Croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip
Thread by thread, primmed and pressed
Yard by yard, never stressed
And that's the art of the dress!
Tropes about dresses (the modern sense, not including robes) and skirts, or having them as an integral part. To costume designers, few things have more potential for Costume Porn than a nice dress or skirt. Of course not all of them have to be fancy. Some can be plain, or even skimpy.
And it's considered one of the most prominent ways to tell men from women, with signs and symbols using a dress or skirt to tell that an abstract figure is male or female. It's also a major reason the trope Real Women Don't Wear Dresses has that name.
Also are more likely to be Doomed New Clothes than other kinds of garments.
These tropes will likely fall into Rule of Glamorous or Rule of Sexy.
Tropes
- Action Dress Rip: Even Kicking Ass in All Her Finery has its limits, so tear off those hobble skirts.
- Battle Ballgown: A dress made for combat, and cotillions.
- Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: The dress is ruined, and that's the least of her problems.
- Elegant Gothic Lolita: Who like old-timey frilly dresses.
- Fairytale Wedding Dress: A classical dress for a bride to be a princess on her wedding.
- French Maid Outfit: A black mini dress with a white apron.
- Frills of Justice: Part of a magical girl's dress.
- Giant Poofy Sleeves: Goes great with a dress.
- Girly Skirt Twirl: Rule of Glamorous says ladies should twirl their new dresses.
- Happy Holidays Dress: Tis the season for Costume Porn.
- Hates Wearing Dresses: A female character who can't stand wearing dresses and skirts.
- Lady in Red: A red dress makes the lady extra provocative.
- Lady Legionnaire Wear: A skirt-like armor piece.
- Little Black Dress: A simple, but fashionable, outfit.
- Magic Skirt: This skirt won't do a panty shot, no matter what.
- Man in a Kilt: Because plaid makes skirts okay.
- Minidress of Power: Because short dresses are easier to fight in than long dresses.
- Modesty Shorts: These avoid panty shots with your skirt.
- Parachute Petticoat: Somehow a skirt can be used as a parachute.
- Peacock Girl: When the 'tail' in question is actually a feathered skirt.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Want to show off your wealth? Get a dress with loads of trimmings and other expensive features.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Leggings can still go with a skirt.
- Qipao: That distinctive Chinese dress.
- Sailor Fuku: That distinctive Japanese schoolgirl uniform.
- Sexy Slit Dress: A nice looking dress with a slit up the side.
- Sexy Santa Dress: Christmas is no time to leave out the fanservice.
- Showgirl Skirt: A skirt that frames her beautiful legs, instead of hiding them.
- Simple, yet Opulent: A dress doesn't have to be obviously fancy to be fancy.
- Skirts and Ladders: Climbing a ladder has a high risk of a panty shot.
- Tutu Fancy: Fiction says a tutu can still have Costume Porn.
- Unconventional Wedding Dress: The bride doesn't wear the standard fairy-tale white dress; instead, she goes for something different.
- Virgin in a White Dress: Her dress color is symbolic of how easily it might get symbolically dirtied up.
- Wight in a Wedding Dress: Undead wearing a wedding dress.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Long socks, a skirt, and the bare skin between.