Short Skirt, Long Jacket

The speaker describes an ideal woman through a mix of personal attraction and professional admiration. He wants someone clever, decisive, energetic, and financially successful, as well as someone whose appearance appeals to him. The repeated refrain makes the list sound catchy and confident, but the song’s tone may also be playful or exaggerated.

Several images combine qualities that do not usually appear together. A “mind like a diamond” suggests intelligence and strength, while “eyes that burn like cigarettes” gives the woman a striking, perhaps intimidating presence. Cutting through “red tape” with a machete turns a slow, frustrating process into something she can tackle directly. The short skirt and long jacket connect fashion with the practical, capable image built throughout the lyrics.

There is some ambiguity about how seriously to take the speaker’s wish list. He admires the woman’s competence, yet often describes her as a collection of desirable traits, and the refrain emphasizes her appearance. The business language and increasingly specific details may gently poke fun at treating romance like a list of requirements. The song can therefore sound both attracted to an independent, capable woman and amused by the speaker’s oddly precise idea of an ideal partner.