# What do sex workers wear during the winter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972 "2012-03-16T15:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/1 "2012-03-16T15:30:31Z")
Most of the time I see sex workers represented in the media, they’re wearing short shorts and fishnets or something equally provocative. What do they wear in cold weather? It’s hard to imagine looking very sexy in a hat and mittens. Do they get frostbite? ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/2 "2012-03-16T15:39:09Z")
When I was in the Las Vegas area in the winter there were two women near the hotel in very short skirts. It was quite cold and they looked like they were freezing. So in at least one case they wear what they normally do I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/3 "2012-03-16T15:46:17Z")
They wear the same stuff IME. Simply suffer – problem solved! …but I’m thinking of places like London in winter. I don’t know about, say, Moscow. * * * As an aside, one time I was in Barcelona and there were prostitutes around during the day. In the middle of summer. It occurred to me that with their stockings and other accessories, their outfits were _less_ revealing than what most other women walking around were wearing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/4 "2012-03-16T16:07:07Z")
With the right heel and short skirt, leg warmers can be quite alluring. Add a cropped “leather” or “fur” jacket and you’ll survive most nights in Chicago. You won’t be exactly comfortable, but you’ll probably survive. ---
**Author:** ![Themenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/5 "2012-03-16T16:14:24Z")
Long johns ? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/6 "2012-03-16T16:15:31Z")
Long-johns. ETA: shakes his johnson at **Themenin** ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/7 "2012-03-16T16:17:57Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > …Do they get frostbite? No, but they do get chapped lips. Seriously, in Ottawa in the winter they wear what they normally do, except with knee boots, winter coats, and gloves. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/8 "2012-03-16T17:00:18Z")
We have boring hookers round here- they tend to wear jeans and a jacket most of the time- often with heels and a short top under the jacket, but still; C for effort. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/9 "2012-03-16T17:35:32Z")
Therma-Thongs™ :D. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/10 "2012-03-16T17:44:22Z")
The OP is supposing that all sex workers are street walkers. Thats probably a small percentage of sex workers. Most sex workers start and end their shifts inside a comfortable heated workplace and get changed when they arrive. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/11 "2012-03-16T17:57:30Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > We have boring hookers round here- they tend to wear jeans and a jacket most of the time- often with heels and a short top under the jacket, but still; C for effort. Man–your prostitutes suck! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/12 "2012-03-16T18:01:19Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > Man–your prostitutes suck! Yup. Less to take off. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/13 "2012-03-16T18:11:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No, but they do get chapped lips. they get regular and wide stick lip balm. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/14 "2012-03-16T18:15:30Z")
I’m [glad you asked](http://www.theonion.com/articles/chicago-rolls-out-coldweather-prostitutes,2095/). ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/15 "2012-03-16T18:15:31Z")
Hoboggans. (aka prostituques) ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/16 "2012-03-16T18:19:33Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Therma-Thongs™ :D. Therma-Thongs with Thinsulate. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/17 "2012-03-16T18:30:03Z")
One of my favorite wise cracks - a friend of mine as we were driving down Hennepin Avenue one winter evening, and he glanced out the window at the ladies of the evening plying their trade: “Minneapolis - the only city in the world where the hookers wear galoshes.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/18 "2012-03-16T18:50:37Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > Man–your prostitutes suck! That is sort of the point, yes. To the OP: in a lot of northern cities, as Filbert pointed out, prostitutes don’t dress nearly as skimpily as TV would have you believe. When I lived in Erie, PA (a festering cesspool of such things perhaps one level below New Orleans and Vegas), I read a newspaper article about how sex workers signaled their availability. It was a subtle code of eye contact and other nonverbal communication. If a john driving a car made eye contact with a woman in a high-prostitution area and she held it, that was the indicator. She would then turn the corner and walk slowly, essentially waiting for him without being painfully obvious. If he came around to meet her, she’d approach, and they could get down to business. In other words, the average person walking or driving by would never notice anything out of the ordinary if they weren’t clued in. Being the clueless type myself, I was stunned to find out that I had been driving through a major area for that sort of thing nearly every day. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/19 "2012-03-16T18:56:28Z")
That’s my experience as well. Most streetwalkers aren’t identified so much by their skimpy clothing as by their swagger when they walk and unrelenting eye contact as you drive by. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972/20 "2012-03-16T19:40:10Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Hoboggans. > > (aka prostituques) Really wishing for a “Like” button on the boards right about now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sex-workers-wear-during-the-winter/615972.md?page=2)