“You are still on the hanger” What does it mean?

Question

There seems to be a lot of non-idiomatic phrases used in the movie The Humbling. The characters presents these phrases in a way that makes people think they are idiomatic. Here is another one I found troubling:

Woman (trying on a new outfit): It's nice?

Man: You look a little bit like you're still on the hanger.

Dictionary searches doesn't show anything useful. I am trying to link the fact that the context is about clothing to hanger, but the line still doesn't make much sense.

Answer 1

You are correct that it is important that the context is about clothing. When an outfit is hanging on an hanger, it looks flat, unoccupied, and lifeless.

It's hard to tell without seeing the visuals exactly what the man is trying to say, but he is essentially saying that the outfit looks no better on the woman than it did when it was hanging on the hanger. Definitely lifeless, and perhaps unflatteringly flat as well.