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Sexily Modest - TV Tropes
In this office, we try not to show too much skin...
(about Monica in a turtleneck sweater)
Erlich:
Don't think we're fooled by the whole "dressing down" act. It's a classic chick breakup move, and you aren't very good at it, either. You look great.
Jared:
Yeah. Beige is a good color for you. You are a true autumn.
It's no secret that one's gaze will fall on those parts of a person of the opposite sex (or whatever gender one is attracted to) that are exposed. That's why we have tropes such as I Have Boobs, You Must Obey! due to considerations involving a personal sense of modesty, a culture's notions of good morals, and a wish to avoid distractions, societies have endeavored to determine standards of what amount of skin is acceptable to expose. A simple example of this is the appropriate length for the hemlines of skirts at a given time and in a given place. Thus, in a specific context, an outfit may be considered as acceptably decent and appropriately modest.
In many cases, however, showing a certain amount of skin will be deemed socially acceptable or tolerated in said context, and flaunting just this permissible amount may end up almost defeating the purpose of modesty conventions. In fact, this tolerated margin of display may even be deliberately meant to make the outfit look somewhat sexy within acceptable limits. Exposure of skin is also not necessary to begin with, as a well-tailored outfit that is flattering and stylish can have its own appeal. It could also be a reflection that someone exceptionally attractive will remain exceptionally attractive whether they are baring almost everything with glamorous hair and make-up or rolling out of bed in loose fitting slacks and t-shirt.
Furthermore, fetish is something that works in wondrous ways. Being covered up can also be suggestive of what is underneath. In period pieces this is reflective of Deliberate Values Dissonance via tropes like the Old-Timey Ankle Taboo. May also overlap with Form-Fitting Wardrobe, Proper Tights with a Skirt and Sexy Sweater Girl. Compare Theiss Titillation Theory, where an outfit is rendered sexy by slipping off in areas which should be covered.
Please list only examples which are informed by the author or which occur in-universe. Examples that are limited to potential Audience Reaction do not quite cut it; examples should be listed if they are specifically relevant in context and not merely omnipresent in the work.note An example of omnipresence would be a work set in a time period where, due to the fashions of the time, "everyone" is dressed in a way that can convey this effect.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
Comic Books
- Josie and the Pussycats: In one classic installment, they had to go after Melody, who had wandered off in an extremely skimpy costume and was causing men to stare at her and have accidents all around. When they found her, they gave her a bedsheet to cover up with. But Melody managed to arrange the sheet over her to look like a form-fitting evening gown, so she simply couldn't help looking sexy.
- Ms. Marvel (2014): Kamala Khan's costume as Ms. Marvel is based on a burkini, a modest swimwear outfit designed for Muslim women. Some artists draw the suit to be formfitting akin to Sensual Spandex, which has been criticized as Kamala is a teenager and faithful to her religion.
- Scarlet Witch: For a short time, Wanda ditched her skin-tight bikini outfit for clothes which included a leather jacket, pants, and boots. Artists still managed to make her as eye-catching as ever.
- X-Men: Dust is a devout muslim teenager, debuting before Kamala, that wears a burqa and niqāb to preserve her modesty. Comic artists largely being western non-muslims that are geared more towards the Most Common Super Power than not, often sexualize her anyway by giving her a ribbon that cinches her waist and makes her curvy figure visible through the fabric.
- During the 2010s, quite a few superheroines from both Marvel and DC ended up getting redesigns that were intended to be Tamer and Chaster, or at least covered up more skin; largely this involved swapping Leotard of Power and Minidress of Power looks in favour for full body suits no different from what male heroes wore. However, generally they fell into this as the resulting look was usually Painted-On Pants that just made the character look naked, due to how many artists draw clothing.
Films — Live-Action
Literature
- Discworld:
- In The Truth, Sacharissa is described as dressing modestly, even old-fashionedly, as befitting a proper young lady. Unfortunately, all wearing a corset and a regular dress does is emphasize her chest, to the point where Vegetarian Vampire Otto von Chriek has trouble maintaining his attitude because of her "heaving bosom"
- Discussed in Making Money; Moist admits to finding his fiancee Adora attractive because of, rather than in spite of, her habit of wearing severe, old-fashioned dresses, noting that outfits that leave a lot to the imagination can be more attractive than outfits that don't, provided one has a good-enough imagination.
- Eugénie Grandet: Mademoiselle Aubrion, the high-born young woman that Charles Grandet (the protagonist's cousin and love interest) ends up marrying, is devoid of natural beauty. Her mother teaches her a series of tricks meant "to counterbalance her personal defects", i.e. to make her appear passably attractive through artifice and guile; this includes teaching her "the manoeuvre of the foot, letting it peep beneath the petticoat, to show its tiny size, at the moment when the nose became aggressively red" and "high-pressure corsets".
- Fifth Business: In the second book of the trilogy, The Manticore, the protagonist, David Staunton, tells his psychoanalyst about the time he spent in the 1940s with Judy Wolff, his First Love. He describes her schoolgirl uniform in a way that actually succeeds in playing the trope despite the fact that it was revealing: the short skirt it came with was meant to suggest that the students were childishly innocent (at the time, a properly dressed grown woman would generally not have shown her knees), but as they were already teenage girls, it came across as sexy: "She laughed at herself about being fat, but of course she wasn't. Curvy. Those uniforms that schools like Bishop Cairncross's insisted on at that time were extraordinarily revealing. If a girl had breasts, they showed up under those middies, and some girls had positive shelves almost under their chins. And those absurd short blue skirts, showing seemingly miles of leg from ankle to thigh. It was supposed to be a modest outfit, to make them look like children, but a pretty girl dressed like that is a quaint, touching miracle. The sloppy ones and the fatties were pretty spooky, but not a girl like Judy."
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Katrina Van Tassel is described as "...a little of a coquette, as might be perceived even in her dress, which was a mixture of ancient and modern fashions, as most suited to set off her charms." This includes not only "the tempting stomacher of the olden time" (a rather sexy item as it probably raised the breasts and presumably showed some cleavage), but also "...a provokingly short petticoat, to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round.".
Live-Action TV
- Home Improvement: Discussed in "The Flirting Game," when Jill wants to avoid using flirting in a new job interview and strives to dress as professionally as possible. When Tim sees her in a conservative suit he reacts to it like a complete horndog, and tells her it'll just make men think about what she's covering up.
- Murdoch Mysteries: In the final scene of "Loch Ness Murdoch", Julia and Murdoch are at the beach in Edwardian swimsuits that are very modest by today's standards; Julia's has a skirt that covers the knees, pantalettes underneath, and socks. Suddenly, Julia decides to pull the socks off; Murdoch is taken aback, but she states that it makes no sense that women are expected to wear black socks on a hot day like that. Murdoch can't help but gaze over her calves. He replies: "You're being scandalous, young lady!" He then follows her into the water and they happily horse around.
- Silicon Valley has Laurie Breem decide not to make an investment in Pied Piper and has Monica tell them but advises her to dress down because an attractive woman like Monica giving bad news to a group of guys may only make them feel worse. She then suggests a beige outfit Monica wore the other day. A Gilligan Cut shows Monica talking to the Pied Piper team in an off-white sweater with a high neck. Erlich sees through it, describing it as a common break-up tactic and adding that she's still gorgeous. Jared pipes in saying "It's true, you are a natural autumn."
- The Sopranos: Dr. Melfi dresses very conservatively compared to the strippers and mistresses that Tony and other members of the mob are used to spending time with. During one therapy session with her, Tony launches into a speech about how some women look more attractive when they cover themselves up more rather than flaunt their bodies. He uses Dr. Melfi as an example, and by the end of the speech, he moves to kiss her.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Ferengi Brunt is turned on by females wearing clothing, which is commented as being rather unusual. In the male-dominated oligarchy on Ferenginar, Ferengi females are not even allowed to wear clothing.
Video Games
- Invoked in Soul Calibur IV with the newly-introduced character Hildegard von Wolfkrone, a German warrior-princess clad head to toe in knightly plate armour (or alternatively a period-correct Elizabethan ball gown). As the series was becoming increasingly ridiculed by the time of the fourth entry for its penchant of putting its poster girls (Ivy Valentine, Sophitia, Seong Mi-na) in very skimpy and unusually ahistorical outfits, Hilde was Bandai Namco's deliberate response to these critics. With her auburn hair, large expressive brown eyes and lips to rival Scarlett Johansson's, Hilde is very attractive and the armour does nothing to impede her allure, in fact she's considered by some fans to be the most beautiful woman in the series precisely because she subverts the usual expectations. That said, players can use the Character Creator to put Hilde in something more risque, if they wish.
Real Life
- In Tudor England, it was generally considered immodest for a woman to wear a dress showing any part of her legs (as it was in most of Christendom at that time) or, once married to go about with her hair uncovered. However, there was significant tolerance for showing cleavage (if not, at times, exposing the whole breast), and women flaunted these conventions in other ways. Spanish visitors to England were shocked at how women would lift their skirts up as they walked down the street. At Henry VIII's court, women typically covered their hair with the gable-shaped "English hood", which essentially covered all the hair. However, Queen Anne Boleyn, who had served at the French court, liked the French bonnet, which stood a little further back on the head, showing off the hair where it was parted.
- YouTuber PrettyShepherd explains in this video how in days past, unmarried girls in Hungarian villages would wear their hair down in a long braid, but after marriage were expected to keep their hair up in a bun and covered with a kerchief; henceforth, only your husband was supposed to see your hair. In some villages, wearing the kerchief somewhat further back, exposing some of the hair in front was tolerated, but in others, you would be considered a slut if you did that!
- Formal business attire for women is not restricted to the power suit. It often includes a form-fitting skirt, which is considered professional if it falls no higher than the top of the knee, and is traditionally worn with high heels. This has the potential to show off a good leg nicely while still leaving something for the imagination. Not to mention that the skirt hikes up the thigh when seated.
- In Iran and other jurisdictions, some women took to exposing part of their hair out of their headscarves.
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