“The hot pants ban targets only girls' clothing during average temperatures of 30C. So much for social values…” tweeted activist Anne Wizorek.

In its letter, the school in Horb-Altheim, Baden-Württemberg, told parents that “we will not tolerate any arousing clothes in our school” and that “anyone dressed too arousingly will be given a large T-Shirt from the school that they have to wear until the end of the day.”

“We don't want to suppress your child's individuality. We want to add a little something to our school environment, where all can feel comfortable and social and societal values are lived and supported.

The news came hard on the heels of a Bavarian school sending a letter to parents warning them against girls dressing too revealingly because of refugees housed next door.

“The refugees [from Syria] are marked by their own culture. Because our school is directly next to where they are staying, modest clothing should be adhered to in order to avoid discrepancies,” the administrators wrote.

“Revealing tops or blouses, short shorts or miniskirts could lead to misunderstandings.”

But over a few hours on Monday the topic became the top Twitter trend in Germany as feminists took issue with the 'victim-blaming' nature of the message, using the hashtag #hotpantsverbot to fight back.

“Hotpants and clothing that reveals the stomach are normal for summer and don't have anything to do with 'arousing clothing' agreed another user.