Watch out for the pants.
Hundreds of Londoners took to the Tube on Sunday afternoon, took off their clothes and walked around a bit, trying to give the impression that nothing unusual was happening.
As if.
It was the Official No Pants Tube Ride, an annual event that served no other purpose than to inject a little lightness into the dark midwinter. No deeper meaning, no greater motive. The only goal was to be stupid, if only for an afternoon.
“There are so many bad things happening, so many unfun things,” said ringleader Dave Selkirk, a 40-year-old personal trainer. “It’s nice to do something just for fun.”
After gathering at the entrance to Chinatown, dozens of sartorial anarchists marched through the icy streets to Piccadilly Circus tube station in central London, where they boarded their first train. The only problem was that the cars were so crowded that some people couldn’t take their pants off.
Selfies were taken. Smiles were exchanged. The tourists seemed perplexed.
The first such stunt took place in New York in 2002, thanks to the brainchild of local comedian Charlie Todd. His idea was: Wouldn’t it be funny if someone got on a subway train in the middle of winter with a hat, gloves, a scarf – everything except pants? Or trousers as they are called in London, trousers being synonymous with underpants in Britain.
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“It would be unusual in New York, even though you can see anything on our subway, but what would be really funny is if at the next stop, a few minutes later, when the doors open and other people ride without wearing pants too,” Todd told the BBC. “And they act like they don’t know each other, and they act like… it’s no big deal and they just forgot their pants.”
The idea caught on, and no-pants days were organized everywhere: in Berlin, Prague, Jerusalem, Warsaw and Washington, DC, among other cities.
London hosted its first big reveal in 2009.
“You know, it’s supposed to be a time of harmless fun,” Todd said. “We certainly live in a climate where, you know, people like to fight culture war fights. My rule in New York has always been that the purpose of this event is to amuse other people, to make people laugh. It’s not about being provocative, it’s not about irritating anyone. So I hope this spirit continues.
Basil Long, a lawyer, showed up at the meeting point wearing a coat and hat on a freezing winter afternoon. But after his trip underground in the hot subway tunnels, he had transformed, wearing only a white shirt with bold rainbow stripes, pink underwear, and subway-themed socks.
“I just saw it online and thought, why not? It’s always a question, isn’t it?” he said. “When you ask someone why they climbed Everest, they just ask why not?”
But Miriam Correa had a goal. The 43-year-old chef wanted to come because she had seen photos of previous pantsless walks featuring many thin, scantily clad women.
“I’m a real woman,” she said, adding that there was no reason to be ashamed of her shape. “All bodies are perfect.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press