Hundreds take part in first No Trousers Tube Ride since pandemic
Watch: Londoners strip off for 'No Trousers Tube Ride'
Making eye contact on the London Underground can already be pretty awkward, so imagine if your fellow commuters were in their underwear, too.
For the first time in two years, the No Trousers Tube Ride returned to the capital on Sunday, the name of which is pretty self-explanatory.
Despite the chilly winter weather, hundreds of commuters boarded trains in their pants with the hope of giving travellers something to giggle about.
The annual event, which first came to the capital in 2009, had been postponed since 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Today’s comeback was also the first event since the opening of the Elizabeth Line last year.
Run by the Stiff Upper Lip Society, the event does have some rules, including no thongs, see-through garments, or “anything else that might offend people”.
“Our aim is to make people laugh, not p**s them off,” the organisers said.
Participants amassed at Chinatown to start their journey, with group leaders instructing them to remove their trousers and store them in their backpacks.
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Some had formal business attire on their top halves, and others wore brightly coloured budgie smugglers with pride.
The annual journey was inspired by the No Pants Subway Ride in New York City, launched by Improv Everywhere in New York in 2002.
It caught on, and now thousands of people take part in similar events every year in more 60 cities in over 25 countries.