Every January, No Trousers Tube Day brings joy and humour as participants ride the London Underground in underwear.
With no trousers to wear, the participants went creative and chose colourful underwear to show off to their fellow travellers.(Instagram/thearchbishopofbanterbury)
Londoners shed their trousers and braved the cold as they travelled in their underwear on the London Underground rail to celebrate the annual ‘No Trousers Tube Ride’. People dressed in suits and shirts but wearing nothing on their legs other than underwear and shoes were seen flooding the underground trains, smiling as they greeted each other.
Crowds gathered at Waterloo station, and people were seen walking down escalators, taking selfies on the platform or posing inside the train as they showcased various underwear styles and colours.
With no trousers to wear, the participants went creative and chose colourful underwear to show off to their fellow travellers, who were smiling and laughing. Many tried to infuse personality into their attire, wearing anything from a tuxedo top to trench coats to a bright orange puffer jacket with beanies and scarves.
Take a look at the photo here:
What is No Trousers Tube Day?
Improv Everywhere, a comedic performance art group from New York City, organises the event every year. The group’s slogan is “We Cause Scenes.” It is known for carrying out elaborate pranks in public places.
The first No Trousers Tube Day began in New York in 2002 and is now organised in as many as sixty cities. The event is organised each year in January.
The first No Pants subway ride began with seven people on the New York City Subway in 2002. In 2006, 150 people participated in the Ride, and eight were handcuffed for disorderly conduct.
The event organisers instructed participants to wear “pants as normal or low-key as possible, so it looks like you’ve just forgotten your trousers.”
“I’m thrilled to see the tradition live on. It’s meant to be harmless fun,” one man told BBC.
“Certainly, we live in a climate where people like to have culture war fights and my rule in New York was always that my goal is to amuse other people, to give people a laugh. It’s not to be provocative or to irritate someone, so hopefully, the spirit of that will continue,” said another.
