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 appealing, 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.
- 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 that can be removed. Cases will often involve the animal wearing undergarments beneath the fur.
- 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: A 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 on 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.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Short skirt plus long stockings, in order to show bare thigh.
