At the end, Sophie ditches the ugly hat, gets some new clothes, and Letting Her Hair Down, which becomes silver. Howl, however, can see her as her true self and comments that she's beautiful, which she denies, at which point her temporary change back to a young girl ends. It doesn't help that other girls agree, and she's wearing clothes a good 50 years out of date. In Howl's Moving Castle Sophie believes herself to be ugly.Progressively Prettier is applying a similar change to a character without much in-universe reaction (it's for the audience's benefit), because it's done either gradually or between adaptations.

Contrast Irony as She Is Cast, where this is always the potential, but it is never tapped. See also Suetiful All Along, Clark Kent Outfit, and Fanservice Pack. Compare with I Just Want to Be Special and I Just Want to Be Loved when beauty isn't the only thing they desire and get before being revealed as beautiful all along.

See also I Just Want to Be Beautiful as the reason this trope exists. The trope, She Cleans Up Nicely, often differs in that while the girl in question might like rough casual clothes or work gear most of the time, she knows damn well she can look stunningly good when she wants to be. Contrast Just the Way You Are, where a character is beautiful to begin with, and Unnecessary Makeover, where a character's new appearance is disliked. See She Is All Grown Up for the related prettification of a childhood friend. Opposed by Nerds Are Sexy, and is directly contrasted by Ugly All Along.

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