#toledo mud hens

Season 8, in which Klinger rises to the company clerk position, also sees him change his wardrobe, getting rid of the drag act. There are several references to the fact that he used to wear dresses, as when he complains to Sherm about being dressed as a colonel (in order to sit for a portrait) and Sherm retorts that he once dressed like a colonel’s wife. Klinger also remarks to Margaret, who wants her foot locker replaced, that he has a hope chest he isn’t using anymore. (Both in “Dear Uncle Abdul,” s08e12.)

In “Private Finance,” when he runs into the Swamp dressed to the nines, Charles says, “Oh, Klinger, I had hoped we’d seen the last of the buttons and bows.” Max explains that this is just a disguise to help him duck the angry mother of Oksun Li the laundry girl.

Instead of an eye-catching frock or two per episode, Klinger now starts to wear fatigues regularly, often with the Toledo Mudhens cap for flair. Once in awhile he’s seen in a Mudhens jersey also. I must admit I miss the dresses, and more than that, Klinger’s obsessive talk about garments, fabrics, and sewing. However, for the remainder of the series there are plenty of opportunities for him to express himself through clothes, be they zany or just cool-looking.