"James 1:14 'Each one is tempted by his own evil desire.' But I think your skirt is helping them out, Slutsuki - I mean Satsuki."
— Momoko Koigakubo (on Satsuki's miniskirt), Ghost Stories
When it comes to clothing that's considered revealing, people who choose to wear said clothes will sometimes be criticized for doing so. Sometimes it's due to social impropriety, other times it's due to moralizing, and still other times it's because of cultural values. Because of Double Standards, the recipients of said criticism are almost Always Female.
When it comes to social impropriety, this kind of scolding is usually a result of someone wearing clothing that is too skimpy for the situation. This can include people whose clothes violate or seemingly violate a Dress Code, wearing revealing clothes in socially inappropriate situations like religious services or around children, or simply out of concern about being Exposed to the Elements. In these types of situations, the one doing the scolding might be treated as the one in the right while the one wearing the outfit is treated as wrong for wearing something inappropriate for the location.
When it comes to morality and cultural values, this type of scolding is usually because the scolded thinks the clothes are inappropriate in general. Common examples of this include older people complaining about how people dressed more modestly back in their day, religious or puritanical people trying to enforce their values on others, and people blaming victims of rape and sexual assault for provoking people by dressing provocatively. Depending on the work, the person doing the scolding might be sympathetic if the work portrays their views as objectively correct or be unsympathetic if the work treats them as being self-righteous.
While the above reasons are the most common, there are other reasons that are somewhat less common. Some examples include people insisting that someone is too unattractive for revealing clothes to look good on them, insisting that someone is either too young or old to wear revealing clothes, and people complaining that a uniform is too revealing.
Super-Trope to Old-Timey Ankle Taboo. Can be a form of Slut-Shaming. Overlaps with Parental Fashion Veto if the parents consider the clothing to be too revealing. See also Please Put Some Clothes On, for when someone is asked to hide their nudity, or near-nudity. Can be a form of Deliberate Values Dissonance and/or overlap with Our Nudity Is Different if someone considers someone's clothing revealing due to different cultural or generational standards. Sour Prudes might show this behavior. See Fanservice Costumes for some of the types of outfits that might result in this type of scolding. A Hypocrite might wear clothes that are just as, if not more revealing as Hypocritical Humor or be a pervert who pretends to be scandalized to make themselves look respectable. Can be used in response to Fan Disservice if the wearer of the offending clothing looks hideous in them.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Ghost Stories: In one episode of the Gag Dub, The Fundamentalist Christian Momoko calls Satsuki a slut for wearing a miniskirt. When Satsuki insists that Momoko is just jealous, Katsuki snarks that a micro-mini doesn't look good on her because her butt is too small, and she should wear something like a muumuu.
- In episode 7 of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, the Ms. Fanservice Lucoa gets in trouble twice because she wears Barely There Swimwear that really shows her Buxom Beauty Standard body. The first time is at the beach, where she was dragged off and covered up in a blanket by a lifeguard for wearing something too revealing (she returns once she wears a more modest bikini). For the second incident, she is dragged off again when she tries visiting Comiket in just a bikini.
- One Piece: This is one of the personality traits of Paulie, constantly getting angry at any woman who shows off her skin. Of course, given how it's usually accompanied by a nosebleed, it's hinted that he's just trying to hide the fact he actually enjoys it.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL: In one episode, the Student Council President was brainwashed to enforce a bunch of harsh rules, with students being punished for modesty being one of the changes.
- Kotori and her friends get in trouble because their skirts are shorter than the new dress code.
- During the President's duel with Yuma, he even enforces the school rules on their monsters, where monsters who violate a rule being suspended (a.k.a being sent back to the hand). When one of his female monsters wears a short skirt that Yuma calls him out on, he uses a card to lengthen it so her legs are covered. When Yuma summons Gagaga Girl, the President calls her out for having skimpy clothes, which Yuma tries to cover her with another card, but the President negates the effect so Gagaga Girl has no choice but to go back to the hand.
Comic Books
- Archie Comics: When Betty and Veronica, in a story, meet their old version of the '50s (through the Memory Lane), Veronica is called out by the two girls for her skimpy (by 1950s standards) outfit that bares her midriff.
- Icon: Icon, a Straw Conservative, doesn't quite approve of Rocket, her more left-leaning Kid Sidekick, adding a Cleavage Window to her costume.
- Spider-Woman: Turner D. Century is an Evil Reactionary who wants the world to conform to the values of the early 20th century. In his first appearance, he called Spider-Woman a floozy and told her to dress more modestly because of her skintight outfit.
- The Ultimates 3: Captain America, who in the Ultimate Universe is much more old fashioned, takes issue with Scarlet Witch's Stripperiffic outfit and asks her to change it to something more appropriate because they're meant to be setting an example.
Fan Works
- Played for Deliberate Values Dissonance in The Break-Up
, a fanfic of Laverne & Shirley, a TV show set in the 50s and 60s. When Shirley wears a skimpy blouse and a skirt two inches above the knees, Laverne and Carmine berate her for being "loose".
- In the My Hero Academia fanfic Harassment, after Mineta gets expelled from U.A. for groping Tsuyu, his parents try to sue the school. They try to claim that Tsuyu was asking for it because she wears a skintight wetsuit which makes their son innocent, but the judge doesn't agree and throws out the case.
- Jikuu Bouken Doctor Who: In this fan reimagining of Doctor Who as an anime, the Third Doctor seems unimpressed by companion Tomo Kajiura’s attire.
"Oh for heaven’s sake, girl, go and put something warm on."
- Played for Laughs in the Hazbin Hotel fan comic Lute's New Rival OC, where Lute accuses fellow exorcist Candi of trying to seduce Adam out of jealousy. One of her pieces of "evidence" of this accusation is that her uniform skirt is one-sixteenth of an inch too short.
- One for All and Eight for the Ninth: Mineta's mother, Karen, blames Momo for how her son sexually harasses her, claiming that "If those harlots are going to dress provocatively, a few youthful indiscretions are unavoidable."
- Raise Your Voice Against Liars: Ms. Bustier is an Apathetic Teacher who often blames her students when they are bullied by others. One of her previous students was a girl who was sexually harassed, and when she reported it, Ms. Bustier insisted that she wouldn't have been harassed if she didn't encourage them by dressing inappropriately.
- Ranma Club: Akane automatically judges the Winx Club as sluts and whores because of of their revealing clothes, and says that Ranma is a pervert for hanging out with them. At one point she calls Nodoka a slut before realizing who she is, and she calls out Akane for assuming a woman is a "slut" because of how they dress.
- Vow of Nudity: Spectra gets this a lot, for example in her very first story via an elven guard, because she's walking around in public wearing only a silver necklace. She usually tries to explain that said necklace came with a forced nudity curse, but her accuser doesn't always believe her.
Film — Animated
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: When Brent tries to get attention by posing in nothing but a diaper the way he used to when advertising sardines under the name "Baby Brent", the crowd boos him and one guy yells, "Put your clothes back on!"
- In Moomins on the Riviera, Moomin takes exception to Snorkmaiden's skimpy bikini on the grounds that "It's like you're not wearing anything!" Somewhat hypocritically, considering that Moomin himself is actually not wearing anything at the time.
Film — Live-Action
- Born in the Maelstrom: Rebecca is angrily denounced as a slut by the women in her community as a result of wearing a shirt she made thin enough to clearly display her breasts underneath.
- Left-Handed Girl: I-Ann tends to wear revealing clothes and this is complained about by her grandparents, who also see it as an example of Shu-Fen's bad parenting. I-Ann is defiant of any attempts to shame her for it, and they quickly let it go as she also has a temper.
- Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult: Played for laughs when Rocco's gorgeous girlfriend, Tanya, is introduced wearing a skimpy pink bikini. Rocco's overweight, elderly mother yells at her to put some clothes on and snarls, "And what are you doing in my bathing suit?!"
- Time Changer: Played with, when Russell Carlisle, a Christian from the year 1890 who has traveled to modern times, complains to a store manager about a group of mannequins in a store dressed in lingerie (though they don't actually show it because this is a Christian film), because it might incite lust in young people. The manager himself points out that no one but him complained, but due to the film's pro-Fundamentalist Christian message, Russel is supposed to be the one in the right.
- Young Hearts: Harper is cited over a dress code violation as her shorts are deemed too revealing. She feels this is blaming her for how her body's shaped with an implied judgment about her supposed promiscuity based on that. Tilly's dad wholeheartedly agrees and denounces this as double standards too as boys aren't treated that way for similar clothes.
Literature
- Adrian Mole: In Cappuccino Years, Adrian has an adult friend Justine, who always wears very skimpy clothes. Adrian tries to steer her towards less revealing clothes from Marks and Spencer, causing Justine to look at him with horror in her eyes. On another occasion, Justine says she would love to come to a party, but has nothing to wear; so Adrian seizes the opportunity, and buys her a "sensible" dress. She looks at it, and says "it's the sort of thing your mother would wear".
- The Berenstain Bears Big Chapter Books: In "The Dress Code", Queenie goes to school in a very short miniskirt, which the teachers, and eventually Mama and Papa Bear when they find out, think is too skimpy for a cub to wear.
- In Carrie, insane Christian fundementalist Margaret White gets into fights with her neighbor Mrs. Horan over Mrs. Horan's teenage daughter sunbathing in the backyard - even though she's wearing a one-piece bathing suit. Mrs. Horan eventually loses her patience and makes her daughter wear a bikini instead just to annoy Margaret.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: At Fleur's wedding reception, the elderly and grumpy Auntie Muriel remarks that Ginny's dress is too low-cut, also referring to her by her rarely-used full name "Ginevra".
- Inverted in the Lensman novel Second Stage Lensmen where Kinnison chides Clarissa for wearing clothes - on Lyrane, a planet where nudity is de rigueur.
- In the first book of Caroline B. Cooney's Time Quartet, after Annie makes her second time shift back to 1895, wearing a white t-shirt and shorts, Devonny, who is also convinced she's a murderer at this point, loudly complains that she's naked, calling her disgusting at one point.
- X-Wing Series: In Wraith Squadron, Face, Wedge and Myn go down to a planet with a noted resort as three hicks from a backwater planet. When they see a female guest wearing a dress with a high slit showing off her leg, they all gawk and comment that she's naked. And then they admonish the customs agent they're talking to for not being very neighborly for not knowing who she is.
Live-Action TV
- 8 Simple Rules: A much-loved scene in the pilot episode has Bridget, the family's Ms. Fanservice teenage daughter, being told off by her parents over her choice of school wear (a short tank top and ultra-low-rise trousers with her thong visible above the waistline) with her father asking if it's her school's "casual sex day".
- Castle (2009): In "The Final Frontier", while investigating a murder at a sci-fi convention, Castle encounters his daughter in skimpy cosplay as a Havakura.
Alexis: It's a tribe of female assassins who...Castle: Don't wear clothes?
- Doctor Who: It's an occasional gag that a companion dresses appropriately for where The Doctor intends to go, instead of where and when the TARDIS actually takes them, and is called out for it.
- In "Tooth And Claw", Rose is repeatedly called out for her "nakedness" by Queen Victoria and her court. She's dressed sensibly for their 1979 intended destination, but the TARDIS arrived a century early.
- In "The Hungry Earth" / "Cold Blood", Amy dressed for Rio. The TARDIS arrived in chilly Wales instead, causing many to comment on Amy's minimal dress.
- In Everybody Loves Raymond, Debra is manipulated into wearing inappropriate clothing note to a PTA meeting, just to prove a point to Ray. Some of the looks she receives from other parents are as good as a verbal reproach. But the real verbal reprimand comes from her censorious mother-in-law, Marie.
- Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage: "The G Word and a Blaspheming Bimbo": Before Mandy goes on TV, Mary tells her to show less cleavage. Then Georgie tells her to show more.
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: In "Obscene," N.I.C.E. (Neighbors Investing in Clean Entertainment) is an activist group whose favorite target is Jessie Dawning, the teenage star of a show called Girl Undercover who wears revealing outfits. Their leader, Carolyn Spencer, goes as far as to wish death on her.
- Letterkenny: Whenever the weather allows, Katy will walk around in cut-off shorts and a skimpy top, much to her brother's chagrin:
Wayne: Katy, put some fucking clothes on.
Katy: Not my forte.
Wayne: Unfortunate! - Star Trek: The Next Generation:
- Inverted in "The Last Outpost", where one of the many crimes the Ferengi accuse the Federation of doing is "forcing their fe-males to wear clothing!"
- In the episode "Chain of Command", after a discussion between Troi and Captain Jellico about morale on board the Enterprise, he tells her that he has standard of professionalism on his ship and orders her to start wearing a Starfleet uniform instead of the outfits she usually wears.
Tabletop Games
- Shadowrun: In the 4th Edition splatbook Attitude, in-universe several characters discuss the book's cover art of a woman wearing a vest that's completely open (where it's apparently art for some sort of corporate depiction of a Shadowrunner in a movie or TV show. One of the characters is quite critical of it, saying that no real 'Runner would actually dress like that while working, as showing that much skin on a job was just begging to be riddled with bullets- real 'Runners wear as much protection as they can comfortable move in and afford.
Video Games
- Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura: Running around in your underwear will result in NPCs criticizing your behavior and cause a reputation loss.
- Arcana Heart: Kira Daidohji fights in a literal swimsuit while riding around in her giant blob. She gets called out by Saki.
Saki: How can you walk around like that? Don't you have any sense of decency?
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend: In Makoto's "Help Me!! Professor Kokonoe!!" segment, Kokonoe criticizes her outfit for showing a lot of Underboob and saying that she's one breeze or cough away from a Wardrobe Malfunction. Kokonoe even comments that her Underboob and Litchi's cleavage would be more appropriate for an H-Game.
- King of Fighters XIII mercilessly lampshades the fact that Mai's outfit has her half-naked, by having most of the cast point out the indecency of what she's wearing. Her reaction ranges from trying to justify it, by explaining it's the traditional garb worn by the women of the Shiranui Ninja Clan, to being insulted.
- Mass Effect 2: During Miranda Lawson's loyalty mission, she confronts the asari leader of the Eclipse mercenaries who's trying to abduct Miranda's sister Oriana. Enyala proceeds to insult Miranda's rather revealing outfit, and if Jack (who hates Miranda) is the other squadmate, she will agree with the insults despite wearing significantly less herself.
Captain Enyala: I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or does Cerberus really let you whore around in that outfit?
- Rosenkreuzstilette: Luste Teuber is a young and perky Magus who's entire outfit consist of a two-piece bikini as well as a choker. Pamela does not approve.
Pamela: What in God's name are you wearing!? There are limits to indecency!
- Street Fighter X Tekken: In Jin and Xiaoyu's rival battle with Chun-Li and Cammy, Xiaoyu, being a Clingy Jealous Girl and borderline-Yandere for Jin, assumes that Jin will be seduced by their revealing outfits, and says she won't let them seduce Jin with their "tramp clothes."
- Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Doronjo's win quote against Morrigan has her criticizing Morrigan's outfit for being inappropriate because children could be watching... despite the fact that Doronjo's outfit isn't exactly that much more modest.
- Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children has a rare male example. For some reason, Plucky Girl Irene really dislikes her new co-worker Heixing's No Shirt, Long Jacket, to the point where it slows the growth of her Relationship Value towards him.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: A downplayed example. Azurda has this to say about Mythra's Stripperific outfit:
Azurda: She's certainly exposing an awful lot of skin.
Dromarch: Pot, meet kettle.
Azurda: Would you care to explain what that is supposed to mean, my good sir?
Dromarch: Have you looked in a mirror recently?
Visual Novels
- Being a ΔΙΚ: When Patrick meets Maya in her room at the start of "True Colors" after the HOTs initiation, he pointedly comments on her off-shoulder dress and tells her to not wear it anymore, saying that he "[doesn't] want boys to get the wrong idea about my daughter".
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations: Victor Kudo is an elderly man who complains about how revealing the waitress outfits at Très Bien are because of his old-fashioned values. He's actually a Dirty Old Man who often goes to the restaurant solely to stare at the waitresses' outfits, and it's actually a plot point that he didn't see one waitress' face because he was staring at her butt.
Web Animation
- ATTACK on MIKA: An attempt to exploit this trope happens in "Short perverted teacher goes up to a tall female student and tries to harass her.. where the Predatory Pervert teacher Shimoda accuses Iori's skirt of being shorter than regulation as an excuse to perv on her. Iori is able to avoid the attempt by pointing out that her skirt only looks short because of her height and is within regulation.
- Runas Romcom Manga: My new female hires quit day 3 wanting $50M, so I ignored them forever...!?": Kazuma points out to his junior employee Mayumi because her skirt length is shorter than the company dress code. Mayumi, being the niece of the HR director, accuses him of sexual harassment for commenting on her outfit in order to make him back down.
Webcomics
- Awkward Zombie: In "Minor Setback", Nowi's outfit, which is basically garters and a bikini top, makes the other party members feel uncomfortable because Nowi looks like a prepubescent girl despite being over 1000 years old, which Chrom explains to her after learning her actual age.
- BaalBuddy:
- One comic has Cassandra getting mad at her sister Sophita for appearing in a hookup ad with her see-through dress, with Sophita justifying herself by pointing out that it's a holy raiment and Taki insisting that there's nothing wrong with visible nipples.
- This comic has Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1989) telling an adult Ariel that she should update her wardrobe because her Seashell Bra is about to pop off. Ariel refuses because Eric says she looks great.
- This Final Fantasy VII comic has Aerith and Tifa fighting over who gets to go on the Gold Saucer date with Cloud. When Tifa calls herself Cloud's wholesome childhood friend, Aerith scoffs at the term wholesome and says she's dressed like a [BEEP] and accuses her of whoring herself out to earn money for AVALANCHE.
- Subverted in This comic, which has Professor Xavier criticizing Emma Frost for wearing her revealing superhero outfit at a school and tells her to change into something more appropriate. He approves of her teacher outfit, even though it isn't that much more appropriate, as it looks more like a sexy schoolteacher outfit.
- Busty Girl Comics: Some comics show the Double Standards of how selective people can be when it comes to accusing women of dressing inappropriately.
- This Comic has two women wearing the exact same outfit, but only the busty woman is accused of dressing inappropriately.
- One comic has a woman at the beach get accused of being indecent because her bikini top shows too much cleavage. The woman points out that one (offscreen) guy is wearing a speedo and yet she's the only one getting called out.
- This Comic
- The Order of the Stick: In "Consider Their Lineage", the True Neutral Julia tells her Lawful Good brother Roy that he needs to loosen up. Roy, in response tells her that she needs to tighten up, as in put on some clothes, referring to her tank tank top and skirt.
Web Videos
- The Guild: In the second season, Codex is interested in a hot stuntman neighbor and dresses up (showing cleavage) to get his interest when Vork shows up out of the blue and asks "Why are you dressed like a harlot?" Then he invades her home and peruses her belongings before randomly turning to her and saying "Cover yourself, woman."
Western Animation
- Animaniacs (1993): In the Katie Kaboom short "Belly Button Blues", Katie's parents object to Katie wearing a shirt that exposes her belly button, and her little brother, Tinker, keeps singing "I see Katie's belly button! I see Katie's belly button!" This annoys Katie so much that she becomes enraged and turns into a green monster with an even bigger and more hideous belly button. After she calms down, she puts on a sweater, saying it's too cold for her to wear the shirt she wanted to wear.
- Justice League: In "Eclipsed", G. Gordon Godfrey is a sensationalist talk show host who rants against the Justice League. One of his criticisms is against Wonder Woman for her revealing costume, with him saying that he's seen showgirls with more modesty. Wonder Woman destroys the television out of fury, asking what's wrong with her outfit. Flash and Green Lantern wisely decide not to say anything.
- The Loud House: In "Undie Pressure", Lincoln's sisters complain about him reading comics in the living room in his underwear. This results in the siblings making The Bet where they aren't allowed to do something specific that their siblings find annoying (Luan can't tell jokes, Lily can't cry, etc).
- In season 5 of Samurai Jack, the Scotsman scolds his daughters for wearing skimpy clothes to fight Aku. He says that they would end up catching a "death of cold."
- The Simpsons: Lisa's regular outfit is a strapless red dress with a white pearl necklace. In "Black-Eyed, Please", she is scolded for it by a substitute teacher who bullies her because she thinks Lisa is a "pretty, blonde party-girl" who bullies smart girls.
- Sonic Boom: In "Mombot", Eggman’s titular robot mother that he built invites Sonic, Amy, and Sticks over to Eggman’s lair. When Mombot sees Sticks’ skimpy outfit (a midriff-baring tube-top and a short skirt), she asks, "Who let you leave the house like that? You must get chilly!" Mombot then instantly knits a brown sweater and puts it on over Sticks’ tube-top, to Sticks’ annoyance.
- Superman: The Animated Series: In "My Girl", Lois Lane snarks "The only thing holding that dress up is faith" about one of the designs presented at a fashion show.
- Teen Titans: In "Mother Mae-Eye", the titular villain brainwashes the Titans into thinking she’s their mother. Before the Titans leave Titans Tower to fight crime, Mother Mae-Eye makes Starfire (who normally wears a sleeveless crop-top and a miniskirt) cover up with a huge turtleneck sweater so she won’t get chilly.
- Teen Titans Go!: In "Grandma Voice", Grandma Cyborg scolds Starfire for wearing her usual attire and forces her to put on a wool sweater to cover her up and also make sure she doesn't catch a cold. She then approves of Raven being bundled up with her cloak, but thinks that she's sassing her back when she flatly thanks her for the approval.
Real Life
- Active temples of various religions often have a sign informing at the entrance about the required minimum of clothing, for both men and women. Might or might not come with a pictogram. This is especially present in places attended by tourists, especially in warmer climates, since outsiders are far more likely to enter the place like they would a museum, rather than a place of worship.