Sometimes, a girl puts her hand under her chin to put on an elegant display in front of her peers. Whether it's smugly, nobly, nervously, or it's just a habit.
This trope is made exactly for this gesture.
The Grace Face Pose is a Modeling Pose where a female character elegantly holds the back of her hand underneath her chin with her fingers often stretched upward. This is often paired with Noblewoman's Laugh, or, in certain cases, done by the Tsundere.
It dates back to the days when high-class women carried folding fans, and that moving or holding the fans in certain ways was essentially social code. Holding the fan under the chin suggested amusement, with an open fan being coy and flirty, while a closed fan suggested condescension, for example: "I'm laughing at you, not with you". Fans disappeared over time but the body language stayed.
Try to spread out all of the examples and try not to make it only when a female character does a Noblewoman's Laugh. However, it can be paired with the trope.
Examples
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Resident Narcissist Mimimi does this as her signature pose, naturally.
- BanG Dream!: Hikawa Sawo has her hand underneath her chin in this photo.
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- Girl Friend Beta: Eiko Hibara is the head of the school's shogi club, and is almost always seen with a decorative fan in hand, helping to highlight her ties to tradition and culture. At least two of her cards from the original mobile game show her adopting a Grace Face Pose while holding out her fan.◊ Likewise, she is also used for the image of this trope.
- Noire from Hyperdimension Neptunia puts her hand near or under her chin sometimes. Usually when she is nervous or showing off.
- Sweetheart in OMORI frequently puts her hand under her chin and does a Noblewoman's Laugh, with her even doing this in her battle sprite during her Boss Fight.
- From Street Fighter we have Karin Kanzuki. Her signature Noblewoman's Laugh accompanies the Grace Face pose in a mocking manner.
- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc:
- Kyoko Kirigiri has a pose◊ where she puts her hand under her face so that her chin is resting on the backs of her fingers, giving her a refined look.
- A male example for Kokichi Ouma from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, who will put his hand under his chin with a smug smile on his face whenever he feels confident that he'll win. Which is very apparent during class trials.
- Kyoko Kirigiri has a pose
- Estir from Sucker for Love puts her hand under her chin whenever she does her Noblewoman's Laugh. Especially prominent when you act as her servant in the game.
- Paranatural: During Agent Day and Dr. Zarei's lunch date in chapter 5, when Day confirms one of Zarei's suspicions about her, Zarei puts the side of her hand to her chin in an elegant gesture while giving her a sidelong look.
- Being a fashion designer with a specialty for blinging up clothes, and a perchance for the melodramatic, Rarity of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sometimes uses this pose, using her front hooves.
- Sardonyx, the fusion of Pearl and Garnet from Steven Universe, holds the backside of her hand underneath her chin or on the side of her mouth, with either her fingers outstretched or lightly curled, fairly frequently. Particularly during her introduction, where she also makes the standard Noblewoman's Laugh that usually accompanies this pose.
- Luz Noceda from The Owl House puts the backside of her hand underneath her chin at one point when she finds an otter disguise.◊ Paired with cat smile.
