Giant Waist Ribbon
A ribbon, sash, or obi[1] worn on the waist, tied like a bow, and is large enough to see from any angle.
Ribbons like this aren't unheard of in Real Life, but rarely as large as in the trope (except for the the obi), and smaller ones are used on dresses as a pretty alternative to a belt, especially if it matches bows already on the dress. They just aren't any likely to be that big.
This trope is applying Bigger Is Better to that, likely because the artist or costumer feels it adds a recognizable point for the outfit, or a character wearing it has a Limited Wardrobe.
Also, the rest of the outfit doesn't really matter. It can vary from a Pimped-Out Dress to even a Chainmail Bikini.
Compare Showgirl Skirt (which this can even substitute for), Peacock Girl, Giant Poofy Sleeves.
Examples of Giant Waist Ribbon include:
Anime and Manga
- Hideyoshi and Ieyasu from Sengoku Otome
- In Naruto, several ninjas run around with enormous rope bows tied around their waists; Sasuke gains one post-timeskip and gets mocked relentlessly for it.
- Orochimaru has one. His entire uniform is actually the basis for Sasuke's post-timeskip-slash-Face Heel Turn uniform. Needless to say, he also gets mocked mercilessly as well, for being the trend setter
- Misao and eventually Aoshi of Rurouni Kenshin; the latter is affectionately given the Fan Nickname "Butt Bow" as a result.
- Sailor Moon's starts out too small to count, but gets bigger and fancier with every power upgrade.
- Her final uniform is the worst offender. Those wings? They're attached at her waist where her previous uniforms had bows and are shaped like one.
- Mito of Space Pirate Mito has a bow so large that its tails have their own little bows.
- A lot of outfits in Kamichama Karin have this.
- Vita of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has this as part of her Barrier Jacket.
- Post-henshin Juna from Earth Maiden Arjuna has prehensile waist-ribbons. They're see-through, they expand and contract as needed, and she can grab things with them. But most importantly: they float around dramatically behind her.
- Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier (pictured above).
- Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl is a good example
Film -- Animated
- Cynthia in The Secret of NIMH. It's the only thing she wears, actually.
- One of the outfits Tiana wore in The Princess and the Frog is a strapless light blue dress with a giant dark blue sash around the waist.
Video Games
- Meru of Legend of Dragoon wears one.
- Disgaea - Rune Knight classes.
- Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories - Yukimaru, Fubuki, and Rozalin
- Yuna in Final Fantasy X; she also has it in a handful of her Final Fantasy X-2 outfits.
- Ayane from Dead or Alive series.
- Tekken: Ling Xiaoyu (standard Tekken 3 uniform only)
- Lemina from Lunar 2: Eternal Blue.
- RAcaseals (female robot gun specialists) in Phantasy Star Online have a bodies in a Meido-style dress, complete with ribbon and bow around their waists.
- Sheena from Tales of Symphonia.
- Maya from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Likewise, Pearl also has one.
- Alice: Madness Returns feature a selection of dresses with this.
- Shao Lei-Lei/Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers.
- Totooria Helmold of Atelier Totori.
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land: The Grand Hammer skill gives Kirby a rainbow-colored, pretzel-shaped giant ribbon.
- Ellis of Battle Arena Toshinden.
Web Comics
- Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki wears a red one as part of her Mini-Dress of Power. She also gains the ability to manipulate it, something only Freya had ever done.
- Kanaya from Homestuck gains a purple one late in Act 5. It's not purely for fashion, it's covering the hole in her stomach where Eridan one-shotted her.
- Bonus points: It's Eridan's cape.
- Elliot from El Goonish Shive is transformed into a girl wearing one of these in this filler strip.
Web Original
- In the Global Guardians PBEM Universe, psychic superhero Oracle combines a bright red Giant Waist Ribbon with a Playboy Bunny-esque bustier and fishnet stockings as her crimefighting costume.
Real Life
- Over the top Fairytale Wedding Dresses can sport these.
- Some Victorian dresses had these, often in conjunction with a bustle.