London: The mercury hovered around 5-6 degrees Celsius, but Londoners didn’t care.
Bang in the middle of winter, hundreds of passengers abandoned their trousers on Monday as they took the Underground rail, also known as the Tube, which serves London and parts of the adjoining Counties.
There was a whole lot of fun and laughter as men and women, boys and girls with bare legs – in their underwears — clicked photos and selfies on stations and on board trains.
There was a bit of confusion, too, for the uninitiated. As they found out, it was part of an annual ‘No Trousers Tube Ride’ event, which was first tried out in New York in 2002.
London started the quirky tradition in 2009, and it’s continued every year.
Watch the video shared on X by AP:
Watch: This was the Official No Trousers Tube Ride, an annual event with no point other than injecting a little levity into the bleak midwinter. No deep meaning, no bigger motive. The only goal was to be silly, if but for one afternoon. pic.twitter.com/AL8KMwdWtk
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 14, 2025
On Monday, 40-year-old personal trainer Dave Selkirk led the pants-less brigade by gathering at Chinatown, before making their way to Piccadilly Circus station.
“There’s so much bad, so much not fun going on. It’s nice to do something just for the sake of it,” Selkirk told AP.
There were different underwears, some of them with funny images and messages.
Basil Long, a lawyer wrapped in a thick winter coat, wore a pink underwear, a rainbow-striped shirt, and socks inspired by the Underground.
“I just saw it online and thought, why not?” he said with a grin.
For some like chef Miriam Correa, it was about challenging beauty standards. “I am a real woman. All bodies are perfect,” she said.
