Skirt Over Slacks



A fashion choice in which a woman wears a skirt (or dress) over a pair of pants or shorts.

In Anime, it's common for some girls to wear bike shorts under their skirts, the characterization usually being one of shyness or tomboyishness (athletes are popular users of this trope). See also Modesty Shorts, for when a girl wears shorts under her miniskirt to avoid Panty Shots, and Tights Under Shorts, the sister trope to this.

It's also a very common outftting choice in Kid Com shows, as well as for Adorkable female characters.

Note that this is applicable only when either the skirt or the pants could be done away with completely without making the outfit too risqué. Oddly enough some shows will still grant the wearer a Magic Skirt even though there's no panties to see.

Often seen in Real Life.

Anime & Manga

 * Naruto: Sakura dresses like this, both before and after the Time Skip.
 * Worn by Hibiki with one of her casual outfits in Suite Pretty Cure.
 * Save for the Fresh Pretty Cure and Suite Pretty Cure team, bike shorts under a skirt is a common piece of the Pretty Cure outfit. However, thanks to the wonders of Magic Skirt, it's impossible to figure out certain ones unless the shorts are visable.
 * It's practically Misaka's signature. It's relentlessly lampshaded in both series.
 * Done with tunics by the main characters in Dangaioh, including The One Guy.
 * Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, often wears a dress over jeans when she's not required to Cosplay as a boy.
 * Sasami in Pretty Sammy actually wears the bike shorts over skirt variant in the OVA.
 * Eva from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni.

Comics -- Books

 * In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Supergirl wears a pleated red skirt over her Supergirl outfit (which is otherwise identical in design to Superman's usual costume). She is sometimes drawn with shorts under her skirt in the regular comics as well. It's actually become the standard now, since most people who read the comic found the Panty Shots to be disgusting and out of place.
 * Misfit, the teen member of the Birds of Prey, usually wears knee-length bike shorts under her short skirt, probably for the same reasons as Supergirl, above.
 * In IDW's Transformers "-ations" series, the tomboyish Verity Carlo wears a skirt over leggings-style pants.

Fan Works

 * Shugo Kino in Pretty Cure Heavy Metal already wears her gym shorts (which actually resemble shorts) under her uniform whenever she goes to school at Isuten Junior High, but this trope is a LOT more obvious in the colder months, where she wears blue jeans under her uniform instead (as seen in later season 1 episodes), which allows for a non-Fanservicy variation of Dress Hits Floor in one scene in episode 41.

Films -- Animation

 * Red Puckett in Hoodwinked. She eschews the skirt entirely in the sequel.

Films -- Live-Action

 * The heroine of Juno wears this on her poster, and a few times throughout the movie. At one point, she takes off the skirt when she goes to see Paulie, which Word of God says he knows her well enough to give her a hard time about.
 * In Sky High the GF of the main character wears a flower print skirt over jeans.
 * In Hidalgo, Jazira wears a long tunic over pants, a very common outfit for Arab women during that time period.
 * Kick Ass. Hit Girl wears a pleated schoolgirl skirt over her purple superhero jumpsuit.

Live-Action TV

 * Gossip Girl: Serena wore outfits like this in the early seasons. In later seasons... not so much.
 * I Carly: Carly and Sam, on occasion.
 * Victorious: Jade regularly wears black leggings with black skirts. In Tori Goes Platinum, Tori wears a sparkling gold skirt with black jeans and knee high boots as part of her makeover.
 * Sonny With a Chance: Tawni, Zora and Sonny all have worn clothes like this from the start of the show, and for Tawni, it's pretty much every episode.
 * Wizards of Waverly Place: Alex has this in the title sequence.
 * Tosh does this in an episode of Torchwood because she wants to dress up to impress someone, but it's also really cold out.
 * In Power Rangers Mystic Force, Vida wears long pants under her skirts.
 * As does Kira in Power Rangers Dino Thunder.
 * In Power Rangers SPD, this is the standard uniform for female B-Squad cadets.
 * Played with in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. It's not the main actress that plays Ahim that does this, but rather her Stunt Double.
 * Mako of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger usually follows this trope. Her most well known outfit is a dress just thrown over a turtleneck and jeans.
 * Naomi Wildman in Star Trek Voyager.
 * Buffy The Vampre Slayer: Buffy occasionally wore this in the first season. In season two, they got a new costume designer who didn't get the appeal of the look and did away with it.
 * Eureka: Holly Martin the Adorkable nerd wears this type of clothing.
 * Game of Thrones: Daenerys's usual Dothraki outfit has riding leathers with a skirt over it. Her maternity clothes have a larger skirt over her normal outfit. Irri wears a skirt over leggings, as well.

Video Games

 * Gotcha Force: Usagi wears a plaid skirt over her pants.
 * Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
 * Natalie wears a tan skirt over black pants (Though, her sprite and official art makes it hard to tell if the skirt isn't actually a waist apron).
 * A favorite for female player characters; Pony Jill (Another Wonderful Life, DS Cute) wears a skirt over pants, and Angela (Tree of Tranquility), and Molly (Animal Parade) wear visible shorts under their skirts.
 * In Morrowind, you have the option of wearing a skirt over your trousers, regardless of gender. You'll see enemies doing the same.
 * Touhou: Meiling and Shou.
 * in The World Ends With You.
 * Quistis Trepe of Final Fantasy VIII wears what appear to be these.
 * Elh of Solatorobo favors a long tunic over pants. In an interesting Gender Flip, this is a boys' outfit.
 * Likewise, Link tends to wear a tunic over tights or leggings of some sort in most of his incarnations. Presumably, the logic is the same as a girl's: avoiding giving the player any elfin Panty Shots as he rolls, swims, etc.
 * May from Pokémon and her several counterparts.

Web Comics

 * Abby in Ctrl Alt Del wears a skirt over ripped pants/leggings which was recolored as a skirt over tights after it was discovered she looked exactly like another artist's drawing.
 * In The Zombie Hunters' extended Flash Back, the youngest Zombie Hunter Katie sometimes sports this look, in contrast to her more utilitarian teammates.

Western Animation
"Mrs. Bugs Bunny: Eh, WHO wears the pants in this family?"
 * Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Suki during and after "The Boiling Rock", and the Fire Nation girls in their Beach Episode.
 * Code Lyoko
 * Sissi wears a miniskirt over jeans as part of her standard outfit during Seasons 1-3.
 * Also, Aelita's dress over pink pants in Season 4.
 * Aelita's Season 4 avatar have arguably a transluscent skirt over spandex leggings.
 * Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Yumi wears a black skirt over what looks like purple bike shorts.
 * Sissy from Johnny Test wears this.
 * Alice, Vici, and Ms. Mimi in Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps.
 * In the Looney Tunes short, Hold the Lion, Please, it was done hilariously. At the near-end of the cartoon, Mrs. Bugs Bunny appears, and after Bugs slinks back into his burrow at the sight of her, she turns to the viewing audience, and says...

... and immediately lifts up her dress, revealing a pair of MEN'S SLACKS!

Truth in Television

 * And was used as a form of rebellion in the times when girls were forced to wear skirts to school.
 * The Churidar and Salwar Kameez are "default" versions of this trope; they retain the appearance and the practicality of the skirt-over-slacks theme, but are not usually worn without the pants, because the tops have two cuts on either side, going up to the waist. This actually serves two purposes: one, it gives more freedom of movement, and two: it looks pretty stylish. (This is also the type of dress featured in Avatar: The Last Airbender; likely intentional considering the show's Asian influences).
 * They're also practical in the Middle Eastern countries where they're primarily worn; skin covering is essential to prevent sunburn, but the outfit also has to be loose to allow air to circulate.
 * The concept of "bloomers", puffy pants under a skirt, was an attempt to do this in the 19th century. But some still found it indecent.
 * One early Feminist who tried the style gave it up; according to her every time she gave a speech on women's rights to a male audience they were so busy staring at her ankles they didn't hear a word she said.
 * Girls in Modern Orthodox Jewish communities often wear skirts over jeans.
 * This is common among Muslim women who feel (or are forcefully instructed) that "modest clothing" necessarily involves wearing long, loose, flowing garments--in public, at least. Such women often wear more fashionable outfits--often including slacks or jeans--under the loose garment, which would be taken off at home or in female-only settings.
 * Quite apart from any cultural reason, this was a favourite look of Trinny Woodall of What Not to Wear fame... and one of the few that never did creep into the mainstream of the UK for much of the 2000s. T&S got their way about A-line skirts, wedge heels, stretch-sided knee-boots and fitted tshirts... but this one (assigned usually to tall or short-legged women) never convinced anyone.