# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/21 "2009-10-22T00:35:30Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > The Naked Cowboy strolls around Times Square in his briefs, cowboy hat, and boots, and has done so for years. Obligatory [photo link](http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums&friendID=268149628) ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/22 "2009-10-22T00:42:55Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > 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. Yep. Was just telling a sort of relevant story for others’ amusement. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/23 "2009-10-22T01:24:46Z")
> [@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. Local _ordnance_ seems like a pretty drastic way of discouraging it. They should just enact an _ord **i** nance_ against it, instead. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/24 "2009-10-22T01:25:07Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > In some places they are only legal at swimming pools and the beach. (or maybe private property). What places? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/25 "2009-10-22T02:35:51Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > That seems hard to enforce. Brief swimming trunks are every bit as small as briefs, but are not undergarments. What they are depends on where you are. Cite: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brg\_zHXIHC8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brg_zHXIHC8) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/26 "2009-10-22T03:07:36Z")
Many places aren’t so specific about obscenity laws. In such places a cop who considered your appearance obscene could arrest you then its up to the judicial system to determine if a crime occurred. Then your at the mercy of a judge or a jury. While technical a bathing suit and a pair of tighty whities might have the same exact coverage I think you will find a more people would find the underwear offensive and the swimwear not. Feel free to test it in your local community and let us know how it goes. Hope you don’t get a jury full of prudes. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/27 "2009-10-22T17:17:24Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > What places? Assuming you are limiting the “places” to the United States. Spring Lake, New Jersey comes to mind as a perfect example. But, as the poster above mentions. The laws are not always so specific and it comes down to case law and “indecent exposure” laws or “disorderly conduct” laws and how the local law enforcement sees it. Go outside the US and its way to easy to list the places. Pretty much everywhere outside of the Americas, Australia and Europe. They allow skimpy bathing suits at the beaches to attract tourists, but no where else. Some places don’t even allow anything Americans would consider a bathing suit at the beach - especially if you are female. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/28 "2009-10-22T18:19:57Z")
Improv Everywhere hosts an [annual no-pants subway ride](http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/16/no-pants-2k8/) in New York. It’s legal there, anyway. They’ve had the cops called a few times, but they’ve never been convicted of anything, and I think it’s a big enough deal that the city knows about it now. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/29 "2009-10-22T18:26:50Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Hmm, I often walk around my neighborhood in swim trunks. I’ve never been ticketed. He said “brief swimming trunks (bikini)”, not just trunks. You walk around your neighborhood in a speedo? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/30 "2009-10-22T23:50:01Z")
Depends on the city. Santa Cruz, California is a “clothing optional” city, and it’s perfectly legal to be completely naked. Being Santa Cruz, people do this pretty often. Indeed, someone in their underwear wouldn’t even attract too much attention. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/31 "2009-10-23T00:47:29Z")
The story of the [ThongMan of San Antonio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gottschalk) is an interesting case. He became famous for riding his bike around town while wearing only the titular garment. Police would follow him for miles, women fainted, children screamed, but he was within the narrow parameters of the law. He even got away with a “tan bag” (also known in R-rated movies as a “cock sock”) - until he stood to pedal up a hill, exposing his forbidden parts. When his body was found at the base of a cliff in Big Bend National Park, they called it a suicide. I prefer to believe he thought he could fly. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/32 "2009-10-23T01:59:06Z")
In Singapore, NO ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/33 "2009-10-23T06:26:18Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > The story of the [ThongMan of San Antonio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gottschalk) is an interesting case. He became famous for riding his bike around town while wearing only the titular garment. Police would follow him for miles, women fainted, children screamed, but he was within the narrow parameters of the law. He even got away with a “tan bag” (also known in R-rated movies as a “cock sock”) - until he stood to pedal up a hill, exposing his forbidden parts. When his body was found at the base of a cliff in Big Bend National Park, they called it a suicide. I prefer to believe he thought he could fly. One day my elementary age daughter and I were packing up the car after a picnic and the Thong Man rode by and stopped to rest at a nearby picnic table. He was very tanned and had his long hair pulled back into a ponytail. I packed up kinda hoping that my daughter wouldn’t notice the guy. We got into the car and as we were driving away she said, “Dad, did you see that (American) Indian riding _a bicycle_? That was cool!” I guess indecent exposure is all a matter of context and perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/34 "2009-10-23T14:29:47Z")
> [@](#): > > 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 It was Brattleboro where walking around nude in public became a fad among local teenagers. A law was passed in 2007 banning public nudity. Townspeople were apparently willing to let people who were 18 or 19 walk around naked. But one day a guy who was 68 decided to take a nude stroll. The next day the town council passed an emergency law banning public nudity citing the principle of “no fuglies”. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/35 "2009-10-23T16:48:12Z")
I have often wondered about these places who attempt to enforce a ban on baggy pants with underware showing. What happens if someone puts their underware outside, over fine jeans that fit “properly”? ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/36 "2009-10-23T18:44:50Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > I guess indecent exposure is all a matter of context and perspective. And training. Being offended by nudity is a learned response. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632/37 "2009-10-23T18:51:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > He said “brief swimming trunks (bikini)”, not just trunks. You walk around your neighborhood in a speedo? Oh hell no! Regular trunks, t-shirt, and sandals. The shirt and sandals come off at the pool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-go-for-a-stroll-in-my-underwear/514632.md?page=1)