Sometimes it's even meta in that the show itself doesn't have budget for good costumes. Or, it is Halloween, and some characters dress up extravagantly but one cannot afford anything more than a potato sack. Or, an imitator may want to look like the hero and fail, since he doesn't have the budget to make up a nice costume (This might lead to an I Am Spartacus scene).
Maybe the hero has to go into action, but doesn't have access to his official costume so he contrives a shoddy emergency costume. A costume that looks shoddy and inexpensive, for a variety of reasons.
