Sexy Coat Flashing - Television Tropes & Idioms

She just "forgot" the rest of her clothes.

Nikki: "But before I go, I want to show you my new blouse. (opens coat) Oops, I'm not wearing a blouse."

— Just Shoot Me!

A woman (or occasionally a guy) is wearing a coat or similar covering, until she is talking to someone she wants to sleep with, or at least distract. Then she opens up and/or drops her covering to show that she's wearing nothing, or next to nothing, underneath. It doesn't matter what the cover is (a trenchcoat, a fur coat, or even a cardigan), or what is worn underneath (underwear, a swimsuit, or is completely nude), as long as nothing else is being worn between them.

Now often this works, but just as often it can fall flat, especially if it's a guy trying this.

A Sub Trope of Ready for Lovemaking.

Depending on the clothes, this can overlap with Black Bra and Panties, Of Corsets Sexy, Diamonds in the Buff, Naked in Mink, Going Fur a Swim, Sexy Discretion Shot, Distracted by the Sexy. Dress Hits Floor is another Sister Trope, but doesn't overlap.

Contrast Defeat by Modesty, Modesty Towel, Wardrobe Malfunction.

Not to be confused with just lifting your shirt or blouse.

Examples:

Advertising

This early '90s commercial for Prince Matchabelli perfume. (NSFW)

Comic Books

Evil Twin Madeline does this when seducing Harvey Dent, her sister's fiancee, in the story "Two of a Kind" in Batman: Black and White; removing her trenchcoat to reval nothing but lingerie underneath.

Film

Mannequin has a scene during a montage where Emy does this.
In the second Men In Black; the Big Bad (a Shapeshifter who's assumed the form of an underwear model) does this just before taking over MIB headquarters.
Dr Chase Meridian in Batman Forever.
Anne Hathaway's character in Love and Other Drugs tries to do this to Jake Gyllenhaal, but his brother happens to be sleeping on the couch.
Sam's mistress in Ruthless People shows up to his office in nothing but a teddy and dark mink coat.
The title character in Silkwood.
Big Daddy has this trope in reverse: Kristy Swanson gets out of bed with Adam Sandler, takes off an oversized T-shirt she has been wearing as pajamas, flashes a blood-red bra both to Adam and to millions of appreciative moviegoers, and then pulls on a gray jacket. That's right, no blouse - just the bra and the jacket.
In Victor/Victoria, after King has Squash put Norma on a train out of town in order to get her out of their hair, she does this in anger to him, declaring "You ain't seen the last of me yet!" She's got panties and no bra under her coat.
Hinted at, but averted, at the beginning of Stir Crazy. Gene Wilder's character, a house detective at a department store, accosts an attractive female customer (who also happens to be a prominent actress), telling her he knows that (a.) she's a shoplifter and (b.) she's got nothing on under her overcoat, both of which she angrily denies. One scene later we discover he's been fired, but we never do find out whether he was right.

Literature

Dashti of Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days does a variation on the distraction kind, the difference being that she's not trying to be kinky.

Live-Action TV

The Price Is Right: Subverted in a notorious 2008 episode featuring a cameo by Jack Wagner, who – in an episode-long running gag to promote ''The Young And The Restless – showed up several times during the show, claiming he was annoyed at the goings-on of the show. During a Showcase Showdown, the trope kicks into effect where Wagner, clad in a robe, "flashes" Carey. Wagner likely was dressed in shorts and a shirt, but the way the gag played out drew negative criticism for what was implied to have taken place.
Bree does this in the first season of Desperate Housewives.
The pictures come from the Made-for-TV Movie Widow On The Hill.
When Finch was dating a model (who turned out to be just a little loopy) in Just Shoot Me!, she shows up one day doing this.
- In another episode, Maya plans to try this on Elliot, but then Elliot's girlfriend invites her to dinner, and she has to go with nothing under her overcoat.
Nora Gracen attempting to seduce Jim Profit in Profit. She comes into his office in a trenchcoat, she drops it to the floor, and when she's about to kiss Profit, her husband appears in the outer office. Gail has to stall him so she can get her coat back on.
In Gossip Girl, Blair shows up at Chuck's office like this, wanting to have sex after the unbearable dry patch of five days. He doesn't oblige.
My Name Is Earl: Joy's trying to get pregnant in order to keep from going to prison. She comes over to Earl's motel room dressed only in an overcoat, but Earl doesn't fall for it.
In South of Nowhere, Spencer shows up at Ashley's house in only a trenchcoat.
Played with in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun, where Sally goes to work as a secretary for a boss majorly guilty of sexual harassment. Her boss at one point comments that he can't help wondering what she's wearing underneath her blouse. She opens it to show him an embroidered bra, smiling and oblivious.
One episode of MythBusters involved viral videos, one of which was fainting goats. Kari, The Chick on the team, has the idea that flashing them would make them faint. It doesn't work - on the goats. Her male co-star Tory, on the other hand...
Tory: Wasn't ready for that one, Kari . . .
Claire tries it on Modern Family while doing fantasy role play with Phil in a hotel. Then the coat gets caught on the escalator.
Backfires in spectacular fashion on Still Standing. Judy tries the nothing underneath variant to surprise Bill at work. And gets stopped by a security guard. Naturally he thinks she's stealing, but she can't show what's under the coat. He takes her to a security room and goes to find Bill. Bill arrives and she shows him. Then he reveals that the mirror is one-way.
In Coupling, Jane decides to do this on a dinner-at-his-house date with a new guy. Unfortunately, she wasn't told that that the dinner was for her and a big group of his friends. After she eventually loses her coat to a little girl next door, she just walks out of his apartment naked.
In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 episode "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", a love spell-affected Buffy comes at Xander wearing a trenchcoat and (it's implied) nothing else (except high heels). She doesn't get the chance to do any actual flashing before Amy turns her into a rat.
The pilot for New Girl has the title character doing this...and discovering, at the worst possible time and in the worst possible manner, that her boyfriend is cheating on her.
In the Married... with Children episode "The Egg and I", Marcy does this twice to her ex-husband, Steve, just to show him what he'll never have again. Al sees it both times and needs Brain Bleach.
Grand theft Sexy happens in Dead Like Me using this trope when Daisy Adair acquires a particular hot and silver convertible from a man.
Drew does it to surprise Kate when the two are dating on The Drew Carey Show. Unfortunately, Kate has organised a surprise dinner with her grandparents.
Hawkes' girlfriend Camille does it at the end of CSI: New York episode "Food for Thought".
Fan Disservice example in a notorious skit on The Tonight Show in the 1970s. Two trousered young women walk along a street and (in a parody of a popular commercial from the era) brag about their no-panty-line hosiery, which makes them each feel "like I'm wearing nothing." Johnny Carson, dressed in a trench coat and fedora, overhears the girls and forces them to admit that they really are wearing underwear. Then he announces: "Well, I'm not!" and tears open his coat to reveal (implied) frontal nudity, chasing the two screaming girls off.
In Grimm episode "Bears Will be Bears", Gilda seduces her boyfriend by suggestively opening a fur coat she's wearing to reveal her bikini-clad body.

Manga and Anime

In Love Hina, Keitaro is acting oddly, so Kit goes in to test him using this trope. He doesn't notice.

Music

Kiss evoked this trope with their 1988 single "Let's Put the 'X' in 'Sex'."
The Dixie Chicks were known to do this to several of their fellow country music acts during (the other stars') live concerts, most notably Kenny Chesney.

Webcomics

In Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic, male drow Wolf is shown to assure a female of his, hum, best intentions and relevant adequacy, in this way. He gets yet another promotion.
This is how Seraphim takes out Asmodeus in Megatokyo.
Subverted and Lampshaded by the homosexual swordsman Szark Sturz in this Dominic Deegan comic.
In the first chapter of Shiniez, Lisa visits Allison's place wearing nothing but heels, stockings and a garterbelt under her coat.

Western Animation

A warped version on The Mask: The Animated Series episode "Flight as a Feather." When Cookie BaBoom (Mayor Tilton's ex-girlfriend — a strip — er "exotic dancer") gets stopped from rushing the City Hall stairs by Mayor Tilton's assistant, Smedley, Cookie flashes Smedley by opening her trenchcoat. One would expect Smedley to be distracted by her naked body. Turns out she's not naked — or rather, she wouldn't be naked until later — what she had hidden under the trenchcoat was two megatons worth of explosions strapped across her hips and breasts like a makeshift bikini.

Partial Nudity Tropes

Shirtless Scene

No Shirt, Long Jacket

Coats and Jackets

Trench Coat Warfare