• The Mandarin term “热裤” is a paraphrase of the English term “hot pants”.
• The term “hot pants” first appeared in the New York magazine Women’s Wear Daily around the late 1960s to early 1970s. At that time, hot pants were becoming popular in Western countries, succeeding the miniskirt. The fashion trend was reportedly started by the French actress Brigitte Bardot, who removed her expensive, thick coat at a friend’s party to reveal the stunning hot pants she was wearing.
• The pioneer designers of hot pants were the Italian fashion designer Mariuccia Mandelli and British fashion designer Mary Quant.
• Hot pants were one of the first global trends to influence women’s dressing in newly independent Singapore. However, as Singapore society then was still fairly conservative, the provocative shorts triggered concerns about the personal safety of women who wore them, as well as their wider societal impact.
• After hot pants became popular in Singapore, the term also started to appear in the media. For example, as early as 1971, “热裤” appeared in local Chinese newspapers such as Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Daily, and Shin Min Daily News.

真理裤 (Taiwan)、超激短裤 (Taiwan)、激短裤 (Taiwan)

• In 1997, local musician Dick Lee created and arranged the inspirational youth musical Hotpants,
  whose action is set in 1972. In 2014, the musical was revised and restaged by him.