The annual No Trousers Tube Ride returned in colourful fashion as commuters stripped down to their underwear and hopped on the London Underground despite freezing temperatures.
Hordes of bare legs were on display at Newport Place in Chinatown before heading on to the Tube in their underwear of choice, while crowds gathered at the Waterloo station and a group of women dressed in coloured knickers kicked their legs with raised arms.
Commuters were seen strutting down escalators, taking selfies on platforms or posing inside carriages as they showcased an array of underwear styles and colours.
From pink knickers to black Y-fronts to grey boxers adorned with red hearts, people were smiling and laughing as they took part in the free event.
Some added flair to their clothing, with one man dressed in a white shirt, black tie and brown waistcoat, while another opted for a more cosy look in an orange puffer jacket, orange beanie, and blue scarf.
The organisers, on their Facebook page, instructed participants to dress in “pants as normal or lowkey as possible so it looks like you’ve just forgotten your trousers”.
The annual event was described as “a fun activity just for the sake of fun”.
The first No Trousers Tube Ride was held in New York in 2002, bringing to life an idea by local comedian Charlie Todd.
He thought it might be funny if one walked into a subway train dressed in regular winter wear – except their trousers.
“It would be unusual in New York, although you can see anything on our subway system, but what would really be funny is if at the next stop, a couple of minutes later, when the doors open and additional persons got on, not wearing trousers as well,” 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 trousers.’’
The first event in New York city saw seven men, minus their trousers, boarding a train one by one at seven consecutive stops, and pretending to not notice each other.
It was in its seventh year in 2008 that the event went international, with 900 participants in New York and nine other cities joining in.
Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Washington DC, and Adelaide saw their own versions of the No Pants ride.
More than 60 cities around the world now hold the annual event, including Shanghai, Berlin, Istanbul, Lisbon, Tokyo, and Toronto.
“The whole point is just to create unexpected moments of joy, delight and confusion,” Todd said.
“You know, it’s meant to be a bit of harmless fun. Certainly we are living in a climate where, you know, people like to have culture war fights. My rule in New York was always the goal of this event is to amuse other people, to give people a laugh. It’s not to be provocative, it’s not to irritate someone. So hopefully the spirit of that continues.”
Additional reporting by agencies.
