Cyd Charisse had legs that went all the way up.
"She's got legs, an' knows how to use them
She never begs, she knows how to choose 'em
She's holdin' leg, wonderin' how to feel them
Would you get behind 'em, if you could only find 'em?"
She never begs, she knows how to choose 'em
She's holdin' leg, wonderin' how to feel them
Would you get behind 'em, if you could only find 'em?"
There are many things about a woman that can catch the camera's eye. Some shows may focus on her ample chest; others, her curvy behind; and others still like to take a really long look at how lovely her legs are.
This trope deals with cases where a female character's legs are given special attention, either by the camera or by characters in-universe. This is notably recurrent in G-rated fiction, where the Male Gaze is directed to the legs rather than the even more sexualized breasts and buttocks. Gender-inverted versions are rare and tend to be Played for Laughs when they do occur.
Often takes the form of a Feet-First Introduction that slowly pans up the legs in question. May also be seen in conjunction with a Supermodel Strut. Zettai Ryouiki, Showgirl Skirt, short skirt, Underwear/Leotards/Minidresses of Power, Qipao, and Footsie Under the Table are also good ways to show off these features. A Kick Chick will almost always have these, as will most female Dance Battlers. The Statuesque Stunner will also have these, more often than not. Common in Bathtub Scenes; Foot Popping is used to show these off as well. If the Amazonian Beauty has them, expect either the narration, other characters, or the character design to emphasize her legs' muscularity as attractive, often with special attention to the thighs.
Even horror can get in on the action by using Helpless Kicking as an excuse to focus on a female victim's bare, thrashing legs as she's being taken to her doom or devoured.
Closely related to Fanservice. Show Some Leg is not necessarily related but certainly can be.
Example subpages:
Other examples:
open/close all folders
Advertising
- In a 2014 J.G. Wentworth commercial, in a departure from their usual opera-inspired TV ads, this one is done in the style of a really old and aged music video with far more contemporary music, featuring various different singers appearing in the busted-out windows of an old, abandoned brownstone building. Almost all of the women appearing in the windows are wearing either really short shorts, or really short skirts... and they all have really nice legs.
Comic Strips
- The Adventures of Prudence Prim: Protagonist Prudence dresses in modern, stylish clothes for the 1920s, which means knee-length hems with stockings on display. There are two notable instances where her legs and stockings are in the spotlight:
- A December 1925 strip sees Prudence matching a dress decorated with silk roses to a pair of hose with embroidered roses on the shin. The hose get special mention in the verse that captions the panel of her getting dolled up.
A rose upon her shoulder, and a corresponding rose
Embroidered on the— well, the shins— of both her silken hose! - A February 1926 strip mentions Prudence taking part in one of the stranger makeup trends of the 1920s: painted knees
.
Her skirt was short, her stockings neatly rolled and— if you please—
Two highly colored landscapes were painted on her knees!
- A December 1925 strip sees Prudence matching a dress decorated with silk roses to a pair of hose with embroidered roses on the shin. The hose get special mention in the verse that captions the panel of her getting dolled up.
Fan Works
- A Crown of Stars: Asuka's legs are often Shinji's focus. In chapter 25, while they are having a serious -and, for once, civil- talk, Shinji has to force himself to not spend the whole time ogling her legs:
Asuka was waiting for him. Wrapped in a blood-red bathrobe and towel, she was curled up in the bed like a ruby cat, slender fingers tapping gently together as she watched him like a hawk as he carried the tray in. Good gods, she looked hot. Her oh gods long, smooth legs peeking out from the edge of the robe were—‘FOCUS, Ikari!’ He saw her eyebrow rise when she spotted the rose.
- Advice and Trust:
- At the beginning of chapter 3, Shinji sees Asuka wearing nothing but a towel. He tries very hard to not drool over her naked legs.
A small part of his brain was concentrating on not dropping the hot pot on his feet, because most of it was trying not to drool helplessly over the way Asuka's long, smooth legs disappeared up under the hem of the towel, mixed in with memories of last night that said sight triggered.
- Later in the story Rei Ayanami falls for both her fellow pilots and she also notes Asuka has beautiful legs:
Shinji's deep blue eyes... Asuka's crystal blue ones... her long red hair... his sensitive hands... her long legs, his compassion, her fire, her heat...'
- At the beginning of chapter 3, Shinji sees Asuka wearing nothing but a towel. He tries very hard to not drool over her naked legs.
- In Ara Ara, a lot of attention is paid to Moe Bakugou's thighs, especially by Izuku who's crushing hard on her.
- By the Sea: Gender-inverted variation; being merfolk, Cody is fascinated by Obi-Wan's legs, especially once their relationship turns intimate and he comes to love how Obi-Wan wraps his legs around his tail in an embrace. Some members of Obi-Wan's personal merfolk guard detail evidently think the same and are constantly hiding their embarrassment whenever they watch Obi-Wan swim.
- Doing It Right This Time: In chapter 2 Asuka notices Rei has very nice legs.
A pair of strappy sandals with four-inch heels completed the ensemble, doing wonderful things to the shape of her calves and...
- Evangelion 303: During a moving party in chapter 3, Shinji constantly ogles to Asuka's legs.
- Male example: In Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità, Italy crossdressed as Sailor Moon. Let's just say it left very little to the imagination.
The sight that greeted the pair dropped two mouths into oblivion, their blood rushing south faster than the speed of light; impossibly short skirt which showcased voluptuous hips and crimson calf-high boots on legs that stretch on for miles, that cute little red bow on a white blouse that hugged all the right places and elegant gloves which encased lithe arms...it was a miracle upon the holiest upon holiest and merciful of miracles that the ship did not spontaneously detonate in a gory explosion of blood and guts at that very instant.
- Girl Days: The narration notes several times that Akane has very nice legs. Even Ranma -who usually is prone to insult her- tells her she has beautiful legs.
- Last Child of Krypton: Shinji meets Asuka in chapter 2. During her first meeting, one of the first things he noticed about her were her very nice legs.
He did his best to keep his eyes off Asuka, and he failed totally. Misato's description of her was a pale reflection, like the light of the moon in the ripples across a pond. She wore a yellow sundress and a ribbon at her pale throat and crossed long, supple legs in front of her.
- In Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide, Shinji thinks that Asuka has very shapely legs.
Suddenly, Asuka called out, making Shinji jump and quickly avert his eyes. She pushed up on her arms and sat up, shapely legs folded beneath her.
- The Night Unfurls:
- In Chapter 7 of the original, Shani enters Kyril's temporary quarters to notify him that Bergen has received her message, and to chat him up. The narration describes her crossing her legs while sitting on the chair that Kyril once occupied, which shows off quite a bit of skin.
- In Chapter 10 of the original, Kyril encounters Grace while eating breakfast. He notes that her sarong shows off her fine legs. Unlike typical examples, this is merely an observation rather than the character ogling.
- In the remastered version, Soren and Kyril meet two serving girls while securing lodging in a Fantasy Tavern. Soren, eyes widening, notes that one of them is dressed in a long sarong that "accentuated her very fine legs".
- In chapter 9 of Once More with Feeling, when a gust of wind billows Asuka's dress, Shinji notes that her legs are utterly gorgeous.
Because right now, despite knowing what was about to happen, despite being aware of the consequences… he found himself unable to look away as a gust of wind pushed across the flight deck, billowing Asuka's dress at her waist and giving the trio of young men in front of her a splendid view of her utterly gorgeous legs and white, lacey –probably cotton- undergarments-
- Pokémon Master: During a scene, Misty and Ash are climbing an elevator shaft. Misty goes first, and she wears a very short and tight skirt, and knee-length boots, and Ash tries very hard to not look up and stare at her long legs moving and flexing above him.
- Superwomen of Eva 2: Lone Heir of Krypton: When Shinji saw Asuka's Supergirl costume for the first time, he noticed it showed off her gorgeous, muscled, long legs:
A red miniskirt was held up with a yellow belt, and soon yielded to a pair of lithe legs that, from Shinji's perspective, seemed to go on forever. A pair of scarlet boots completed the ensemble.
- Pacific: World War II U.S. Navy Shipgirls has several ship girls' costumes showing them off, but the most notable examples would be most of the Light Cruisers and the Iowa sisters.
- In Pokémon Reset Bloodlines, Gary Oak describes Giselle, the student from the Pokémon Tech trainer school as looking "preppy for the lack of a better word with really long legs".
- Pike Queen Lucy also has a long and shapely pair, and they contribute to her height.
- Sunsplit Saga: Young Starlight Glimmer, apparently:
Sunset: Speaking of which, how are Starlight's legs, Sunburst? Are they still as sleek as they were when we were kids?
- In Tokimeki PokéLive! and TwinBee, Hilda White and Risa Selden both have athletic-looking legs just like their Canon counterparts. Justified in Risa's case due to having been a runner before.
- Unbreakable Red Silken Thread: While lacking in the bust department, Heather knows she has this and works it to the fullest. Jasmine is another case, her preference for shorts and towering height highlighting this even further much to several of the cast's delight.
- The main character Attelus Kaltos of the 40k fanfic continuity Secret War is a male example as Attelus is shown to have very verylong, strong legs especially in later art. Makes sense as he's an elite assassin.
Films — Animation
- Elsa from Frozen after she gets her ice dress. The skirt of her ice gown has a slit in it.
- One scene in Hercules showed Megara running in a way so that she is picking up her dress, revealing a rare shot of her legs being exposed. The other prominent leg scene is when she's halfheartedly trying to seduce Wonderboy into revealing his weakness.
- The Incredibles: Elastigirl, Violet, Mirage, and Voyd all have legs that are long and/or shapely.
- Nani Pelekai from Lilo & Stitch. Chris Sanders likes to focus on that part of the feminine body.
- Ariel from The Little Mermaid when she becomes human. In fact, this is said word for word by Sebastian when Scuttle looks Ariel over, trying to figure out what is different about her.
Sebastian: (agitated) She's got legs, you idiot!
- Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas uses her (detached) curvy legs to her advantage when she distracts Oogie Boogie.
- A review published in The New York Times about Pocahontas drew attention to this aspect of the titular character: "She’s the first Disney animated heroine since Tinker Bell with great legs — maybe with any legs."
- Tzipporah from The Prince of Egypt has long, shapely legs that just add to her Ms. Fanservice status.
- While all the females in the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls franchise are quite leggy (mostly due to art style), an odd case can be seen with the native human Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games. Not even her Equestria counterpart has the kind of legs she has. The human versions of Celestia and Luna have ridiculously long legs which not even suit pants can disguise.
Films — Live-Action
- As seen in the page picture, Cyd Charisse had legs all the way up to there. The shot is from her cameo appearance in the "Broadway Melody" number in Singin' in the Rain, where she's introduced by way of her leg suddenly appearing right in front of Gene Kelly's face.
- She has been often accused of making herself a career as a Ms. Fanservice using her famous legs. Almost all of her movies feature a long close-up of them in her many dance sequences. Even the posters for her movies feature mainly her legs. No surprise, then, that she insured her gams for $5,000,000 USD.
- She has been often accused of making herself a career as a Ms. Fanservice using her famous legs. Almost all of her movies feature a long close-up of them in her many dance sequences. Even the posters for her movies feature mainly her legs
- It Happened One Night (1934) might be the codifier for this trope, as it lets Claudette Colbert flash her leg at a passing car as an alternative to sticking out her thumb. It works.
- Dick Tracy: Breathless's backup singers perform or rehearse various dance numbers in short skirts and shorts (Breathless herself tends to wear long gowns, save for when she's trying to seduce Tracy) with there being occasional closeups of their legs.
- Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit is another long-legged Disney redhead. Showcased in her brief cameo as a park ranger in the short Trail Mix-Up.
- Surely the only reason for the scene in Beat the Devil where Gwen is shown in the crow's nest of the boat, stretching her long, shapely legs.
Gwendolyn: Harry, we must beware of these men. They are desperate characters.
Harry: What makes you say that?
Gwendolyn: Not one of them looked at my legs! - Clueless. The film that gave The '90s the mini skirt.
Christian: Nice stems.
- This is parodied in The Naked Gun 33 1/3 which has the up-the-legs shot repeat itself several times, to the point that it shows TWO pairs of knees.
- Pretty Woman: Very clearly pointed out by Julia Roberts' character. Important enough that they got a body double for the legs in the film's poster. Her thigh-high boots add some extra appeal
- Parodied in Hot Shots!. "I had them lengthened. Now they go all the way up." The sequel parodied it as well with Michelle having apparently broken three Thighmasters with hers.
- Musicals from The Golden Age of Hollywood literally without number. Busby Berkeley, in particular, was devoted to this trope.
- A Fanservice moment in Night Nurse shows off Barbara Stanwyck's legs. Joan Blondell is even helping her take off her stockings!
- No Man of Her Own: Babe (played by Clark Gable) checks out Connie's (Carole Lombard) legs while she reaches for some books (she's a librarian).
- Polly's bitchy and rude lover in May has her legs drawn attention to a few times by the titular characters. It doesn't turn out well for her.
- The Love Parade (1929) spends a good amount of time displaying Queen Louise (Jeanette MacDonald)'s legs. In her first scene, she prances around in a nightgown with a transparent skirt. The camera lingers on her bare leg as she dips a toe into her bath to test the water. Later, to prove to the cabinet that a man might want to marry her for reasons beyond the political, she hikes up her skirt to show them her legs.
- Woman of the Year: Sam's first view of Tess is of her shapely leg as she adjusts her stocking. He's impressed.
- In the movie The Graduate, and the poster for it, Mrs. Robinson shows off her legs. The "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me" scene has become part of the public imagination through Pop-Cultural Osmosis.
- Little known fact that the legs in question actually belonged to a body double. That body double was Linda Gray.
- In Road House, Ida Lupino's character is introduced via her legs on a desk. She then proceeds to wear shorts so short that she gets called “legs”.
- Grindhouse spends an exceptional amount of time showing off its female characters' legs (and in the case of Death Proof, the feet as well - considering it's a Quentin Tarantino flick, no huge shock). This is especially important to Cherry Darling (who gets a rather awesome replacement) and Butterfly.
- Blazing Saddles: Lili von Shtupp is quite leggy, as pointed out by Hedley. She is a parody of Marlene Dietrich, who shows off her legs in almost all her movies. One shot has her kicking up her feet onto her dresser in a way that draws attention to her legs.
"Oh, Lili, Lili, Lili, legs, Lili, Lili!"
- Marlene Dietrich shows her gams in almost every movie of hers. Witness for the Prosecution had a special scene written just so Dietrich could show off her accordion. And her legs, of course.
- Spy Hard: Parodies the trope with a long, long trip up some ridiculously long legs - that turn out to be part of a statue, with the actual Love Interest standing between them.
- Vicky Vale in Batman (1989) is introduced sitting with her legs conspicuously propped up on a desk, the rest of her mostly hidden from view by the newspaper she's reading. Alex Knox comments, "Hello, legs."
- Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988):
"If they ever ask about me, tell them I was more than just a great set of boobs. I was also an incredible pair of legs!"
- There was actually a blooper show in the 1970s or early 1980s in which the first segment was replacing Elvira's wax statue at a museum with Elvira herself. A young boy (couldn't have been 10) walks up to the statue, says "Hello, hot stuff!" or something familiar, and feels Elvira's legs up.
- Heroic Trio: Maggie Cheung's character. Emphasised in her introductory pose.
- At least three-quarters of Kristen Wiig's outfits in Bridesmaids involve very short skirts or dresses displaying her long legs and several lines draw attention to them. (Usually in a more comedic way, but still.)
- Dancer/actress Juliet Prowse rose to prominence because Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev saw her dancing in the 1959 film Can-Can and immediately proclaimed her (her, not the film) "immoral and obscene". As they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity. From there, her career took off.
- A Pimped-Out Dress in That Lady in Ermine has a crinoline skirt that has nothing underneath, so that Betty Grable could lift it up and show off her famous legs.
- Julie Newmar was noted for having very nice, long legs, to the point she had them insured for $10 million.
- James Bond
- Pam Bouvier in Licence to Kill has quite a nice set of stems, and she wears several dresses with sky-high slits over the course of the film to show them off.
- GoldenEye has Xenia Onatopp and her Murderous Thighs.
- Paris Carver from Tomorrow Never Dies. The very first shot of her after she and Bond have sex is her rearranging her garters.
- In The World Is Not Enough, when Elektra King is torturing Bond, her skirt reveals her legs in tights.
- In From Russia with Love, Bond is using a periscope installed under the Soviet embassy to spy on a meeting inside, when Tatiana Romanova enters. He can't see her face, but what he can see impresses him greatly.
Karim Bey: How does she look to you?
James Bond: Well from this angle, things are shaping up nicely.
- The Resident Evil Film Series; In the first film, the camera is down low on Alice's body to view her legs. In the second film, in Jill Valentine's introduction, we get a very nice close-up of her legs. In the fifth film, we have Ada. Leon couldn't even resist putting his hand on her leg.
- Carly in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The camera spends an inordinate amount of time focused on her legs as she walks upstairs, gets out of cars, and often just stands there while the action happens around her, all in the shortest possible skirts and highest possible heels.
- In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, we have Ramona in tights throughout most of the film and Envy when she performs on stage in the sexiest way possible.
- Happens a lot in Lolita (1997) thanks to the title character's habit of propping her feet up on tables and car dashboards. Fifteen-year-old Dominique Swain has great legs, but given the subject matter, the Male Gaze aspects are rather disturbing.
- A Rare Male Example can be found in Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The corset and fishnets really showcase them.
- Dr. Laurel Weaver a.k.a Agent L from Men in Black. Kinda helps she was portrayed by Linda Fiorentino.
- Geena Davis (who is six feet tall and most of it leg) was made of this trope in the late 80s/early 90s. Notably in The Accidental Tourist and Thelma & Louise.
- Mary Poppins shows a lot of leg in the original poster◊. Doubles as a case of Covers Always Lie, as she never shows off her legs in the actual movie, except to a small degree in the "Step in Time" routine.
- Discussed about both Elizabeth (the twins' mother) and Meredith (the wicked stepmother-to-be) in the Lindsay Lohan remake of The Parent Trap:
- Martin (the James butler) suggests a Little Black Dress for Elizabeth with her legs.
- A very drunk ("totally zonked!") Elizabeth attempts to get out of the cab at the hotel feet first, showing serious leg.
Martin: Other end, Madam.- After seeing Nick in the elevator, his arms wrapped around a young lady, Elizabeth refers to her as "luh-GHEE", the British pronunciation of "Leggy". (Alternatively, it's Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable.)
- Sil from Species thanks to her super model-like human form. A bouncer at a nightclub even referred to her as "Legs" when she entered the club.
- Madison from Splash when she enters New York. The first thing she wore was just a T-shirt, makes her legs show more. The fact that she's played by Daryl Hannah means that on land she qualifies for this trope in both senses.
- My Night at Maud's: Vidal calls Maud out when she comes out of the side room dressed only in a man's long shirt.
Vidal: You just wanted to show off your legs!
Maud: Precisely! My only means of seduction. - The Wolf of Wall Street: Naomi primarily teases Jordan with her legs in the infamous fanservice scene in the nursery.
- In Laughter in Paradise, the first thing Handsome Lech Simon Russell notices about Lucille Grayson is her legs when she has her head under the bonnet of her car.
- Karen Lee (Mary Murphy) in The Mad Magician. When Lt. Bruce calls first calls for her at the theatre, the doorman describes her as "the pretty little thing with the legs. And don't act like you haven't noticed them". Her legs are on display in her role as Gallico the Great's Lovely Assistant.
- Femme Fatale Barbara Matthews in Drive a Crooked Road is a very attractive package overall, but the film pays special attention to her legs. She wears outfits designed to showcase her legs, and one scene has her stepping out of the shower to answer the phone where she is shown only from the thighs down.
- Wonder Woman (2017): Upon gearing up to leave Themyscira, Diana wears a cloak that largely keeps her armor hidden, but emphasizes her relatively bare legs as she is walking. She ends up getting a Feet-First Introduction when she approaches Steve ready to go. This necessitates getting new clothes upon arriving in London, as full-length dresses are the norm for the time period and she stands out.
- Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone: Chalmers the Wrench Wench is introduced wearing a skimpy nightshirt that leaves her amazing legs totally bare. She kicks her feet up on a computer terminal in case you failed to notice.
- Kaz in Great White. For most of the film, her long, shapely legs are showcased by her tight white shorts, and any time she ends in the water, there are close-ups of her legs kicking.
- Infamous (2020): Arielle seems to have an aversion to covering her legs and spends most of the movie in extremely abbreviated denim cut-offs. During the final Blast Out, she draws a pistol she has tucked down the back of her shorts.
- Jackie Brown has Melanie, a surfer girl who lounges around the bad guys' apartment wearing hardly anything, with special camera emphasis on her long, sun-kissed pins draped over the furniture.
- Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl:
- Beth often wears very short dresses, skirts, and shorts which show off her long tan legs.
- Adele also wears tights which show off her own shapely legs once.
- Compulsion (2016): Sadie and Francesca's shapely legs (in short dresses and stockings that showcase them) often get long shots by the camera (especially while someone's running their hand down them seductively).
- Mars Attacks!: The first shot we see of Natalie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is her in a very short skirt and platform heels, casually leaning back in a chair with her leg on the table in the center of the shot.
- Higher Learning: The camera slowly pans over Deja's long athletic legs while in her running gear. It turns into showing them while she and Malik have sex too, with her legs wrapped around him.
- Room in Rome: Natasha is a tall, gorgeous woman whose long legs get a lot of attention, with several camera shots that linger on them, particularly when she wears only a silk dressing gown. Alba also likes this, staring at them and even dubbing Natasha "long legs" teasingly.
Literature
- In Louis Sachar's Dogs Dont Tell Jokes, Gary Boone has an attractive teacher named Miss Langley whom he secretly calls "Miss Longlegs". (He accidentally uses the nickname out loud during his comedy routine at the climax of the book, but the audience and Miss Langley take it as a joke.)
- The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul: When Kate exits The Alleged Car, it's noted that she has the kind of legs a film soundtrack editor would feel obliged to put a smoky saxophone solo against.
- For a male example, see the Wheel of Time series. Whenever a female character comments on a male character's attractiveness, it will usually involve admiring his legs, especially the calves.
- Sisterhood Series by Fern Michaels: Let's see. Lizzie Fox has them, Alexis Thorne has them, and Isabelle Flanders has them. There might be more, but those three are definitely noted for this trope.
- In Alas, Babylon, a brief flashback shows Randy meeting Love Interest Libby. He pulled his boat up to her parents' dock where she was out getting some sun. All he could see was her legs (which she considers her only asset).
Randy: Hello, legs.
Libby: You must be Randy. - It's not mentioned prominently or often, but Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park is noted to have a nice pair of legs. In fact, it's the first thing Tim Murphy notices when he meets her. Malcolm outright tells her: "I could look at your legs all day."
- Rasp got 'em◊.
- In The Big Sleep, Marlowe spends quite a while admiring Femme Fatale Vivian's legs.
- It may not be literature but Doc Savage sidekick Monk Mayfair actually recognizes a disguised villainess by her legs.
- One of Elsabeth Soesten's distinct characteristics are her long and shapely legs. The other two are her copper hair and green eyes.
- In Dinner at Deviant's Palace, the protagonist is on a mission to rescue his ex-girlfriend when he meets the woman who will turn out to be the story's actual love interest; the first sign of her status is that despite himself he can't help noticing what nice legs she has.
- In The Girl from the Miracles District, Nikita notes that Freya has very attractive legs, which the goddess likes to show off.
- Hyouta Ashikaga of the Pretty Boy Detective Club is a track and field runner, well aware that his most attractive feature is his shapely legs. His school uniform is modified so that he wears short shorts, he cannot seem to stop posing with his legs, and even his last name carries the kanji for "leg".
- In the 007 novel Zero Minus Ten, the narration notes multiple times that Sunni Pei has long, very sexy legs that are easily one of her best physical features, and her tall height really makes her stand out as a Chinese woman.
- Hive Mind (2016): Amber's first experience reading the mind of an aroused male is when Adika is ogling Megan's legs. They factor into his thoughts frequently afterwards as well.
Music
- Rihanna tends to wear outfits that show off her long toned yet shapely legs, as does Beyoncé in the music video for "Single Ladies."
- The lyrics to "You Walked In" by Lonestar have this.
You Walked InWith legs up to your neck
- Lady Gaga seems to like to show them off in her videos.
- Carrie Underwood, often wearing shorts in her concerts to show off her legs and she works hard to keep them in shape. It can be said the focus of the music video of "Remind Me", with Brad Paisley, is mostly about Brad's guitar and Carrie's legs!
- Flogging Molly's "Devil's Dance Floor":
Her legs ran all the wayUp to heaven and past Avalon.
- Zebrahead (Band)'s "With Legs Like That":
Here she comes again, like good medicineEvery step she takes, my blood is flowingHer legs go on and on for days...
- Hello! Project had a duo consisting of Fujimoto Miki and Matsuura Aya, called GAM, that was centred on this trope.
- We absolutely must mention ZZ Top's "Legs", which is of course both the Trope Namer and the source of the page quote.
- Van Halen's "Drop Dead Legs".
- The Smithereens' "Behind The Wall of Sleep".
She had hair like Jeannie Shrimpton back in 1965She had legs that never endedI was halfway paralyzed
- "Leggy Blonde" by Flight of the Conchords.
- Florence Welch of Florenceandthe Machine. See the video for "Drumming Sound" for evidence.
- And what about "You've Got the Love"? She clearly shows she's got the legs too.
- "Hot Legs" by Rod Stewart.
- "So Alive" by Love and Rockets: "Your legs are strong and they're so, so long." Gloriously hammered home by the video.
- "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", anyone? Nancy Sinatra's legs definitely helped make her famous.
- Park Bom, of the Korean girl band 2NE1, uses this trope as her primary fanservice, as she wears rather tight, and extremely short mini-dresses in nearly all of the band's music videos, as well as live performances. (Many fangirls and fanboys are simply waiting for the day that particular wardrobe malfunction rears its head.)
- Australia's Giulietta is this trope. See◊ for◊ yourself◊.
- Iggy Azalea has a nice set of legs, shown off in the music video for "Fancy".
- Tina◊ Turner's◊ legs look better at age 50 than most people's do at 20. This is why they are legendarily insured by Lloyd's of London for $3.2 million.
- British singer Eliza Doolittle is well known for using this trope as Fanservice. She's rarely seen in her concerts, music videos, and even in public without a miniskirt or hotpants.
- Famous among Beatles fans are the placeholder lyrics Paul McCartney used when he had the tune that would become "Yesterday", but not the words:
Oh, my baby, how I love your legs...
- K-Pop group Girls' Generation used this trope for the choreography of their song "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)". Parts of the choreography, called the "Jegi-kicking dance" (제기차기 춤) and the "Leg-beauty dance" (각선미 춤) became very popular in Korea.
- K-Pop group Dal Shabet has a song called "Be Ambitious (Look at My Legs)." One of the key points of the choreography is even designed to focus all attention on their legs.
- Girls Aloud are fond of wearing short skirts and tight dresses, but Nadine Coyle is almost always styled in a mini-skirt or short shorts, even if the other girls are not.
- In "American Made" by the Oak Ridge Boys, the narrator's girlfriend is described as having "sexy long legs" and looking good in tight blue jeans.
- Spanish rapper Mala (Bad Girl) Rodríguez likes to flaunt her beautiful, perfectly shaped legs.
- The Lonely Island's "You've Got The Look", concerning a Wardrobe Malfunction that the fashionista singers have confused for a daring new trend.
She's got legs, and she knows how to use 'emAlso got one titty out, style so confusin'
- Male example from Gorillaz—the music video for the song "Humility" has 2D rollerblading around in a pair of jogging shorts that are so tiny they almost look like boxer shorts. These show off his long, slender legs and quite a few viewers expressed intense appreciation for it.
- After reaching maturity by Phase 3, Noodle usually wears short skirts, hot pants, or stockings that emphasize her legs
- South African singer Bok van Blerk uses this trope in his ballad Appel, Lemoene. in which two zef delivery drivers set the scene by leering at passing women from their bakkie, then seriously get up the nose of a greengrocer called Sally. Who gets the full feet-up treatment as she is seen to storm out, before coming back with a very big rifle. Never annoy an Afrikaaner meisie who can shoot straight. The last shot of the video is Sally, feet up on the counter, with the rifle on her lap.
- From Jethro Tull, we have "Budapest", aka ode to a pair of legs:
Yes, and her legs went on for ever.
Like staring up at infinity
Through a wisp of cotton panty
Along a skin of satin sea.
Pinballs
- Prominently featured on the backglass of The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot.
- The Bride returns in the sequel, Jack*Bot, showing off her legs on both the backglass and the playfield.
- In the original art for Bally's Star Trek, the left triangle bumper had a picture of a female crewmember sitting down with her bare legs prominently shown.
- The playfield for WhizBang Pinball's Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons has Melony showing off a pair of shapely legs right above the flippers.
- In Scared Stiff, the playfield features mirrored shots of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark that show off her legs.
- The protagonist of "Space Sister" in Super Pinball II: The Amazing Odyssey often shows off her long, bare legs in the display animations.
- The playfield art for Truck Stop shows Betty and Marge posing next to a gas pump and showing off their bare legs.
- Capcom's unreleased Kingpin has Trixie the Moll flashing one leg (with stocking) on the sides of the backbox.
- The center of the Future Spa playfield shows a bikini-clad lithe woman showing off her shapely legs with a set of kicks.
Podcasts
- Black Jack Justice: Multiple characters make note of the "gumshoe gams" of Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective, with "leggy blonde" being one of the phrases most commonly used to describe her. Trixie herself considers her legs a point of personal pride and even Jack, someone who has no romantic interest in Trixie whatsoever, recognizes Trixie primarily by her legs on one occasion when he sees her in silhouette.
Pro Wrestling
- Former WCW/WWE employee Stacy Keibler was notable for having legs that took up half her height. She would rely on them in the ring as well, using them to choke other Divas by pinning them against the turnbuckle by the throat. In fact, one of her theme songs was a cover of ZZ Top's "Legs" sung by Kid Rock.
- What Could Have Been: "With Legs Like That" was originally intended for Stacy, but since she had left the company by then the theme was instead given to Maria. Stacy's legs were a favorite thing for the Dancing with the Stars judges to praise since it obviously gave her an advantage in dancing. Well, that and all the years of jazz, tap, and ballet training she had, which was arguably how she got those legs to begin with.
- Michelle McCool after her Face–Heel Turn showed what she'd been hiding under all the tomboy ring attire. Once the LayCool gimmick started off, her legs were on show practically every episode of Smackdown. Layla too since they wore matching outfits a lot of the time.
- There was actually a gimmick match called a "Legs Match" when Gibbons and Hill of ZZ Top themselves hosted Raw. It was just a regular wrestling match but the four ladies involved had to wrestle in short shorts. Two of the divas in it already wrestled in hotpants anyway, but that's beside the point.
- And the ring announcer for that match? Lilian Garcia. 'Nuff said.
- Contrary to what you viewers were told Summer Rae can't dance (which is just as well, Fandango can't either). What she can do is show off her legs for the camera while music plays, and get into kicky Cat Fights with Lana (which get even more kicky when Rusev inevitably breaks it up).
- Sara Del Rey received just this response while entering the ring for her promo at SHIMMER 22, October 19, 2008. However, her reaction was more like Compliment Backfire, since she didn't want people to focus on her looks.
- Along with being an Amazonian Beauty, and though she often gets used as The Giant, Lei'D Tapa has some very sexy legs. These were on display in OVW when White Kryptonite Eddie Diamond commandeered a camera and followed her around.
- Allysin Kay is 5'10" or 6' depending on the source, wears fencenets, and received this exact response to this picture from her Instagram. In the ring Kay's most dangerous tools are her hands and forearms, but until we get there expect a lot of step-over holds, big boots, and gogoplatas.
Theater
- In City of Angels, the Private Eye Monologue's description of Alaura says that "only the floor kept her legs from going on forever." A later scene has her on a chaise longue with her stepson Peter oiling her bare legs.
- In The Addams Family, Morticia tears the skirt of her dress so it can be pulled out of the way before she and Gomez tango. Bebe Neuwirth, who originated the role on Broadway, got several wolf-whistles from the audience at this point.
Gomez: Mi amor, creature of constant surprises! You have legs!
- Ballet dancers playing Odile have to seduce the audience as much as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Bonus points if she already happens tall, making her a Statuesque Stunner such as 5'9 Zenaida Yanowsky.
- The Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The Rockettes. It just wouldn't be the same without their famous routine with eye-high leg kicks in perfect unison in a chorus line, which they include at the end of every performance.
- The theatrical version of Disney's The Little Mermaid has Scuttle finally noticing about Ariel: "You got legs!" Unfortunately, Sebastian's response to this observation, despite meaning the same thing, is is not actually "Yah, but she don' know how to use dem."
Visual Novels
- Fate/stay night: Rin Tohsaka has a nice long pair of legs, and her Grade S Zettai Ryouiki really shows it off, in her casual attire. It's not so apparent in her school uniform, which has a much longer skirt.
- Barok van Zieks's legs The Great Ace Attorney are notorious enough that one of them showed up as a "character" on the second art book cover. It's not merely that they look great; it's that van Zieks has a tendency to axe-kick the prosecution's counsel table during trials for no apparent reason other than to show them off. Official art reveals that he picked it up from his older brother◊.
- Little Busters!: Kurugaya's first CG - a low-angled shot from the front of her sitting down with her legs crossed - seems practically designed to show off her Zettai Ryouiki, and it probably was.
- Sea Bed: Sachiko's outfits usually highlight her legs, particularly her short shorts and dark tights combo. Takako actually describes Sachiko’s legs as being “shapely” in one scene.
- Sweet Enchantments: Liora's legs are the focus of one mini CG as the heroine notices them.
Web Animation
- Red vs. Blue: Family Shatters: In West's dream in "Hard Boiled", Tiny, playing the damsel client, gets a Feet-First Introduction with the camera panning up her legs, playing off the "legs up to here" cliché while comically emphasizing her height.
West: She had legs up to here. [Camera pans up from Tiny's feet to just below her knees.] Okay, here. [Camera pans up more quickly to her hips.]
- RWBY:
- When Yang is introduced in the Yellow Trailer, the camera focus is on her legs as she brings her motorcycle to a stop and gets off. The camera then pans to behind her, producing an upshot of her legs and backside as she walks into the nightclub.
- When Cinder is first introduced, her face is hidden and the camera focusses mostly on her long, bare legs and the glass shoes she's wearing. All through the fight with Glynda, her legs are the most prominent part of her body. This isn't just fanservice, it's to hint that her character inspiration is Cinderella. Throughout Volumes 2-3, and 7-8, her short dresses and catsuits ensure prominent focus on her legs whenever she is fighting, including camera shots through her legs towards her opponents, such as during her battle with Amber.
Webcomics
- Bad Moon Rising has Chloe, with her long legs and a preference for clothes that show them off.
- Lackadaisy: An unnamed character was remarked upon as having "gams up to your eyeballs!" It was mostly a joke to demonstrate one character's unfamiliarity with the slang of the era, but considering all that is ever shown of the girl is her legs...
- Sandra on the Rocks has a lot of attractive female characters — it is set in the world of modelling — but Lavali, a Shrinking Violet who works as a computer games industry gopher, is the one who attracts the nickname "Legs" from another character, and who is drawn to fully justify the compliment.
- Sticky Dilly Buns has Ruby, a prudish nerd who manages to be very attractive without especially trying, and whose legs are especially emphasized by both the art and the writing. She's seen first in a short skirt (for reasons of plot), subsequently switches to a pair of designer jeans that attract the admiration of every straight male she passes, and has been known to flash some leg when taking a selfie in an uncharacteristic moment of vanity.
- In Uncommon Animals, Jennelle might be the Ms. Fanservice, but Terry's skirt has a slit up to her thigh.
- Vampire Cheerleaders: You don't get to see Charlotte's legs very often, because she's shy and dresses conservatively. But Ian Cang (the comic's artist, at that time) more than made up for it at least once, which had the readers almost unanimously thanking him for it!
- In El Goonish Shive, Carol has to wear a skirt when working as a news reporter seemingly to invoke this trope in order to boost ratings. Catalina, who is a lesbian, remarks that it works.
Web Original
- Tennyo, of the Whateley Universe, has been described several times as having disproportionately long legs given her 5'3" height.
- Even though Wikifeet is a foot fetish website, it contains a lot of leg shots of female celebrities.
Web Video
- The Nostalgia Critic is dressed as Link in Suburban Knights. The fact that he's wearing a short tunic with no pants or tights gets a lot of attention from the camera, although Doug said later he was in so much pain from the cold that it wasn't worth it.
- The Music Video Show has the host show off her shaved leg in the Ariana Grande episode
- A male example in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, where at one point Yami Yugi expresses concern over his "long, womany legs" and calls it a "cross he has to bear" during a scene where he's depicted sitting with his legs crossed in a manner that evokes this trope.
