What to Wear When Going Bare

Who would have thought that a conversation about my giving up social media for thirty days would lead to my standing in front of a mirror deciding what to wear the day I gave up clothing?

“I’m not a nudist, really”, I explained to a very intelligent friend of mine, “but it would be interesting, I think, to see what that is like to learn to do things without the distraction of clothing”.

Two months later, I remembered her mentioning a naked bike ride through Los Angeles. I looked it up online, discovered it was 7 days away, registered, and decided to attend.

I had no idea that the event would be such an eye-opening experience that would remind me of my authentic self, and would leave such an impact on my life. Nor did I anticipate how much more difficult it would be to decide what to wear on a nude bike ride.

There I sat in front of my mirror with a headdress that I bought years ago at the Renaissance Faire, flesh colored lacey boy short panties, and…leopard print ballet flats? No. Sienna brown leather sandals? No. Rubber flip-flops? Absolutely not!

Enter my (very honest) mother saying enthusiastically, “You look like you’re going to the Gay Pride Parade!”

Not what I wanted to hear!

Not that I have anything against the gay pride parade. But truthfully, that whole endeavor can be a bit—well—fabulous. I wasn’t going for that. But I guess I didn’t really know WHAT I was going for.

The thing about a naked bike ride is that there is no standard of fashion. I mean, clothed rides call for a few different looks depending on your bike and the type of ride. Beach cruiser? Cuteness counts. Mountain bike? Better look sporty. Yadda yadda. But something called World Naked Bike Ride Los Angeles (WNBR)? It seems so easy, right? But for some reason, shoes with nothing else feels really, really strange.

It was in this darkest moment, when I wanted to say “screw it, I’m not going”, that the words of a really cool dude came to mind. “Panties. Boobies out. Chuck Taylors”.

I didn’t own Chucks, but I had purchased several pairs of panties at Fredericks of Hollywood specifically for this event. And the guy was onto something. In my daily life I am a bit of a minimalist. Give me a solid print t-shirt, jeans that fit me well, cute shoes and a bag to match and I’m set. I’m not much for jewelry or hipster head bands. Pretty much just the basics make me smile. Strip me down of the outer shell on a regular bike ride and what will you find on me? Neutral-colored panties, a closed-toed shoe, a baseball cap, pig-tails, and my camelback pack. So that’s what I went with. 

I felt so much more…me!

After that struggle, it was all down hill. I contemplated taking advantage of the free body paint, but the purpose of this ride, for me, quickly became to be confident in my body just as it is. I am not really a big fan of my nipples, though I’ve been told they are nice on enough occasions. My belly is not L.A. standard flat. I have no thigh gap. I quickly decided against the body paint solely because I wanted to be able to say I really conquered a fear—the fear of my body being ridiculed and rejected by strange men and women I do not know. I wanted to show it all—especially the parts I was scared to show. And all body paint would do is help me mask my insecurities.

The next decision was to either wear the panties, or take them off. The good thing about this is that panties are easily removed or replaced. So what did I do? Well that’s another tale for another entry.

The bottom (haha) line of this story is that I never realized how much I look to society for approval of what I am wearing. The challenge in finding the right lack of an outfit to wear to WNBR was rather eye-opening in that regard. When a standard (or non-standard) way of dressing is removed, we are stripped away with little more than our skin, our face, our words to tell our stories. And that is frightening at first, I think, to see that reflected in the mirror. Really, it is a frightening thought period, that cloth could help to define the much larger material of what we are—individuals.

++NOTE++ if you should happen to not be body squeamish, and enjoy the human form, I'm working on building positive body image by baring my imperfect body to the world on Tumblr. Have a visit! zpoeticartz.tumblr.com