all fur coat and no knickers

all fur coat and no knickers

Good-looking on the surface but lacking substance underneath. I thought David and I would really get along well, but we had nothing to talk about at dinner—he's really all fur coat and no knickers. Our new boss sounded like she had a lot of good ideas for the department, but it turns out she's all fur coat and no knickers.
See also: all, and, coat, fur, knickers, no
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • fur
  • knickers
  • be all fur coat and no knickers
  • be all that
  • all that
  • peer underneath (something)
  • all vine and no taters
  • all show and no go
  • in the hole for (something)
  • live under
References in periodicals archive
CAMERA FLASH Kate was all fur coat and no knickers on fashion shoot this week.
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And unlike Stone, who bared all in Basic Instinct, it's good to see that our Ger's not all fur coat and no knickers.
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But Moscow is a case of all fur coat and no knickers.
Moscow, the city that's all fur coat and no knickers; Russia is a nation in intensive care .. in a three-page special report Foreign Writer of the Year ANTON ANTONOWICZ checks for a pulse