail waitress in an elevator and steals her devil girl costume to infiltrate Blackheart's casino.
* Non-enemy variation: R. Crumb's ''ComicBook/FritzTheCat'' is fleeing from the police who busted up a pot party. He spots a drunk rich guy in top hat/monocle/tails and cheerfully escorts him into an alley -- next panel he's greeting his pals in the park in the guy's clothes.
* A particularly unpleasant variation in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' Volume 1, when Hawley Griffin beats a policeman to death with a brick and takes his uniform. It should be emphasised that 1) Griffin doesn't need a disguise at that point, 2) Griffin ''is invisible'' and so wearing a policeman's actually makes him more conspicuous. He later explains that he was cold.
* In ''ComicBook/LadyMechanika'' #4, Mechanika knocks out a party-goer and steals her masquerade costume.
* Robyn steals a robe from a cultist to infiltrate the Church of Many Eyes in ''ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales Presents: ComicBook/RobynHood'' #7.
* While driven mad by hunger, Comicbook/{{Venom}} does this to an unfortunate group of bikers in an issue of ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan''.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman''
** In issue #3, Baroness Paula Von Gunther escapes from prison by replacing a guard and stealing her uniform.
** In issue #6, the first appearance of the Cheetah, the villainess ties up and impersonates an Olympic athlete named Kay Carlton so that she can attend an athletic tournament being held on Paradise Island.
[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'': In the Rughead arc, Rughead does this to a cab driver, stealing his uniform and his cab.
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', George has to become Bayanis so he and Paul can infiltrate the warehouse. Except that Paul had already wrapped her up in her own robes (well, she tried to order him to kill the others), so all they have to do is strip her, and John immobilizes her in warm ice.
* In ''[[http://wtfbrotha36.deviantart.com/art/Black-Widow-s-Bad-Luck-400148485 Black Widow's Bad Luck]]'', [[ComicBook/BlackWidow the eponymous Avenger]] steals the uniforms of two mooks and an assassin (as well as leaving them BoundAndGagged, or at least knocked out, and stripped to their GoofyPrintUnderwear, including ''swastika''-print panties) as part of a plan to infiltrate the operation of Sin, daughter of the Red Skull, and stop her acquiring a gem that will grant her god-like powers. Unfortunately for Black Widow, she gets caught when the assassin recovers and exposes her, resulting in [[LaserGuidedKarma her being stripped to her 'lucky' Hello Kitty underwear]] (something she had been privately dreading happening).
* [[spoiler: Lupin III does this to Sola-Ui]] in ''FanFic/JustAnUnorthodoxThief''.
* ''[[Fanfic/MCURewrites Avengers: Civil War]]'': [[spoiler:Sharon Carter infiltrates the Raft Prison where Clint Barton, Sam Wilson and Scott Lang are being held in order to break them out. She knocks out a female guard and takes her uniform. While in uniform, she plants a device that will disable the cameras, releases Clint, Sam, and Scott, plants several bombs to blow up the prison and leads them to the getaway helicopter.]]
[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'',
** The title character steals a passing nobleman's clothing when he realizes that in human form his old clothes don't quite fit. As he leaves, he calls back "Some day, I will repay you! Unless of course I can't find you, or I forget."
** Earlier in the movie, Shrek mugs one of the workers in the Fairy Godmother's potion factory, but the outfit is so small that it only fits over his head.
* In the 2006 animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', the Wolf and Kirk try infiltrating Boingo's tramway terminal lair to rescue Red with disguises. They get Kirk's disguise by luring Boingo's muscle man, Dolph, away, where they overpower him, and steal his ski uniform. So that he won't be recognized, Kirk also wears a ski mask. Funnily enough, Boingo must be blind or very irritated if he is unable to notice that "Dolph" [[PaperThinDisguise has magically changed his weight and grown a beard almost in a matter of seconds]].
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' when Po is trying to sneak into Shen's fireworks factory. He knocks out two wolf guards, but instead of taking their uniforms (which would clearly be too small for him), he just holds them up in front of his face, using the guards ''themselves'' as the disguise. This actually works, since no one gets a very good look at him.
* In ''Disney/RobinHood'', Little John ambushes the Sheriff of Nottingham and put on his clothes during the jailbreak scene. The Sheriff spends the rest of the climax in his underwear.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut''. T.J. and Principal Prickly knock out two guards in the school, then put on their outfits and try to trick the rest of the security detail into a trap. Trouble is, the guards are all physically fit soldier types; T.J. is a ten-year-old boy and Principal Prickly is a paunchy middle-aged man, so...
-->'''T.J.:''' ''[in a deep voice]'' Mr. Benedict wants us in the cafeteria for a very important matter.\\
'''Security Team Member:''' ...You two aren't guards!\\
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Occurs in the Our Gang short ''Film/BoxingGloves''. Mary Ann pulls Jackie from his ringside seat, steals his clothes and takes his place.
* ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'':
** Near the beginning of the film, Wallace steals the uniform off an English soldier in order to escape the village.
** Later, Wallace and his men kill English soldiers and steal their uniforms to sneak into a fort.
* Occurs in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. The witch's guards tackle the heroes and they fall behind some rocks. After some scuffling, the heroes pop up wearing the uniforms. The uniforms do indeed fit perfectly, but the Cowardly Lion has a hard time hiding his tail.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'', TK-421 and TK-422 are lured onto the ''Millennium Falcon'', where Han stuns them in order to steal their uniforms. Unfortunately, they're not the right size.
-->'''Luke Skywalker:''' I can't see a thing in this helmet.\\\
'''Princess Leia:''' Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?
:: Certain ExpandedUniverse sources claim that Stormtrooper armor has a built-in protection from mugging for disguise. If the helmet is removed without pressing a hidden button, its built-in HUD turns off and only gets in the way of vision, and ''that'''s why Luke cannot see a thing in this helmet.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' does the same when Lone Starr and Barf infiltrate Spaceball City. Made especially funny when you realize that neither of the mooks are anywhere near John Candy's size. Becomes a BrickJoke when they run into two {{mook}}s dressed in underwear.
-->'''Guard 1:''' HEY!!! THOSE ARE THE GUYS WHO STOLE OUR UNIFORMS!!\\
'''Guard 2:''' And beat the shit out of us too!
* In ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', Bart gets two KKK hoods for this purpose with the WhereDaWhiteWomenAt. Unfortunately they don't cover his hands.
* KKK costumes are also stolen as disguises in ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou''.
* More KKK costumes are stolen as disguises in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay.''
* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'':
** In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Indiana Jones drags a Nazi guard offscreen and steals his uniform, but [[SubvertedTrope it's too small]], so when another guard berates him for his slovenly appearance, he beats that guard up and steals ''his'' ([[DoubleSubversion better-fitting]]) uniform.
** In ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'', Indy knocks out a Nazi officer and steals his uniform at the book burning rally. Later, he follows a zeppelin attendant to an off-screen area to get his uniform as Nazi agents approach him and his dad. Amusingly, [[CallBack much like the example]] in ''Raiders'', the zeppelin attendant's uniform is too small for Jones. He manages to squeeze into it, but is visibly uncomfortable.
* ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]]'': "Dude, we're in ''heaven'' and we just mugged three people!" While the outfits would fit the three of them, [[RuleOfFunny they don't wear the outfits that would personally fit]].
* In the 1982 ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian|1982}}'' movie:
** Conan acquires the robes of a priest to get close to Thulsa Doom.
** Earlier in the film, Valeria is seen sneaking up on a female cultist attending a human sacrifice. The movie cuts to Conan for a bit, and when it cuts back to Valeria she's standing where the unfortunate cultist was standing, dressed in her robes.
* In ''Film/DieHard2'', a deleted scene shows two of Stuart's {{Mook}}s shooting and killing two Dulles Airport painters, then stealing their van and uniforms. The scene, which would have happened after the scene with the phony electrician killing the church custodian, if left in the final film, explains where the henchmen acquire the disguises they use when they ambush and kill the airport's SWAT team.
* The ''[[Literature/NightWatch Day Watch]]'' film features an occult variant -- Anton is attacked by an assassin of the Day Watch; once the assassin's knocked out, Anton takes his clothes -- and, using an indentation his face left in the snow, his appearance -- to infiltrate a function.
* In ''Film/GameraVsZigra'', Lora Lee hypnotizes a trio of Japanese pearl divers in order to steal a swimsuit from one of them. Later, she does the same thing to a fleeing woman so that she can use her outfit.
* In ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'', Austin and Vanessa pull this off to infiltrate Dr. Evil's lair. Of course, since this is ''Austin Powers'', there's a twist: the guy Austin mugs is about 6'10", and the woman Vanessa takes down is around 300 pounds -- yet the uniforms fit Austin and Vanessa perfectly.
* Near the climax of ''Honeymoon in Vegas'', Sarah Jessica Parker mugs a random showgirl and appropriates her dress in order to sneak past some casino guards.
* The Creator/RogerCorman B-movie ''Big Bad Mama'' features the mostly-female gang of criminals (lead by the titular "Mama") impersonating a group of singers and musicians in order to infiltrate a fancy party. The real singers are left in the parking lot, bound and gagged in their long johns. Later, at the same party, one of the thieves also does this to a server. Another scene has the women robbing a building using a stolen truck and caterer uniforms, but what they did with the real caterers isn't shown.
* Played for dark drama in the climax of ''Film/MidnightExpress''.
* Subverted in ''Film/ScaryMovie4'', when Cindy and Brenda pull two "village" women into the bushes, and after a brief scuffle the women emerge looking disgruntled but with their outfits intact ... followed by Cindy and Brenda, who were the ones actually beaten up. They later settle for spare garments from a clothesline.
* Variant occurs in ''Film/RatRace'': Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character tricks a bus driver into giving him his uniform (so he take the bus and get ahead on his treasure hunt), by saying the clothes are to [[WomensMysteries help his birthing wife]].
* In ''The Lion Roars'', while at a celebration, Cecilia Cheung pulls an unsuspecting chorus dancer behind a nearby curtain and later shows up dressed in her clothes and veil. This is less a reason to sneak into any enemy bases than it is to spy on her husband, whom she suspects of cheating.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** ''Film/DrNo''. Bond knocks out one of Dr. No's workers and steals his radiation suit so he can infiltrate the nuclear reactor room.
** ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. Bond and some imprisoned astronauts take out several SPECTRE guards and steal their uniforms.
** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. During the opening sequence several doctors leave a building and another doctor enters. We then see a man lying behind some bushes wearing underclothes. After the other doctor gets inside he pulls off his mask and cap to reveal himself as Bond. Bond took out the doctor and stole his medical clothing so he could investigate inside.
** ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. While in Drax's ElaborateUndergroundBase, Bond and Dr. Goodhead knock out two of Drax's employees and put on their yellow jumpsuits.
** In ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', the Russian assassin strangles (with his earphones' cable) a milkman to steal his uniform and get into the MI-5 safehouse. The milkman isn't the enemy; he just had the right outfit.
* In ''Film/TheBorrower'', a sex offender, wounded and captured by the Police, escapes from hospital by knocking out a female police officer, leaving her bound and gagged on his hospital bed, and walking out of the hospital wearing her uniform. Her entire uniform, including her underwear.
* Geena Davis did this to a nurse in ''Film/EarthGirlsAreEasy'', because she needed the nurse's uniform.
* In ''Film/{{Stripes}}'', Bill Murray and company pose as civilians and take the two guards at the enemy base hostage, with Murray taking a uniform from one of them.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker and his goons do it to an entire police honor guard, then do a spot-on impression of the honor guard -- thus smuggling seven loaded rifles right past every cop in the city and directly up to the Mayor's stage.
* ''Film/Super8'': Joe's father does this to escape the air force base.
* ''Film/TheNakedGun''
** In the first film, Frank pulls this off on both an umpire and opera singer Enrico Pallazzo.
** ''Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult'' has Frank and Jane mugging Music/WeirdAlYankovic and [[Series/WheelOfFortune Vanna White]], who are on their way to the Academy Awards. After being stripped of their clothing and invitations, the two celebs are left bound and gagged behind some bushes.
* A plot point in ''Film/IronMan3''. [[spoiler: Part of Killian's master plan involves capturing [[Comicbook/WarMachine Rhodey]] and having Eric Savin assume his identity by donning his armor.]]
* Done numerous times by Film/TheThreeStooges, though often with the clothes not fitting properly.
* ''Film/JudgeDredd''. While on the run from the law Dredd knocks out a Judge and steals his uniform so he can masquerade as a Judge.
* During Casey Jones' infiltration of the Foot headquarters in ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990'', Casey does this to a Foot Soldier in order to steal his uniform to blend in with the others and find Danny, who he followed there. The two eventually end up rescuing Splinter, who the Shredder has just ordered killed.
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen''. After the fight in Dorian Gray's mansion Secret Service agent Sawyer explains how he came to be DressingAsTheEnemy among the Fantom's mooks.
-->'''Sawyer:''' I followed you, and knocked out a straggler, and I took his place.
* In ''Film/NightTrainToMunich,'' they steal uniforms from some [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] to get away
* In ''Film/GetTheGringo'', the heroes escape from a Mexican prison at the end by posing as a group of surgeons. The real surgeons are left bound and gagged in the operating room, some stripped of their scrubs.
* In ''Film/CarryOnJack'', Sally (Juliet Mills) steals the uniform of Midshipman Albert Poop-Decker (Creator/BernardCribbins) and takes his place on the frigate ''Venus''.
* In ''Film/{{Parker}}'', Parker knocks out a male nurse and steals his uniform to escape from the hospital.
* In ''Film/{{Bandidas}}'', Maria and Sara do this to a group of masked French showgirls.
* In ''Film/LaGrandeVadrouille'' (''Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!'' in the USA, ''The Great Stroll'' elsewhere) the heroes (three British aviators and two Parisians on the run from Germans) set a trap on an evening Paris street. Alan [=MacIntosh=] [[AttractiveBentGender dressed as a woman]] strolls next to an open manhole, passers-by look at "her" and fall into the hole, where they are beaten and undressed. Bonus points for the speed of undressing and sorting the clothes and footwear. Minor subversion in the next scene: next morning [[JerkAss Lefort]] realizes that he took too small shoes and forces [[TheWoobie Bouvet]] to give him his.
* Fujiko mugs Lupin in ''Film/StrangePsychokineticStrategy'', switching his suit for her prison uniform, leaving him to be captured by Inspector Zenigata.
* Quicksilver mugs a Pentagon security guard for his uniform during the jailbreak sequence in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. He leaves the real guard [[DuctTapeForEverything duct-taped to a wall]] and [[BoundAndGagged gagged]].
* ''Film/{{Red}}''. When Frank Moses is caught breaking into CIA headquarters, an alert goes out for a bald man wearing a bloodsplattered white shirt. He starts a fire, then mugs one of the firemen, carrying out his unconscious body and wearing his fire helmet. The body is checked to make sure it's not Frank (the fireman has hair of course) but Fireman Frank is let through the perimeter check. The trope is PlayedForLaughs when the BadassCrew have to infiltrate a political convention at a hotel. A waiter is shown taking out the garbage to an industrial bin when he's suddenly yanked into it by persons unknown, later revealed to be one of the team.
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
** ''Film/TheTerminator'' opens with the killer cyborg robbing a bunch of punks for the clothes on their backs. When they try to fight back, he [[MuggingTheMonster destroys them in five seconds]]. The correct fit problem is averted; the punk is wearing a jacket too big for him, and Reece is shown checking the size on his shoes before putting them on, and selecting the correct size jacket, when stealing them from a clothes store.
--->'''Terminator:''' Your clothes. Give them to me. Now.
** In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' when the Terminator walks into a biker bar to steal his clothes, we see a RoboCam view of him scanning the bikers [[RuleOfFunny and the waitresses]] until he finds one whose clothes match his size.
* In ''Film/SpaceMutiny'', David Ryder and Lea both steal Enforcer uniforms from different soldiers. When this was shown on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', Tom Servo mocks the fact that the obviously shorter Enforcer's uniform ''suddenly'' fits David's big, muscular frame.
* In ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', Hannibal Lector escapes from custody wearing the uniform [[spoiler:and ''{{face|Stealer}}'']] of one of his jailers.
* ''Film/OurManFlint''. Flint kills a security guard on Galaxy Island (by crushing him with a forklift) in order to steal his uniform.
* ''Film/{{Tron}}''. An unintentional version occurs when when Flynn attacks one of Sark's guards. When Flynn grabs the guard he absorbs the guard's red coloring, thus succeeding in DressingAsTheEnemy.
* In ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', after ThoseTwoBadGuys accidentally abduct Lord Scrumptious and his chauffeur, they steal their clothes. One dresses in Scrumptious' suit and top hat and rides in the backseat of His Lordship's luxury convertible, while the other wears the chauffeur's uniform and drives the car.
* ''Film/{{Yellowbeard}}''. Mr. Moon knocks out the boatswain's mate leading a press gang, dons his uniform and takes his place.
* In ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', a US Cavalry company are murdered and their uniforms stolen to allow Ramon and his men to stage an ambush on the Mexican troops.
* In ''Film/AceVenturaPetDetective'', when Dolphins' star player [[AsHimself Dan Marino]] is filming a commercial for [[ProductPlacement Isotoners gloves]], two players are supposed to tackle him, [[spoiler: but the actors stager out of their dressing room, while the [[{{Mooks}} hired goons]] carry him off to a waiting getaway car.]]
* Implied in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' when Diana is shown sizing up Fausta Grables while trying to enter a swanky German party. The next time Diana is seen, she's sporting Fausta's lovely dress.
* In ''Film/RichieRich'', Herbert Cadbury is framed for a crime and arrested. Later, the person who framed him decides to tie up loose ends and sends an assassin into the prison to kill him. Cadbury defeats him, then puts on the assassin's clothes as he escapes, as his prisoner uniform would make him stand out.
* It is not rare for Literature/LoneWolf to kill some EvilMinions for clothes before sneaking into enemy strongholds. This can happen in Book 5 to a Vassagonian messenger, in Book 12 to a Drakkar horseman, in Book 13 to a Cener Druid or in Book 16 with an Acolyte of Vashna. It helps that most enemies {{Mooks}} are either FacelessGoons or InTheHood.
* An old joke (almost always passed off as a "true story") has an inversion, with the guy who usually ''gets'' mugged playing the trick. A bus driver is tasked with taking twenty inmates from a local insane asylum to one in another country; at one point, he stops for some reason and [[WhatAnIdiot leaves the keys in the ignition]]. The inmates escape, and the bus driver rushes into the streets, announcing that the next twenty people who get on board the bus will win a free vacation. Some passerby happily climb aboard... at which point the driver carts them to the asylum and is sure to tell the doctors there that the "patients" suffer from a mass delusion that he tricked them onto the bus. There's no physical interplay involved, but the driver does steal their identities forcefully, so it seems like a variation of the trope.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', Nobby and Colon try to pull this on a couple of guys in Al Khali and in the usual subversion, get mugged themselves and have ''their'' clothes stolen.
-->'''Nobby:''' Well, we could always lure some more people into this alley and try it again.\\
'''Colon:''' Nobby, we're alone in a foreign port, and you're dressed only in your, and I use this word with feeling, unmentionables. This is not the time to start talking about luring people into alleys. There could be talk.
** In ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'', Rincewind and Twoflower knock out two Chelonauts and wear their uniforms as an escape plan. However, things go awry when they're eventually caught out and end up falling over the edge of the world.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': Ron and Harry sneak Crabbe and Goyle a sleeping potion, stuff them in a broom closet, and steal their shoes and several hairs to complete a Polyjuice Potion disguise. The film makes this a straighter example as they also steal Crabbe and Goyle's uniforms, since Slytherin uniforms are different from Gryffindor uniforms in the movies. (The stated reason was because Crabbe and Goyle are freaking tanks. In the book, of course, Hermione planned ahead and nabbed some spare ones.)
** Harry, Ron and Hermione use the same technique to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows]]''.
* David Edding's ''Literature/TheBelgariad'':
** In the fifth book, Silk knifes some mooks for their robes. One drawback of the technique is highlighted when they then have to find a way to arrange the robes so that the tears and bloodstains aren't evident.
** Done again about halfway through the ''Malloreon'', when the group needs Karand disguises to crash a ceremony.
* ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge]]''. Jim [=diGriz=] and his [[DarkActionGirl wife Angelina]] mug two police officers for their uniforms in order to escape a dragnet, only to find that they're wearing ladies' underwear. After knocking out two more policeman Angelina suggests taking a peek at their underwear too, but Jim prefers that some illusions should remain untarnished.
* A complicated variation in ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries X-Wing: Iron Fist]]''. The Wraiths already have a disguise, but they need to get into the local enemy base, so they have two members start a BarBrawl and get a batch of Imperial pilots caught up in it. Then they show up to arrest everyone involved, knock out or stun the Imperials, disguise themselves as stormtroopers, and are able to get a ride on a speeder that's going out to fetch Imps who'd been out on the town, claiming that the guys they're lugging around lost a fight. It works, and they get in.
* Nynaeve, from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', occasionally mugs people for clothes to sneak herself and her friends into enemy strongholds. The trope is played more realistically than usual, since the clothes fit badly more often than not. Sometimes going so far that the members and their roles in the group are determined by the acquired clothes. Whoever was designated for a specific task beforehand due to their skills might get assigned a different task or even not take part at all because the disguise they'd need doesn't fit.
* In ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'', some members of Cordelia's crew ambush a Barrayaran patrol and steal their uniforms, as part of their plan to rescue her.
* In ''Literature/TelzeyAmberdon'' story "Lion Game" this is crossed over with MuggingTheMonster: two street thugs stalk Telzey (a high-powered telepath) into a dark alley. A few minutes later, Telzey emerges, wearing one of their jackets.
* ''Literature/NickVelvet'': In "The Theft of Leopold's Badge", Sandra Paris knocks out a dancer and steals her costume - leaving the dancer BoundAndGagged in a maintenance closet - to give her access to a gallery where she plans to steal a Van Gogh.
* In ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'', Blacknail's cloak that he uses to pass for a human got trashed while on the road to Daggerpoint, so he lured a guy away from a merchant caravan and robbed him for a new one.
* In the ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story "Easter Eggheads", a pair of StupidCrooks known as the Buffalo Brothers mug a guy who'd been hired to play the Easter Bunny for his costume. Unlike most of their schemes, this one actually ''works.''
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Occurs on ''Series/AdamAdamantLives'', when Georgina shadows Adam to Japan in hopes of helping him with a case. At one point in the episode, a geisha is pulled off-screen, and Georgina appears shortly after, dressed in her clothes. The woman's boss later scolds Georgina for mugging one of her employees, leading to a profuse apology while the embarrassed geisha looks on in the background.
* Two examples in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** In "Heavy is the Head," Triplett dons Glenn Talbott's stolen uniform in order to gain access to a military base.
** In "Face the Enemy," Agent 33 poses as Melinda May by stripping May of her dress and shoes, as well as a holographic mask to complete the disguise.
** [[spoiler: Happens to poor May ''again'' in the Season 4 winter finale, where it's revealed that she's been knocked out and replaced by a Life Model Decoy.]]
* ''Series/{{Alcatraz}}'': In "Garrett Stillman", Stillman hijacks an armoured car and steals the guards' uniforms, leaving them in an alleyway in their underwear.
* ''Series/{{Alias}}'':
** Sydney employs this tactic when the need for a waitress uniform arises in the penultimate episode. Unfortunately, her cover is blown rather quickly when the real waitress' unconscious body is found.
** As well as an earlier episode, where Sydney is on the run from some enemies and mugs a Goth girl for her clothes and wig.
* ''Series/AllThat'' has a RunningGag ([[AccidentalPun no pun intended]]) where a deranged young man named Stuart would mug people for their clothes (including Amanda Bynes' character Ashley) and then assume whatever profession that person had. The replaced person would always be found bound and gagged in their underwear at the end of the sketch, [[ItMakesSenseInContext causing Stuart to flee on some sort of imaginary animal]].
* An episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' has a flashback in which Spike shows up in a Nazi uniform. Though the theft is unseen, he informs Angel that he acquired it using this trope.
* Parodied in the pilot for Music/TheLonelyIsland's series, ''Awesometown'' (which didn't get off the ground). Andy is taking suggestions for a new name from the audience, and then a guy in boxers stands up and says, "Uh, yeah, how about 'Outfit Stealer'?" It's subverted when it turns out that Andy didn't steal his outfit, and the guy just showed up in his underwear.
* Subverted in ''Series/BabylonFive'' when Garibaldi goes to rescue Sheridan on Mars; he brings his own disguise, but gets injured while attacking the mooks and his bleeding later shows through the uniform, tipping off the prison guards.
* In an episode of the Portuguese telenovela ''Series/BalacoBaco'', Diva and Doris apply for waitress jobs in order to infiltrate a party, but they are turned down. They later mug a couple of women who ''were'' hired and dress in their uniforms. Their cover is blown when two other characters find the real waitresses BoundAndGagged inside some garbage bags.
* ''Series/{{Cannon}}'': In "Dead Pigeon", a pair of hitmen hijack an ambulance and steal the paramedics uniforms to allow them to infiltrate a hospital. The paramedics are later seen unconscious and tied up.
* ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' has an example mixed with MuggingTheMonster. Piper and a group of mythical Valkyries end up in the city, and need to blend in. A group of bikers threaten to accost them, and Piper notices that several of the bikers are attractive women. The scene then cuts to the Piper and the Valkyries clad in the women's clothing while the real bikers are all BoundAndGagged in an alley (with the female bikers tied up in their underwear).
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** A pivotal scene in the second season finale has Pierce faking a heart attack to fool one of the City College goons into letting his guard down. The next time we see Pierce, he has donned the goon's disguise and uses it to save the day.
** Playfully subverted in "The First Chang Dynasty". Jeff and Britta need to pose as a magician and his female assistant in order to infiltrate Changs party, with the implication that Jeff has an elaborate plan to dispose of the real entertainers and take their place. Instead, he simply calls them up on the phone and politely tells them the gig has been cancelled.
* The ''Series/DarkAngel'' episode "Freak Nation" has the heroes defeating a group of agents in a big struggle, and then escaping in their uniforms. When the cops show up on the scene, they find the replaced men and women tied to a pillar with their mouths duct-taped shut.
* In the final episode of ''Series/DoctorSynTheScarecrow'', Syn, Mipps, and John wallop the naval pressgang and steal their uniforms to sneak the conscripts and fugitives out of Dover Castle. (The general's NumberTwo sees through it, but since he's in the middle of a HeelFaceTurn he pretends not to notice.)
* Turned UpToEleven by River Song in ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Let's Kill Hitler" when she busts into a large party attended by high-ranking Nazi officials and their wives, forces them ''all'' to strip at gunpoint, and takes her pick of the clothing they discard.
* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. John tries to do this, but the uniforms are too small and they have to come up with a different plan.
* In the ''Series/FatherTed'' Christmas special, a burglar gets a priest drunk and steals his clothing as part of a con job. PlayedForLaughs when Ted points out that this was entirely unnecessary, as the thief already owned a priest outfit.
* Averted in ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero''. Ralph, stranded in Mexico, steals clothing from a clothesline to cover his costume...but leaves behind money to pay for it.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': In "Red Menace", an assassin murders a waiter and steals his uniform in order to get close enough to his target to attempt to kill him. The waiter's body is stuffed into the walk-in freezer to hide it.
* In an episode of ''Series/ISpy'', Robert Culp and Bill Cosby need disguises to sneak up on a target. Culp announces he has a brilliant idea and we cut to two little people (one White and the other African-American) in tuxedos. For a few seconds we are trying to figure out how they could possibly accomplish such a disguise and then we see that they really '''are''' two little people as they badger two Mariachi musicians (Culp and Cosby) to play for them.
* ''Series/JonathanCreek'': In "The Curse of the Bronze Lamp", the kidnappers (posing as security guards) knock out a pair of [=DJs=] who run a mobile disco, steal their clothes and van, and use it it gain access to their victim's home.
* In an episode of ''Series/KCUndercover'', K.C. goes undercover as a female mercenary. Her grandparents kidnap and tie up the real merc and steal her clothes to complete the disguise.
* In an episode in ''Series/KickinIt'' Jack knocks out a ninja and takes his clothes in order to bypass the guards.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'':
** "The Mile High Job" has a variant where the victim doesn't end up naked. Operating from the knowledge that flight attendants bring two uniforms with them when they fly, the team tricks a stewardess into thinking there's a medical emergency with her cat; while she panics, Parker switches out her suitcase with another one so that she can take the spare and infiltrate the flight.
** Eliot does this twice in "The Rashomon Job": first mugging Dr. Wes Abernathy for his clothes and invitation, and later knocking out a museum guard and stealing his uniform.
* In season 2 of ''Series/{{Luther}}'', Luther is chasing a spree killer, who steals a [[DeadlyDelivery motorcycle courier's clothes and helmet]], walks into an office building and starts killing people. By the time Luther arrives on the scene he's told the killer has escaped through the carpark. Sure enough Luther finds the gate blocking the carpark has been pried up as if someone crawled under it. But he also sees a nearby car has been broken into, and [[PunkInTheTrunk in the trunk]] finds a man in his underwear. Luther realises the killer is still on the premises, posing as a wounded employee.
* ''Series/MacGyver'':
** In "The Assassin", Piedra drags a nun into a closet and [[BadHabits steals her habit]] in order to get close his target, the archbishop.
** In "Halloween Knights", [=MacGyver=] and Murdoc knock out a HIT board member and steal his costume so [=MacGyver=] can infiltrate a HIT board meeting that is taking place during a costume party.
* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': When Eugene escapes from the hospital in "Death Do Us Part", he strangles the constable assigned to guard him and steals his uniform.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "Invasion". A hit man is sent to kill the man the IMF is targeting. When he discovers the masquerade he knocks out one of the fake soldiers with a TapOnTheHead and puts on his uniform for the purpose of DressingAsTheEnemy.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** In "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing", Eddie Murdoch bludgeons and kils a fireman named Rusty with a shovel, blinds Monk with a container of cleaning solvent, and steals a firefighter's coat and helmet, which he uses to get into a working house fire he staged a few blocks away [[FieryCoverup to remove an incriminating pair of house keys that would prove that said fire was not an accident]].
*** The episode was a TV adaptation of the novel ''Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse'', written by Lee Goldberg, where Lucas Breen also steals firefighting gear, but he kills a dog with a pickaxe when the dog comes at him.
** Another episode, "Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic": Ray Galardi, after killing Steve Marriot and staging an accident, realizes he left his cell phone on the victim's body. He can't get to his phone unnoticed because the police have locked down the scene. To get the phone back without raising suspicion, he lures a paramedic into a secluded spot away from any possible witnesses. He then strangles and kills the paramedic and steals his uniform. Monk, however, can see through Galardi's PaperThinDisguise, but [[PoliceAreUseless the highway patrol cops do not believe him]] and [[ArrestedForHeroism detain him]] until the paramedic's body is discovered under some debris.
** A third case, "Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man", has deputy mayor Dennis Gammill pose as a guard to kill the oldest man in the world without being noticed. Of course, to gain access to the man, he had to kill one of the nursing center's real guards and steal his security pass, and also his uniform.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': In "Hangman", escapee Cecil Fox surprises Constables Crabtree and Higgins to get a police uniform as a disguise. The two constables report to Station Four, one of them missing his tunic and the other missing his trousers. In his police guise, Fox goes to [[spoiler: Dr. Ogden at the morgue to get medical treatment for his tracheotomy wound]].
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': In "Sleeper", the main bad guy disposes of of a visiting scientist and steals his clothes to take his place at a demonstration where he plans to steal the secret weapon.
* In the ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' episode "Reasonable Doubt", a [[FrameUp wrongfully-accused]] woman does this to her lawyer in order to escape police custody. In a rare RealityEnsues moment, it's explained that she requested that lawyer in the first place specifically because the two women had similar heights, ages, and physical appearances.
* A [[ClassyCatBurglar female art thief]] does this to Monica Hayward in an episode of ''Series/RepublicOfDoyle''. Poor Monica is left BoundAndGagged in her underwear, which a fellow officer finds hilarious.
* In an episode of the Flemish series ''Series/{{Rox}}'', a villainess ties up and gags a pop singer named Lady Rock (a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Music/LadyGaga) and steals her stage outfit and wig.
* The trope occurs offscreen and is then lampshaded by Sarah in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' when Cameron shows up in a police uniform.
-->'''Sarah Connor:''' And somewhere a cop lies bleeding in an alley.
* ''Series/TheSecretAdventuresOfJulesVerne'' features a time-travelling ep. where [[ActionGirl Rebecca]], fearing she may look out of place in a 17th-century crowd, ducks into an alleyway. Not long after, an appropriately-dressed woman happens by said alleyway and is forcefully pulled off-screen. Rebecca is soon seen stepping out into the open, dressed in her "borrowed" clothes.
* ''Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017'': When going to the bank to pose as the "consultant" to the Baudelaire will, Count Olaf is exasperated that his acting troupe didn't bring the costumes along, so he has to improvise a disguise by stealing a coat off a mannequin, another man's ascot, a blind man's sunglasses and hat, and lastly a pen from yet another man to etch a false mole on his cheek.
* ''Series/SheSpies'' features a couple of these in the episode "Crossed Out". The first occurs when Shane mugs a prison guard and steals her uniform to escape. Later, during the climax of the episode, Quentin and Cassie are shown eyeing a pair of maintenance workers, and are soon shown dressed in their uniforms. Strangely, Cassie's uniform fits her perfectly, despite the fact that she stole it from a grown man.
** In "The Replacement", D.D., Shane, and a [[GuestStarPartyMember temporary new agent named Nicki]] pose as models at a fashion show. They mention having mugged three real models to steal their flashy, ridiculous outfits, and D.D. laments that they didn't chloroform some models in cute summer ensembles instead.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** In an episode, O'Neill sneaks into the bad guy's lair to ensure someone didn't betray them, and winds up killing a guard. He then has to put on the guard's uniform to sneak back out. The fact that it is a large suit of armor (with a face-concealing helmet) makes it easier.
** A bounty hunter does this to enter a high school reunion. It's a more justified example, in that he specifically waits for a man about his size to do it. A non-human alien in the area however, merely kills a guest and then uses a device allowing him to take on the appearance of the man.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' plays this one straight all the time. Kirk and Spock have stolen clothes from Nazi officers, Romulan centurions, and many other mooks. They once avert the trope by stealing civvies off a clothesline -- and subvert it at the same time, when a cop catches them stealing the clothes and they're forced to explain themselves.
* ''Series/SunsetBeach'' has an episode where Annie disguised herself as an airline stewardess so she could sneak aboard a flight. When she is asked what happened to the regular stewardess, Annie replies with a knowing smile that she "got a little tied up". We then cut to a woman, minus her uniform, bound and gagged inside a dark closet.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' - In one episode, Sam and Dean do this to impersonate a pair of SWAT officers and get away from the scene of a crime the police think they committed.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':
** In an episode of ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenziman'', a Vader Clan monster captures a female DJ and steals her clothes in order to impersonate her. The real DJ is found bound and gagged in a closet near the end of the episode.
** A similar thing happens in a ''Series/TaiyouSentaiSunVulcan'' episode where a Black Magma {{Gynoid}} ties up and gags a store clerk in order to take her place and kidnap Misa.
* The ''Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay'' episode "The Gathering" has villain Oswald Danes sneaking into Gwen's house by disguising himself as a delivery man. The real delivery man is shown tied up and gagged in the back of his van, mumbling under the tape on his mouth before Danes slams the door on him.
* A variation occurs in an episode of ''Series/{{VIP}}'' A male and female assassin duo waylay the Johnsons, a married couple on their way to a trendy spa, and assume their identities. They don't steal their clothing, just their wallets and spa passes. They then leave the Johnsons taped up and gagged in a car trunk.
* ''Series/TheWrongMans'' has a downplayed version of this. An agent knocks out a cleaner and mugs them for disguise... in the form of their hat, leaving the rest. They were mostly disguised anyway, having prepared beforehand.
* {{Music/Marianas Trench}}'s video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxtfsX722Yk Stutter]] begins with Josh dragging a sailor off and stealing his uniform.
[[folder:Print Media]]
* ''Magazine/{{MAD}} Super Special Fall 1980''. In ''The Moronic Woman'' (a ''Series/TheBionicWoman'' parody), Jammy Summons (Jaime Sommers) and Oscular (Oscar Goldman) have infiltrated the enemy palace. In order to get a guard's uniform for Oscar to wear, Jammy walks around knocking out guards until they find one who is Oscular's size. Oscular puts on the uniform and they go to the office of the dictator.
[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* In an episode of ''Wrestling/WWERaw'', the Bella Twins stole Paige's outfit just before a match. Paige compensated by grabbing a random Rosebud and dragging her into a dressing room. Cue Paige making her ring entrance in the unfortunate fan's purple fairy costume.
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''Dragon Warriors'' RPG. In an example of play an escaping thief knocks out a member of a party of fishermen. She takes his tunic and disguises herself as one of them so she can join them in strolling through the main city gate to safety.
[[folder:Video Games]]
* One of the missions in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' has Tommy and Lance do this to a pair of police officers for their outfits.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' requires you to do this in the second [[PuttingOnTheReich Desian Ranch]] you have to infiltrate. You have to wander around for RandomEncounters after this plot point comes up, and then only the ladies of the group get uniforms because the male ones will always be "Too damaged".
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''
** In one portion of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Locke has to steal soldiers' and merchants' uniforms in order to get around a town once TheEmpire takes over. Rather than knock them out, though, he just uses the "Steal" command to [[ImpossibleThief snatch the clothes right off their bodies]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has a small portion of the game where Selphie and the team she is given are required to dress up as enemy soldiers in order to sneak into a missile base. Somewhat subverted in that they first steal a car, which had the uniforms in the back, rendering the need to knock out guards moot... They do it at the base anyway.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' Zidane and Blank do this to infiltrate Alexandria Castle at the beginning of the game. Put a stage fight as part of the play, run away from the crowd and into the castle, lure two Pluto Knights that were nearby, knock them out and steal their outfit. When Zidane refuses to wear the helmet because it stinks, Blanks lists all that's wrong with his own armor. Its owner was apparently bigger than the actor ...
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'': An early installment has the player take out a Nazi officer in order to infiltrate a u-boat.
* Played straight in the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' games. Oftentimes, Agent 47 will need to mug several people for their uniforms in order to get to his target. Becomes one of the biggest complaints/sources of jokes about the game. When the Chinese limo driver steps into an alley to take a leak and comes back white, bald, and half a foot taller... [[FailedASpotCheck no-one bats an eye.]]
* The ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series has Ezio Auditore stealing armor from guards on occasion, usually so he can carry a box of valuables around without being attacked.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'':
** Poor, poor [[{{Buttmonkey}} Johnny Sasaki]]. He doesn't even get GoofyPrintUnderwear.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'': Raikov exists only so that the player can beat up someone who looks just like [[ReplacementScrappy Raiden]] and strip him naked for his uniform.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. Once imprisoned, you can kill the Jailor and don the full guard attire, to be able to leave both the prison and town without guard confrontation. But with few exceptions, the [=NPCs=] in ''Oblivion'' don't react differently to you no matter what clothes you're wearing. The Guards wouldn't react any differently to you if you were wearing Guard armor or going around stark naked.
** Also played straight, subverted or averted in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', depending on your race. You can steal a Thalmor uniform during the quest to infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy; however, this only works properly if you are Altmer. If you are another type of elf or a human, it will only work from a distance, at close up the Thalmor will detect the ruse. If you are Orc, Khajiit or Argonian, this will fail from the start and look really ridiculous.
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' takes this to a gruesome extreme: the ones "mugged" for Alex's disguise don't survive the consumption of their DNA.
* ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}'':
** The Spy can [[DressingAsTheEnemy evade German patrols by dressing as a German soldier]], and one of his options for procuring a uniform is to KO a soldier with ether and steal his uniform, leaving him BoundAndGagged; he can't mug the dead for [[BringMyRedJacket obvious reasons]]. On the other hand, the disguise only works on enemies who are of lower or equal rank to the uniform's original wielder, ie. a random private's uniform will hide you from other privates but not from a lieutenant.
** In ''Commandos 2'' and ''3'', anyone can mug enemy soldiers for uniforms. However, it only works for a limited time except for the Spy who can stay disguised indefinitely. Oh, and only the Spy can use officer uniforms but if he happens to wear one, he can ''order lower-ranked enemies around''.
* Not quite a video game, but in the intro of the Cartoon Network game ''Rave Slaves,'' [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack Jack]] pulls a passing raver into the bushes and steals his disguise to infiltrate the club where Aku's DJ is hypnotizing the teenagers with evil music.
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. You can steal uniforms from certain organizations, and most {{Mooks}} will take the disguise at face value. Smarter characters, leaders, and guards are more likely to see through it.
* Many, many times in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', players acquire an outfit to disguise themselves in unfriendly areas by '[[NeverSayDie beating up]]' enemies. In an aversion of the 'perfect fit' part of the trope, almost no enemies drop all useable parts of the outfit they're wearing -- you have to keep mugging them to collect a fully wearable ensemble.
* At one point in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the Inquisitor and Josephine meet with Comte Boisvert, who actually turns out to be an assassin in Boisvert's clothing. After the encounter, you can go by an antique cabinet, where Josephine hears the real Comte Boisvert BoundAndGagged inside, BangingForHelp. The situation is PlayedForLaughs, as Boisvert muffles his disapproval when Josephine suggests sawing the cabinet open to rescue him.
* In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', the fact that a dying messenger's uniform was taken may not seem very important when it's mentioned, but in fact, it means that the other messenger you find in the forest is actually your quarry in disguise.
* Done in ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'', point for point, to replace the judges during the Canada Games. [[spoiler: Subverted when the boss sees through the disguise.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' mission "Executive Order", Weaver gets compromised and the base is on high alert, so Mason and Woods kill two guards and take their uniforms to get into the base.
* In ''VideoGame/TheEscapists'', you can KO a guard and steal his uniform. Once he wakes up, he'll go back to the barracks and put on a new one. Then, when you're wearing the stolen uniform, [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy you can pass by and even chat with all guards, and no one will bat an eye]] aside from a small and gradual increase in the heat meter. ''[[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy Including the guard you stole the uniform from]]''.
[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' this is how non-fallen angel [[{{Jerkass}} Cassiel]] gets into a party. Though she has to actually do the job of the person she beat up because her disguise ''worked''.
* In ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', Ian sucker-punches a priest and steals his robes so that he can get into a restricted library. He later [[http://www.errantstory.com/2006-02-01/469 mugs another man for his travel ticket]]. He even {{lampshades}} this:
-->'''Ian:''' ... and I'm mugging another old man... I really need to stop making a habit of this. At least it's not a priest this time.
* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'': [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/041003c Bass needs a disguise.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', the [=AIs/robots=] use a variant. Since they identify each other by using transponders rather than visually, swapping out the transponder from one robot to another one has the same effect for other robots as changing physical appearance does for humans. Edge and Blunt do this so often that other robots start doing it. Florence even gets in on the act, even though she doesn't have a transponder at all; she's an uplifted wolf rather than a robot.
* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Intragalactic}}'' chapter 9, where the two security officers were in the middle of a [[StripPoker strip game of]] [[SomethingThatBeginsWithBoring I Spy]] when the alarm was sounded, resulting in the heroes [[http://intragalacticcomic.com/2010/02/05/135-closet-fight/ trading]] (NSFW) their {{Spy Catsuit}}s for... the female guard's "security" headband. They also take the time to [[http://intragalacticcomic.com/2010/02/10/137-awww/ dress the guards as themselves]] (safe). And it ''[[http://intragalacticcomic.com/2010/02/08/136-arent-you-a-little-nude-for-a-stormtrooper/ works]]'' (NSFW too).
* Played with in ''Webcomic/PvP''. Brent, wearing a suit, sneaks up on a janitor, intending to take his work clothes. An offscreen fight later... the janitor walks back out as if nothing happened, wearing Brent's clothes.
* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': Doctor [=McNinja=] knocks out a regular doctor at the hospital and steals his coat and nametag in order to get in, even though he still wears his regular outfit, including his prominent mask. The receptionist is obviously not fooled but can't convince him to stop the charade. Apparently he's done this several times before.
* In ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'', Quentyn mugs a Royal in order to lure one gang to battle another.
* ''Webcomic/{{Chimneyspeak}}'', when Chelsea Grinn escapes Australia, she lures a sailor to his doom with the promise of sex, so she can kill him without getting blood on his uniform.
* ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'' had this occur in one story when the group was trying to find and stop a slaver gang.
-->'''Artax:''' We're the replacement guards.\\
'''Guard:''' Replacements for who?\\
'''Artax:''' [[LampshadeHanging For the guards who were dumb enough to let some heroes steal their uniforms.]]\\
'''Guard:''' Where are they now?\\
'''Artax:''' [[BoundAndGagged Tied up in some bushes.]]\\
'''Guard:''' [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy Okay, you can go in.]]
* Lampooned and played against MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
** Played for laughs when StatuesqueStunner Princess Zeetha strips one of Zola's relatively tall and skinny minions in Castle Heterodyne of his striped jersey and BadassLongcoat. The coat appears to fit her fine, she wears the jersey as a minidress.
** Played against MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial in Paris when the even more voluptuous Agatha Heterodyne clobbers an entire platoon of mooks and still can't find a pair of pants that will accommodate her HartmanHips, even with the ace pillaging advice of her Jaegermonster Dimo. She's also forced to wear on of her victims tunics as a minidress.
* In Chapter 7 of ''Webcomic/SemiAutoSemla'', both the heroine and a thief want to infiltrate a night club owned by the local cartel called the Mi Mi Mao Club, the former to rescue someone, the latter to steal the club's money. Both achieve it by knocking out a dancer, stealing her outfit and stashing her BoundAndGagged in her undies inside the trunk of a car. Ironically, the same car. The WhatHappenedToTheMouse trope is later averted as, when things start to go downhill in Chapter 8, the thief's accomplice actually come back to let the girls go out of the trunk.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Darken}}'', when the party needs to get into the Citadel of Light, Gort, Komiyan and Casper mug a trio of guards for their uniforms.[[note]]actually interrupting a conversation among that guards about how [[LampshadeHanging no one would be dumb enough to try to sneak into the Citadel]].[[/note]] This pays off later, as it allows Gort to later evade arrest by passing as the guard captain, who looks much like him.
-->'''Casper:''' Bloody short guards! Couldn't we have picked on someone our own size?\\
'''Gort:''' ''[wearing baggy armor]'' I shall allow you to swap with me, Casper.
[[folder: Web Original]]
* The very first entry in the EvilOverlordList is to give the guard-issue helmets transparent visors to avoid this trope.
** Our own [[EvilOverlordListCellblockA Cellblock A]] goes on to issue prefessionally tailored uniforms to all guards, so that a uniform thief will be easily identifiable by the poor fit.
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has the Bronze Kneecap mug the director of the Crimson Chin movie and take his place to ruin the film and discredit his arch-enemy.
* Shego of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' once yanks a male waiter off-screen and comes back with the uniform somehow fitting perfectly. The disguise works even though the lower half of her usual outfit and her [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation unusual skin tone]] are [[PaperThinDisguise still plainly visible]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** In an episode, Peter does this, and is then told they don't need disguises. So he does it ''again'' to a random passerby who was wearing the same clothing he normally wears.
** Another when Brian, Stewie and Mort beat up the Nazi guards and steal their uniforms. The uniforms happened to fit Brian and Stewie perfectly.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'': Particularly obvious example in "Droopy's Good Deed": Spike wants to become a boy scout to meet the President. He snatches a boy scout in front of everyone, drags him into a bush, and appears a moment later wearing his uniform. And nobody notices a thing. Come on, I expect Droopy to be that placid... but nobody else noticed that he got dragged off and is suddenly twice as big (and smokes a cigar, which he promptly swallows)? at least Spike somewhat resembles the poor little fella, who's [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never seen again]].
* WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack:
** Jack does it twice in the episode "Jack is Naked" after his clothes are stolen, first stealing a burglar's clothes, then a train engineer's.
** He also does it in "Jack and the Winged Children", killing one of Aku's demon soldiers and taking its clothes. (After rescuing the fairy princess, her reaction was a ShoutOut to Leia's reaction to Luke in ''Film/ANewHope''; in fact, that whole episode was loaded with ''Franchise/StarWars'' references.)
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Helga needs a way into Arnold's house without being noticed. A [[ScoutOut Camp Fire Lass]] comes to the door. Helga lures her into the alley, stock sound effects occur as said Camp Fire Lass gasps, "Unhand me!" and the doorbell rings to reveal Helga on the threshold with the girl's uniform and cookies. Then in the end of the episode, after Helga leaves the house, she gets chased through town by the Camp Fire Lass in her underwear and the army of Girl Scouts.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
** Stan refers to this tactic as "playing Identity Theft".
** In the episode "The Long Bomb," Stan realizes that terrorists have infiltrated the football game after noticing that Lee Tran, the woman who plays the Bazooka Sharks' mascot, has been replaced. As a BrickJoke, the real Lee Tran hops out onto the field at the end of the episode, BoundAndGagged.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "Bart Gets an Elephant," a pair of DJ's call the police station as part of a radio contest. Chief Wiggum and the other cops are all bound and gagged in their underwear, with Snake and some other criminals having stolen their uniforms.
** Subverted in the episode "Viva Ned Flanders." Homer and Ned try to beat up and strip some guards to hide out from the angry Vegas mob that's been chasing them, but the guards beat Homer and Ned up and leave them in their normal clothes.
* A handful of these occur on ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero''.
** One episode has Lady Jaye sneaking into a Cobra sub-base and mugging a random worker for her outfit. Cobra Commander, though, isn't fooled for an instant.
** Lady Jaye and Flint do this to a pair of pilots in another episode, leaving them tied up with their mouths taped. Curiously, the uniform fits Jaye perfectly despite being meant for a large male.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}''
** In one episode, Jack Knife is caught after mugging an old lady for her dress so he could get free drinks from a bar.
** In "Don't Be a Negaton," Jack Knife poses as a bride-to-be so he can swipe her wedding ring. The real bride is found tied up and gagged in her undies while he tries to escape.
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'':
** Occurs in the episode "Downtime". After trouncing two of Black Manta's henchmen, Kaldur'ahm and Garth don their uniforms in order to get close enough to Manta to take him down. This almost works, but Manta notices the Atlantean weaponry on Kaldur'ahm's belt, and immediately opens fire on the two boys.
** Cheshire seemingly does this TWICE in the episode "Targets", first to a gift shop employee and then to a female server at an Asian tea ceremony. Both take place offscreen... [[RealityEnsues and Aqualad sees through the latter disguise immediately.]]
** The heroes do this in the penultimate episode of the series, mugging and replacing a number of members of the League of Assassins. What they did with the men and women they stole the uniforms from isn't stated.
* Used by the Chameleon in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''. The audience is initially lead to believe the villain has been defeated, but then Spidey finds a cop bound and gagged in his underwear in the back of a police van. Turns out that one of the "officers" that had walked off in the background was actually Chameleon in disguise.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE9BeAClown "Be a Clown"]], the Joker infiltrates the gathering by intercepting the actual clown hired for it, stealing his van and costume, and leaving him tied up by the road. The cops find the guy later.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
** False Face does this in the episode "Plague", where he steals the uniform of an airline employee. The real worker is later found bound and gagged in his undies.
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' has one of the Dee Dee twins briefly posing as Jordan Pryce's girlfriend Amy as part of an attempted assassination. The real Amy is left bound and gagged at the docks. Note in this case the twins didn't steal her clothes, they simply took her out and pretended to be her.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
** The title character does this to a yacht crew member in the episode "Skorpio".
** A female terrorist and her henchmen do this to a group of hotel employees in the episode "Swiss Miss".
* A major example takes place near the end of the second season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai ambush Suki and the Kyoshi warriors, and the next time Azula and her friends are shown, they are clad in the stolen Kyoshi outfits. The fates of Suki and her teammates wouldn't be revealed until the third season, where we find out they were taken captive and placed in a Fire Nation prison after being mugged.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' three-part episode "World's Finest", a crossover with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Harley Quinn knocks out Mercy Graves and takes her place driving Lex Luthor's limo. She doesn't steal the whole outfit though, just the woman's hat.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RoboCopAlphaCommando'' episode "H-2-Uh-Oh" features a villainess who can turn herself into water. While infiltrating a military base, her powers wear off, and she reverts to her (completely unclothed) human form. She spots a guard exiting the ladies' room and tackles her back inside. Punching sounds are heard, and the villainess walks out of the restroom in her newly appropriated clothes.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheHerculoids'' episode "The Crystalites". Several Crystalite guards are knocked out and their uniforms stolen so Gloop, Gleep and Zandor can infiltrate the enemy compound to rescue Tarra and Dorno.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** Robin does a variation of this in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo Trouble in Tokyo]]''. After being falsely accused of a crime, he's being hunted by the police, and he needs a disguise. He ducks into an alleyway... and comes across [[MuggingTheMonster a guy with a gun who demands that Robin hand over his money]]. Cue LaserGuidedKarma.
** Starfire and Raven also do it in "Revved Up" in order to [[ItMakesSenseInContext hitch a ride on a bus full of supervillains]] by [[BattleDiscretionShot dragging two villains into some bushes and beating the crap out of them]], then stepping out in their outfits. When the two of them are discovered while en route, this trope [[CurbStompBattle turns into Mugged For Vehicle instead]].
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' has the main character running away to join the Flying Flinger Lingons. When Mung and Shnitzel goes to bring him back they spot a pair of what appears to be Flinger Lingon performers sitting in the hill. The two attempt to knock them out with a mallet but the rubber suit bounces back and hits our heroes instead. ''Then'' Truffles reveals that the suits were empty and they could have just taken it instead.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', Hal and Kilowog mug a couple of Red Lantern guards (armored mooks, not to be confused with actual Red Lanterns) for their disguises. This works for normal-sized Hal, but BigGuy Kilowog is out of luck and ends up getting caught while struggling to put the uniform on.
* One ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' episode had Humphrey the bear kidnap [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Merriweather]] so he could steal her outfit and so he could take Princess Aurora's birthday cake.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndSteveTheHappiestGayCoupleInAllTheWorld'' has Chuck (Creator/AlanCumming) posing as Music/CarrieUnderwood so he can sing the national anthem at a baseball game. The real Carrie Underwood is shown tied up and ball-gagged in a locker room.
* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' [[KidHero Finn]] and [[NonHumanSidekick Jake]] attack two actors to infiltrate the Fire King's palace, then get a [[PlayedForLaughs ridiculously]] AsYouKnow explanation of who they're disguised as from another member of the troupe.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': After accidentally time-traveling into [[TheWildWest 19th century Oklahoma]], Batman and Wonder Woman change out of their rather conspicuous costumes into clothes taken from a gang that [[MuggingTheMonster tried to bushwhack them]]. Green Lantern got a whiff of the third outfit and decided to whip up a ring construct instead.
* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'', the protagonists mug three robed druids for their clothes. The robes end up fitting perfectly, which is odd because the druids were normal-sized adult men, while the protagonists were a child, a 9 foot tall man-mountain, and a chicken.
* This trope is used and lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}''. While posing as plumbers, Duckman and Cornfed rob two party guests for their eveningwear so they can better fit in at a party. They then tie them up and Duckman points out that if you wear [[GoofyPrintUnderwear cartoony boxer shorts]] you're basically begging to have your clothes stolen.
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': In "The Cute Shall Inherit the Earth", DM and Penfold snatch a pair of cultists and steal their robes to infiltrate the secret cult of kittens.
[[folder:Real Life]]
* A group of inmates called the "Texas 7" escaped from a Karnes County prison by doing this. They ambushed a group of guards and civilian maintenance workers, tied and gagged them, stole their clothing, and then left them locked away in an electrical room.
* In Germany, an escaped murderer in the early 2000s killed a man who looked similar to him and was living by himself to get his ID and get through police controls.
* Combined with WorkingTheSameCase: In 2013, it was suspected that 211 gang member Evan Ebel's assassination of Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, may have had shades of this. The police theory is that on March 17, Ebel shot and killed a pizza delivery man named Nathan Leon, then stole some of Leon's items, like his uniform and a pizza carrier. He used the two items as props two days later, and [[DeadlyDelivery posed as a pizza delivery guy]] to get into Clements' house, then shot him. The suspected connection came two days after the Clements killing when Ebel was killed in a police shootout in Texas. A gun found in the wreckage of his car, a black Cadillac matching the description given by eyewitnesses of the car driving away from Clements' house after the killing, was matched by ballistics to the bullets used against Clements, while a pizza delivery shirt and an insulated delivery carrier from Leon were also found.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar International laws on the rules of engagement,]] states that donning the uniform of an opposing military force in order to infiltrate enemy lines, constitutes a war crime.


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Written on: 17/06/2013
DIYdress.co.uk are just after your money.
I ordered a custom made dress for £120.99, paying extra for the correct measurements and what I received was awful. The dress is a different design, different colour and poor fit. I have exchanged over 16 emails with this company and they are offering me £5 compensation and £15 voucher for my next order (there most certainly won't be one of those!!). In one email they admitted it was a different design and now they say its the same. They asked me to appreciate their hard work and to send pictures of my daughter wearing the dress too!!
They will not provide a return address, if they did I could claim my money back from my card provider but despite asking over and over again they refuse. No doubt they will reply to this post with a very sorry and ask for my order number but after all the emails we have exchanged I realise that their comments in reply to this post will be just empty words. DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE, IF THEY WERE GENUINE THEY WOULD POST A RETURN ADDRESS.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cock-faced, weasel-y Muppet Joe Lieberman says that he will break with his party to join a possible Republican filibuster on health care reform when it comes up for a vote in the Senate. When asked why he would do such a thing Lieberman said, "I think my colleagues know for a long time that I've been opposed to a government-created, government-run insurance company." Yeah, and I'm sure his stance has nothing to do with the fact that he's received $3.3 million, yes $3.3 MILLION, in campaign contributions from the insurance/health care industry. So now, in addition to making most people want to punch themselves repeatedly in the genitals at the mere sound of his annoying voice (Remember his HORRIBLE speech at the Republican convention?), Joe Lieberman is going the extra mile to fuck over America in order to suck off the people who help him get elected. Die Joe Lieberman, DIE! |Huff Po|
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Girls soccer
WATERFORD 5, SOUTH SUMMIT 0: Madeline Morrill scored a hat trick and Lauren Groathouse earned the shutout to help the Ravens advance in the 2A playoffs.
DELTA 6, GRAND 0: Delta jumped all over Grand in the 2A quarterfinals, easily advancing to next week's semis.
MILLARD 3, ROWLAND HALL 2: Denise Crabb kicked two goals, including the winning goal in overtime, to secure the win over Rowland Hall in the 2A quarterfinals.
SUMMIT ACADEMY 2, MANTI 0: Olivia Mooney and Courtney Shoell each scored for the Bears in the 2A quarterfinals.
3A PLAYOFFSComment on this story
DIXIE 3, UINTAH 0: Alexa Bernade, Elizabeth Durrant, and Starlee Woodbury each scored in the win over Uintah. Elizabeth Empey earned the shutout between the posts.
PARK CITY 1, BEAR RIVER 0: MaKenzie Bothner scored the lone goal to lift the Miners to the semifinals.
CEDAR 1, PAYSON 0: Kassie Tripp's first-half goal was all Cedar needed to punch its ticket to a second straight 3A semifinal appearance.
JUAN DIEGO 2, SNOW CANYON 0: Sophomore Emily Pascua put the Soaring Eagle ahead in the first half on a penalty kick and freshman Sierra DeHart knocked off the defending champs with her first goal of the season midway through the second half.


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Dear Typophiles, users of FontLab products,
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