Part of the flamboyant, sexually open style of fashion that produced the miniskirt (see entry under 1960s—Fashion in volume 4) in the 1960s, hot pants were dressy, ultra-short women's shorts made of a variety of fabrics from velvet to leather. The design of hot pants allowed them to be worn shorter than the shortest micro-miniskirt and still provide some degree of modesty.

Hot pants had been seen before, but they had been considered naughty and even a bit indecent, as they had mainly been worn by prostitutes and female nightclub performers. However, in the extravagantly flashy climate of the 1970s, many young women wore the new fashion. Allegheny Airlines even made them part of its official flight attendants' uniform. Hot pants soon went out of style and are largely considered an embarrassing reminder of 1970s excess.

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