# May I go for a stroll in my underwear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632 "2009-10-21T17:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/1 "2009-10-21T17:13:16Z")
Legally, into a public area, or downtown, may I just go for a walk in my Fruit of the Looms? Riding a public transit vehicle? I suspect shoes are required, per health laws, maybe even a shirt, to go into some establishments, so I could carry those with me and put them on when I got to the establishment. I was curious about that, when I saw some dork with his underwear showing. I mean, I’m sure that indecent exposure standards are pretty uniform, and there is some case law about this. Could be wrong, tho. Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/2 "2009-10-21T17:20:02Z")
One wonders if this isn’t how briefs got their name. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/3 "2009-10-21T17:22:24Z")
I’ve seen more than one girl show up at the 7-11 in thier boyfriends underwear and no one batted an eye. But maybe thats because they were stareing, I know I was. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/4 "2009-10-21T17:48:55Z")
As with everything, it depends on the location. In Spain you can go in your underwear or buttnaked, as you prefer, so long as there isn’t a local ordnance forbidding it. That doesn’t mean that you can force a store or restaurant to serve you, most would frown on having someone sit on their chairs with nothing in between, but you definitely can walk around in your underoos. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/5 "2009-10-21T17:57:12Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > As with everything, it depends on the location. > > In Spain you can go in your underwear or buttnaked, as you prefer, so long as there isn’t a local ordnance forbidding it. That doesn’t mean that you can force a store or restaurant to serve you, most would frown on having someone sit on their chairs with nothing in between, but you definitely can walk around in your underoos. Same deal in Vermont. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/6 "2009-10-21T17:58:40Z")
Undergarments are not considered decent coverings in some places. In other places, the law only specifices what must be covered, not how. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/7 "2009-10-21T18:05:47Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > Undergarments are not considered decent coverings in some places. > > In other places, the law only specifices what must be covered, not how. That seems hard to enforce. Brief swimming trunks are every bit as small as briefs, but are not undergarments. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/8 "2009-10-21T18:33:48Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > That seems hard to enforce. Brief swimming trunks are every bit as small as briefs, but are not undergarments. Who said the brief swimming trunks (bikini) would be legal cover? In some places they are only legal at swimming pools and the beach. (or maybe private property). ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/9 "2009-10-21T18:38:19Z")
I went to KFC once with a few friends. One of them was in his underwear. They threatened to call the cops. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/10 "2009-10-21T18:48:51Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Same deal in Vermont. True, though it’s not like there are hordes of naked people running around…well, except for the UVM Naked Bike Ride every winter…oh, and a few years ago when some Middlebury teenagers decided to “test” the lack of a public nudity law and hung around naked in a park…oh, and the few unofficial nude beaches that are here and there… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/11 "2009-10-21T18:51:29Z")
It certainly depends on location. Some places have made it illegal to have your underwear showing at all thanks to the fade of wearing the pants in the falling off position. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/12 "2009-10-21T18:54:15Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I went to KFC once with a few friends. One of them was in his underwear. They threatened to call the cops. Being private property they can call the cops to have you removed if they don’t like how you present yourself. You can be ticketed for trespass if there is no law against how you dressed. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/13 "2009-10-21T18:59:01Z")
There may be a bit of a double standard here. Some years ago it was not uncommon to see women wearing for evening (1) a slip as a dress, (2) thong underwear visible at the lower back/waist, peeking over the top of lowrider pants, or (3) a bra or camisole worn as a top, sometimes under a jacket. I’ve even seen younger women wearing a lacy camisole as a shirt under a jacket at a conservative place of business. I can’t imagine men getting away with the same kind of thing. In some places, there have been attempts to ban men wearing [baggy pants with underwear showing,](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/fashion/30baggy.html) although this may be considered bannable as a gang-related look. For the men, I wonder if briefs are not allowed as outerwear because they tend to be (errrm…) vented? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/14 "2009-10-21T19:01:22Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > Who said the brief swimming trunks (bikini) would be legal cover? In some places they are only legal at swimming pools and the beach. (or maybe private property). Hmm, I often walk around my neighborhood in swim trunks. I’ve never been ticketed. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/15 "2009-10-21T19:05:44Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > There may be a bit of a double standard here. Some years ago it was not uncommon to see women wearing for evening (1) a slip as a dress, (2) thong underwear visible at the lower back/waist, peeking over the top of lowrider pants, or (3) a bra or camisole worn as a top, sometimes under a jacket. I’ve even seen younger women wearing a lacy camisole as a shirt under a jacket at a conservative place of business. Most men don’t have a problem with women wearing underwear as outerware. In most cases I don’t complain. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/16 "2009-10-21T19:07:09Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Hmm, I often walk around my neighborhood in swim trunks. I’ve never been ticketed. It may be legal in your state/city. There is certainly no federal law in the US dictating dress codes. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/17 "2009-10-21T19:57:01Z")
If you do, for all of our sakes I hope you live up to your username. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/18 "2009-10-21T20:06:00Z")
The Naked Cowboy strolls around Times Square in his briefs, cowboy hat, and boots, and has done so for years. ---
**Author:** ![mlai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@mlai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlai)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/19 "2009-10-21T20:09:26Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I suspect shoes are required, per health laws Nope! [cite](http://www.barefooters.org/health-dept/) However, the head of dining services at my university told me that insurance policies for restaurants can be contingent on a shoe policy. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/20 "2009-10-21T21:38:15Z")
I’ve wondered that too. When I’m at home, I always wear a pair of loose cotton shorts, sans underwear. There’s no fly, and the cotton’s slightly thicker than the material of my boxers, but otherwise there’s really no difference. I’ll walk the neighborhood, hop in the car and run errands, etc., but for all intensive\* purposes, they’re just like underwear. \*I did that on porpoise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632.md?page=2)