See how much skin is shown, and how much is not shown.
Basically, tropes that have one purpose: how much skin can clothing show before it's considered indecent.
Of course the amount will vary among cultures, yet any degree is still often a way of Getting Crap Past the Radar, which is one of the main reasons these tropes are so often used.
And since a lot of people find partial nudity more sexy than full nudity, this also makes many of these tropes fanservice, as well as mildly Not Safe for Work.
Related:
- Fanservice: Tropes about providing fanservice.
- Fanservice Costumes: Costumes that exist for the purpose of fanservice.
- No Nudity Taboo: Tropes regarding characters that don't have a nudity taboo.
- Nudity Tropes: Tropes related to complete nudity.
- Rule of Sexy: Elements of fiction that may not be realistic, but can be excused on the grounds that they are sexy.
- Stripperiffic: Characters who wear very revealing clothes.
- Swimsuit Index: Tropes about swimwear.
- Unmentionables: Tropes about underwear.
Tropes
- Absolute Cleavage: A woman's outfit which has a neckline cut to or below the midriff.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: An anthropomorphic animal who wears only a hat and/or a collar, but no other clothing.
- Barefoot Captives: Prisoners and slaves forced to go without shoes
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Anthropomorphic animals that don't wear shoes.
- Barely-There Swimwear: Characters wearing swimwear so revealing that they may as well just go naked.
- Bare Your Midriff: Wearing a shirt that doesn't cover the midriff.
- "Basic Instinct" Legs-Crossing Parody: Parodying the leg crossing scene, usually while not wearing underwear.
- Chainmail Bikini: Armor which covers only the minimum necessary.
- Cleavage Window: A costume with an opening designed into it over the upper chest, exposing the breasts to some degree, The Cleavage Window can be any size.
- Dangerously Short Skirt: A skirt which is too short to completely cover the undergarments (if there are any.)
- Does Not Like Shoes: A character is always barefoot.
- Dressed Like a Dominatrix: A costume resembling that of a dominatrix.
- Exposed to the Elements: A character wears little in spite of being in cold weather.
- Fanservice Model: A fashion model that specializes in scanty clothes, like swimsuits, lingerie... or nothing at all.
- Final Battle-Induced Shirt Loss: Villain destroys protagonist's shirt during the climax.
- Fully-Clothed Nudity: A character is treated or acts as if they are naked even though they are at least wearing underwear or swimwear.
- Fur Bikini: A bikini made of animal skin.
- Fur Is Clothing: An anthropomorphic animal's fur is treated as clothes. If for some reason their fur is damaged, they react as though they were naked.
- Go-Go Enslavement: A character is forced into wearing revealing clothes.
- Going Commando: No underwear.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: An anthropomorphic animal either doesn't wear a shirt or doesn't wear pants.
- Impossibly-Low Neckline: A woman's top is so far off her shoulders that it's a mystery it doesn't just fall off and expose her breasts completely.
- Intimate Open Shirt: A character has their shirt unbuttoned for fanservice.
- Leotard of Power: A character wears a leotard.
- Monster Modesty: Non-humans depicted as only wearing underwear or shorts.
- Naked Apron: A naked character wears an apron over their body.
- Navel Window: An character's outfit deliberately shows their belly button but no more of their midriff.
- Nipple and Dimed: Women with bare breasts have their nipples censored.
- "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: A character dreams they are in a state of undress.
- Nude-Colored Clothes: A character appears to be naked simply because their clothes match their skin color.
- Old-Timey Ankle Taboo: A character gets turned one by a flash of ankle (or other body part that is usually concealed in their culture).
- Open Shirt Taunt: A character opens their shirt to expose their chest and dare someone else to kill them by shooting or stabbing their exposed chest.
- Our Nudity Is Different: Characters having a different beliefs on what qualifies as nudity.
- Pants-Free: A character who's had their lower body hidden is revealed to be pantsless.
- Playboy Bunny: A woman wears bunny ears, a leotard, and leggings.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Superheroes wear modest costumes while villains wear costumes that are more revealing.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: A woman wears an outfit that leaves her back bare.
- Sexy Coat Flashing: A character seduces another by opening their coat to reveal their underwear or their naked body.
- Shirtless Captives: A character held prisoner ends up without their shirt.
- Shirtless Scene: A character gets a scene where they don't wear a shirt.
- Showgirl Skirt: A skirt split down the front to display the character's legs.
- Sideboob: A woman wears a top that leaves the sides of her breasts uncovered.
- Stocking Filler: Women wearing garters.
- Theiss Titillation Theory: Clothing which appears to be in danger of showing something is more titillating that clothing which outright shows it.
- Thong of Shielding: As long as the buttcrack itself is covered it's okay.
- Toplessness from the Back: All that is seen of a naked or topless woman is her back from the waist up.
- Underboobs: A woman wears a top that leaves the underside of her breasts uncovered.
- Vapor Wear: Clothing which, by its design, makes it almost impossible for the character to be wearing underwear.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: A (usually) male character is (almost) always seen not wearing a shirt.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: A character is almost always seen wearing swimwear.
- Who Wears Short Shorts?: Women wearing shorts that leave their entire legs exposed.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Short skirt plus long stockings, in order to show bare thigh.
