The Doctor is renowned for finding his way into trouble in every corner of time and space, and he can't help but want to set things right. As a result, he says, "Trust me" quite a lot. But how do the people always know that this strange man is someone that they can trust? One thing that helps in this regard is his outfits; they are almost always designed to appear as non-threatening as possible. Sometimes he takes it to too much of an extreme and appears buffoonish, but even the most buffoonish of outfits were still effective. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the often quirky qualities of the Doctor's outfits helped to get people not just to trust him but also to get them to smile. His appearance was never what they expected, and its lighthearted aspects could help people forget their problems if only for a few minutes. The Doctor's outfits also served as an advantage against his enemies in that it disarmed them and made them think he wasn't a threat. The very qualities that inspired people to trust him had the extra effect of convincing his foes to dismiss him as a fool. This, of course, worked in the Doctor's favor because after disarming his enemies with his outfits, he had the element of surprise on his side. The Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh Doctors all had outfits that remarkably demonstrated the idea of non-threatening clothes. Their ensembles were odd and offbeat, a mixture of the ordinary and the quirky and not something you would see someone wear everyday. They were a far cry from the clothes people might think a hero would wear, making them effective feints to confuse the enemies they faced.
Paula Luther hails from Pennsylvania and has been an avid Whovian since 2008. She enjoys writing (obviously), reading, dancing, video editing, and building websites. She has also self-published two books on Amazon, "Bart the Bard" and "Android Mae and Other Stories".
