Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-24.93.195.246-20141027020600/@comment-4010415-20151226211301

1. Neo looked that way in Round One because Team RWBY know her and know that she's a bad guy. Cinder's group needed a fourth person for the teams round, so it wouldn't look weird, and the only person they had available was Neo. She couldn't have walked into the colosseum looking like her usual self because that would have instantly created a problem. So, she disguised herself.

2. Cinder having tons of new outfits is pretty much a similar situation - disguises. Ruby and Glynda saw her wearing her red dress in the very first episode, so they know that a woman whose combat outfit is a red dress with Dust sewn into it is who they're looking for. She cannot wear that dress around them (though, she stupidly did in Breach, but everyone was too focused on the Grimm to notice her).

She has worn a Haven uniform to fit with her claiming to be from Haven.

Her stealth suit was a disguise, so she could sneak around and be less liable to be recognized. I mean, if Ruby had seen her wearing her red dress, she would have instantly gone "It's the woman who's working with Torchwick! Professor Ozpin, come here!!" Instead, Ruby saw a strange woman wearing a black stealth suit and went "That's weird. I wonder where she's going."

Her black dress at the dance was pretty much because, of course, everyone was dressed up for the dance. That, and her stealth suit was apparently designed to where she could easily transform it into a dress so she could disappear into the crowd, without leaving behind much evidence.

Her outfit in the tournament... Yet again: Disguise. She needed a combat outfit that looks nothing like the outfits that Ruby, and other people, have seen her doing criminal things in.