%%
%%
%%
%%
%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1460571481022945400
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/ThreeLeavesThreeColors https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_ao2ynzf.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:With bent up kneecaps in case it wasn't clear.]]

Many times when a character is supposedly naked, a woman will only be shown from the shoulders up. A male character in a similar situation might be shown from the waist up, though this is not so common.

The level of titillation from this trope can depend on many factors, including the scene context, the mood, the actor(s), and the presence of others of the same or opposite gender. Some viewers might consider such scenes {{fanservice}} regardless.

This trope can be easily subverted by a later camera shot that reveals a ModestyTowel, or for that matter a tube top, a strapless bikini, etc.

Subtrope of SexyDiscretionShot. Compare to, and sometimes see it combined with, ToplessnessFromTheBack and GodivaHair, especially to "prove" that the character is actually at least partly unclothed.

The trope codifier is the opening sequence to ''Series/PetticoatJunction'', where the three women are visible from the shoulders up while SkinnyDipping in the water tank.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* Bugle Boy Jeans: In a famous commercial from the late 1980s, a Ferrari is seen driving down a desert highway, and a young man is walking down the shoulder, when the car comes to a sudden stop. The car's driver rolls down the passenger-side window... to reveal to show an incredibly sexy, bare-shouldered woman behind the wheel, asking, "Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans you're wearing?" The young man says yes, the woman replies, "Thank you," before she speeds off -- leaving the hapless hitchhiker disappointed. The woman in the commercial was Annabel Schofield, 25 at the time of filming. Schofield reprised her role in a spoof of the commercial for Ace Hardware. The man walking down the road is NFL coaching legend John Madden.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Happens a lot in ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}''. Whenever Kagome or occasionally Sango are shown bathing, the water covers any [[NippleAndDimed questionable areas]] (at least in the anime, anyway). We still do see enough of their breasts for some definite {{Fanservice}}...
* Zig-zag: in an episode of ''Anime/TheNoozles'', Sandy gets caught in a snare. We only see her from head and shoulders as she hangs upside down as it is assumed her skirt is tipped over (odd as just scenes before, Sandy's panties are exposed from the rear as she swims underwater away from the camera).
* In one episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'', Ash, Misty and Brock are relaxing together in a hotspring. This would raise a few alarms on its own, until a commotion startles them and they jump out, revealing that Misty is actually wearing a strapless bikini.
* Done in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'' with Meimi's TransformationSequence. She's generally wearing a shirt when she starts, but the sequence shows her with bare shoulders, until the final seconds when she is fully dressed in her Saint Tail outfit.
* The trope picture comes from the first episode of ''Manga/ThreeLeavesThreeColors'', during the PublicBathhouseScene.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke'', the pictures of the naked Barbara that Joker splashes over the screen never display her breasts or genitals, showing her only from the shoulders up and from the legs down.
* In the DVD movie ''WesternAnimation/BigTopScoobyDoo'', Velma is shown nude from the shoulders up after a botched practice session as "The Human Comet", a circus human cannonball stunt. She tensed up, causing only her costume to fly out when the cannon is fired.
* ''WesternAnimation/CatwomanHunted'': After Catwoman [[DressHitsFloor drops]] her ModestyTowel to tease Batwoman, we only see Selina from the shoulders up.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'': In one of Disney's most mature moments, at one point, Kim and Monique are in dressing rooms at Club Banana, trying on prom dresses and clearly topless, with only their bare shoulders seen.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' employs this during the scenes where the title character takes a bath, the makeover in the beginning (with [[GodivaHair her wet hair helping cover naughty bits]]), and when she goes into the lake (where [[SceneryCensor the surrounding foliage as she undresses]] also goes up to her shoulders).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', after Alice is left naked due to her clothes being torn off after [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing becoming giant]], she's only seen from the shoulders up due to SceneryCensor.
* ''Film/AllCheerleadersDie'': When Hanna (in Martha's body) takes off her clothes to have sex with Manny, we only see her from the shoulders up or with ToplessnessFromTheBack. {{Subverted}} in the unrated version, which {{does}} show her breasts.
* ''Film/TheArcher'': Lauren is shown in the shower alongside Rebecca with the camera never moving below shoulder level.
* Done in ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'' with Austin and Alotta Fagina, in a hot tub.
* Invoked and ultimately subverted at the end of ''Film/CampNowhere''. [[spoiler:Betty, seemingly naked, swims up to Walter (who has spent the entire movie trying to get her to skinny dip with him) and goads him into stripping as well, only to reveal she was wearing a strapless suit as she leaves with his.]]
* In the Seltzer and Friedberg movie ''Film/DisasterMovie'', when Juney strips she's only seen naked from the shoulders up.
* ''Film/DriveAwayDolls'': Jamie is shown this way during her sex scenes, and Marian too later.
* In the little-known ''Film/AGentlemansGame'', when 15-yr old Mollie talks 12-yr old Timmy into going swimming in the Country Club president's pool, she tells him to turn around before stripping and getting in. She is shown thereafter only from the shoulders up or from behind.
* In ''Film/HotBot'', the camera stays above Bardot's shoulders when she drops her ModestyTowel in front of the boys. Later when she malfunctions and passes out on the bed still naked, [[SceneryCensor Nard's chainsaw conceals her body from the audience]].
* In ''Film/HowToBeatTheHighCostOfLiving'', a naked Elaine (Jane Curtin) is shown from the shoulders up after she [[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn performs an impromptu striptease]] to distract the crowd and security from the ongoing heist.
* ''Film/JennifersBody'':
** When Jennifer takes off her shirt to seduce Jonas, the camera doesn't pan below her shoulders, except for a brief GodivaHair shot.
** When Jennifer gets out of the lake and walks up to her clothes naked, the camera either stays above her collarbone or focuses on her [[FootFocus bare feet]] and [[LegFocus legs]].
** Similarly, when Needy is having sex with Chip, the camera stays above her breasts in the moments when she's not covered by him or something else.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** Played with in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun''. After Mary Goodnight and Bond have a make-out session on Scaramanga's ship, she's shown holding up a sheet covering her body with her shoulders exposed. She drops the sheet and reveals that she's wearing a ModestyTowel.
** In ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', Bond rips the top off General Pushkin's mistress to distract a bodyguard entering the room. The bodyguard's POV is shown as a shoulders-up shot of the mistress. This is followed by a ToplessnessFromTheBack shot to imply her naked chest without actually showing it.
* ''Film/LaFamilleBelier'': Mathilde and Quentin's shoulders and heads are shown after they have sex, but nothing below that.
* ''Film/TheLegendOfLizzieBorden'': Censorship requirements in 1975 American television meant that Lizzie Borden (Creator/ElizabethMontgomery) could only be shown from the shoulders up, and in ToplessnessFromTheBack shots, after she strips naked to kill her father and stepmother in {{Full Frontal Assault}}s.
* Christie Brinkley's character [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz-z_TeJObU#t=4m21s in the pool]] in ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation''.
* InUniverse example: In ''Film/{{Porkys}} Revenge'', after the girls promised the guys an orgy after they won the big game, they all went into a swimming pool at night. The girls proceeded to seductively pull down their straps (while standing with their shoulders above the surface) then threw their swimsuits out of the water. In reality, [[spoiler:they actually divested ''spare'' swimsuits; the suits whose straps they pulled remained on]].
* In ''Film/PurpleHearts'', a sweaty [[Creator/CherylLadd LT Deborah Solomon]] is shown from the shoulders up while laying in bed with a sweaty LT Don Jardian after they have sex under a [[ModestyBedsheet unisex bed sheet]].
* ''Film/{{Screamers}}''. Jessica strips off her top to take a hand bath, [[ToplessnessFromTheBack showing her bare back]] to Hendricksson who then reveals some shocking news, causing her to whirl to face him. Her lower half is offscreen and Hendricksson doesn't even blink, but then says quietly, "Good lord, you're beautiful."
* ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'': Varinia displays this after taking off her tunic, which is aided by it being in shadow which hides her breasts.
* ''Film/SweetSweetLonelyGirl'': Adela takes both [[ShowerScene a shower]] and [[BathtubScene bath]] in the film, with the camera always staying at her shoulder level.
* In ''Film/WildWildWest'', we see James West and a girl swimming in a water tank, shown from the shoulders up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "The Inside Man" has a naked Daisy Johnson shown from the shoulders up after undressing herself before having sex with Lincoln.
* ''Series/AmericasNextTopModel'': Usually, the contestants are shown bare-shouldered in the photos. Subverted when backstage stuff shows that they're wearing tube tops or strapless bras of some sort.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** Lyta appears this way during the show's only sex scene, between her and Byron. Combined with ToplessnessFromTheBack.
** This is also used during a dream sequence when Ivanova imagines herself naked in public.
* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGLjb3-ngsQ#t=3m22s this scene]] Kendra Reilly [[WalkingSwimsuitScene wears a monokini]] when she goes swimming with Cody Madison in the "Baywatch Down Under" episode of ''Series/{{Baywatch}}''.
* In "Shark Island" episode of Baywatch Hawaii, Jessie Owens goes SkinnyDipping when a nearby swimmer is stung by a jellyfish and has to rescue him in the nude.
* ''Series/BeingHumanUS'': Female characters are shot from the shoulders up while naked to avoid showing their breasts most of the time.
* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' seems to like this trope. One example is where two female singers, seen from behind their couch, appear to be demonstrating this trope until the couch turns around and they are shown to be wearing strapless dresses.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** The title character demonstrates this trope at least twice: in Season 2's "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" when a potioned-up Buffy tries to seduce Xander, and in Season 6's "Dead Things" during a Buffy–Spike sex scene.
** Anya, while propositioning Xander in "The Harsh Light of Day".
* In the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds", Saffron gets naked in Mal's cabin, and is seen from the front, shoulders up, and [[ToplessnessFromTheBack from the back waist up.]]
* ''Series/ChinaBeach'': In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk56pIzVsFU#t=0m59s this scene]], a group of soldiers [[MaleGaze watch]] LT Colleen [=McMurphy=] shower and on of them is taking pictures.
* ''Series/HisDarkMaterials'':
** After being taken to Bolvangar in "[[Recap/HisDarkMaterialsS1E5TheLostBoy The Lost Boy]]," Lyra is forced into a ShamefulStrip, though Lyra is more just irritated than anything else. There are a handful of shots of Lyra shot from the shoulders up indicating her nudity. The scene is played for {{Squick}}, both because the staff is attempting to intimidate and humiliate her, and that it's happening to a ''child'' (Lyra is portrayed by then-14 year-old Creator/DafneKeen).
** Another in "[[Recap/HisDarkMaterialsS1E8Betrayal Betrayal]]" when Lyra is taking a bath while talking to Roger. Keen's shoulders are just visible above the water.
* ''Series/TheHoganFamily'': The fourth-season episode "The Naked Truth" centers on a painting of Creator/{{Sandy|Duncan}} that is on display at an art gallery (where Mark and Willie are touring as part of a school trip). Viewers only see the painting from angles showing the shoulders upward, but it is very clear, by Mark and Willie's stunned reaction, the painting shows far more. Sandy learns about the painting and demands that its painter -- an old college boyfriend, who had painted another student's nude body, but then painted on Sandy's head instead -- fix the situation immediately. [[spoiler:He does... by painting a dress on the bottom half. He admits he had fantasized about her in college and wanted to advance their relationship.]]
* One infamous example from ''Series/ICarly'' where the girls were in changing booths. There was the implication that they were topless, but all you really saw were their shoulders. You'd think that this being a kids show, with actual under-18 actresses, that the girls would be wearing something underneath. Except Sam really WAS topless and they had to re-film the scene after the episode aired to eliminate the nip-slip that occurred. Oops!
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "[[Recap/LeverageS03E1ThePrisonJob The Prison Job]]," with Hardison acting as photographer, Sophie coaches Parker to pose sexily so they can photo-shop her into pics of a corrupt senator they're trying to con. At one point, Parker has on a spaghetti-strap dress which she drops to the floor, shocking Sophie and making Hardison turn away due to being a gentleman. Parker is only shown on camera from the shoulders up, but Hardison mumbles to himself, "''Why'' am I looking away?"
* A brochure for ''Series/InspectorRex'' (''Rex: Special Unit'') has an image of a shoulders-up [[http://www.betafilm.com/media/files/pdf/Rex_Special_Unit_brochure_web.pdf Marco Terzani pointing with his pistol while being shirtless]].
* The ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' episode "Houseboat" has Malcolm stuck on a fishing boat with Hal while Reese and Stevie are across the lake partying with [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleaders]] at a summer camp. At one point, Malcolm dozes off and briefly hallucinates a naked cheerleader [[SexySurfacingShot swimming up to his boat]] to flirt with him, and she's only seen from the shoulders up.
* ''Series/{{Pandora}}'':
** Jax is only seen from the shoulders up when stripping to take a shower in the first episode.
** It happens again in episode 2 with the Atria clones coming out of their tanks nude but, since this is a CW show, only shot from the collarbone up or with FootFocus.
** Pilar is shown this way part of the time when she's made to parade around nude in the school.
* ''Series/PetticoatJunction'': The "bathing beauty" scene in the opening credits is the trope codifier. One might think that the producers did not "know their own strength" regarding titillation for a 1960s show. However, that may have been subverted by an episode that showed the girls actually swimming in the tank; here, they wore swimsuits, albeit with straps.
* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'': For a time from the mid-1980s through about 1992, whenever a prize such as a sauna or a hot tub were being shown, one of Barker's Beauties -- despite likely wearing a ModestyTowel or a strapless bikini top -- would pose in such a way that everything below the shoulders was beneath the edge of the window, hot tub deck, etc. Host Bob Barker would then joke to the audience implying that said Barker's Beauty was naked. The joke faded once Barker's affair with Dian Parkinson became public and, after leaving the show, she filed a sexual harassment claim against the legendary game show host.
* ''Series/TheRepublicOfSarah'': Alexis and AJ are shot like this after having sex offscreen.
* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'': The first time Alex Mack turns into a puddle, she inadvertently [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing leaves her clothes behind]]. When she re-materializes behind a convenient stack of boxes, only her head and bare shoulders can be seen. Because this was a children's show, it caused a small amount of controversy (and a little embarrassment for the lead, who had been wearing a ModestyTowel to [[EnforcedMethodActing encourage the proper reaction]]), and the incident never recurred in the series.
* ''Series/ShadowAndBone'': In "[[Recap/ShadowAndBoneEpisode3TheMakingAtTheHeartOfTheWorld The Making at the Heart of the World]]" when Alina is stripped naked by the servants, we only see her from the shoulders up in the bath.
* ''Series/Siren2018'': Ryn is filmed from the collarbone up while walking around naked early on.
* ''Series/SpecialOpsLioness'': Cruz and Aaliyah were shot this way a couple times while they're naked.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** Lwaxana Troi attends her own wedding naked as it is Betazed tradition. Majel Barret was filmed from the shoulders up.
** In another episode, Lwaxana Troi, her daughter Deanna, Worf and his son Alexander enjoy a mud bath. The audience doesn't know whether they were supposed to be have any kind of swimwear.
* ''Series/That70sShow'' has an episode where both Red and Hyde are helping Bob move some stuff in his home. When they open a door, they are flashed by Pam. The whole scene is a combination of this and ToplessnessFromTheBack, so that we can see both Red's and Hyde's mouths on the floor.
* In an episode of ''Series/WithoutATrace'', two agents have their tryst interrupted by a phone call from their superior. The man rolls of off the woman and we get a very brief example of this before she quickly [[HandOrObjectUnderwear covers her chest with her arms]] and gets up.
* ''Series/TheWilds'': Fatin shows this in her sex scenes during the flashbacks.
* ''Series/YouMeHer'': Izzy is shown from the shoulders up when she goes topless to have her threesome with Jack and Emma.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The video of the Music/DixieChicks' 2000 video "Without You" involves each of the people in the video being naked, including the trope-fitter with Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire shown from the bare shoulders up. One source indicated that vulnerability was the general tone.
* The cover of Music/{{Eurythmics}}' ''Touch'' shows Annie Lennox's bare shoulders, with Lennox wearing a mask and holding up a gloved hand.
* The cover of Music/{{Heart|Band}}'s ''Dreamboat Annie'' album shows sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson sitting back to back, apparently topless, but the image is cropped below the shoulders. Other publicity photos from the same session exist that make it clear that {{modesty towel}}s were involved.
* The cover of The Judds' 1987 album ''Heartland'' shows Naomi (then 43) with bare shoulders; the photo is posed and cropped in such a way that Wynonna's bare shoulders are not seen; however, the image on the back -- bare backs -- makes it clear she was also (at least) bare-shouldered.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* The famous sequence at the end of the clip for Music/MichaelJackson's "Black or White" features men and women of various ethnicities morphing into one another. The bare shoulders certainly helped making the morphing more seamless, with no clothes getting in the way of the special effect. The end of the video, in which the scene zooms out of the filming set, even shows how it was done: we can see that the female model who sang the last part of the song was wearing a strapless top.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Print Media]]
* Many women's magazines will show models with this trope in simple photos depicting hairstyles, makeovers or both. Presumably, this is done to avoid bias, or so clothes don't add to or distract from the new look.
* ''The Washington Post'' published a photo of news anchorwoman Wendy Rieger [[SkinnyDipping swimming]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/ThirteenSentinelsAegisRim'', all the protagonists are [[OutOfClothesExperience naked when piloting their mechs]], with their portrait cutting at the shoulders to only imply nudity for the guys. To conceal the girl's breasts, Iori and Tomi both have ToplessnessFromTheBack in their screens while Shinonome, Megumi and Natsuno all have [[SceneryCensor some conveniently placed circuitry covering their chests]].
* In ''VideoGame/DarkNightsWithPoeAndMunro'', [[spoiler:Poe opens the door to the bathroom to get away from Millicent only to find her standing naked on the other side. She is seen only from the shoulders up.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'': When Raiden is naked and strapped on the slab, the camera will stay above his waist level or use SceneryCensor to conceal his crotch.
* In ''VideoGame/PotionPermit'', anyone relaxing at [[HealingSpring Willow Waters Bathhouse]] is shown only from the shoulders-up, regardless of gender.
* In ''VideoGame/TheShapeshiftingDetective'', Dorota was found naked in her bed and we see a shot of her dead body that is mostly covered by a bedsheet.
* ''VideoGame/WantedDead'': During the {{Shower Scene}}s, the camera always stays above Hannah's shoulders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheIdatenDeitiesKnowOnlyPeace'': When Ysley [[ClothingDamage destroys Piscalat's top with a grenade]], the camera remains positioned above on her shoulders, until she finally takes notice and [[HandOrObjectUnderwear uses her hands to cover her exposed breasts]], which is when the camera finally pans down.
* ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': When Jardin is first brought onto the ''Tempest'' for interrogation, he's stark naked -- he had to be cut out of his suit -- and is only seen from the waist up until some Loroi cover him with [[ModestyBedsheet a sheet]].
* [[http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2015/01/29 This strip]] of ''Webcomic/{{Precocious}}'' shows how a picture in a strapless dress can become this.
* In ''Webcomic/YokokasQuest'', Yokoka's [[ToplessnessFromTheBack back is shown]] while she's undressing for a bath, followed by her knees and shoulders being visible above the water line [[https://yokokasquest.com/comic/chapter-6-page-57/ once she's in the bath]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Kontrola}}'': Natalia and Majka are shown while having sex this way a couple times.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Male version: In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Forward March Hare", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny is waiting in line with a bunch of men to take an Army induction physical. All the men are shown undressed from the waist up.
* ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'':
** When Marks finds himself [[OutOfClothesExperience naked in the afterlife]], the camera always stays above his waist.
** In "Demon Baby", when Mark and Callie are [[ShowerOfLove taking a shower together]], the camera cuts just above her breasts and his waist.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* Some "china girl" models, also known as "[[https://www.chicagofilmsociety.org/projects/leaderladies/ leader ladies]]", have been photographed nude from the shoulders up, for insertion into the head leaders of films.
* Dolls with realistic china heads and shoulders and jointed wooden bodies that resemble the figures used by artist models (in other words, no curves). They seem to have been designed to show off fashions that left the shoulders exposed and covered up everything else except hands and (barely) feet.
[[/folder]]
----