will trigger a secondary.

I interpret this "you will be punished for wearing baggy clothing by secondary harassment" directive in exactly the same spirit that I interpret the directive that allows screeners to feel my breasts:

The perverts in charge at TSA haven't gotten enough jollies off of seeing people's bare feet and feeling women up. They'd like to see every curve of our bodies through our clothing. "If you're not willing to dress in a way that leaves nothing to the imagination you'll be sorry." Once they have us all frightened into spandex-only airport outfits it'll be that much easier to ogle the young women. This directive, like the others, will be unevenly applied to those young women that screeners particularly want to watch being humiliated and felt up in a public place.

I'm a guy, and they are very likely to see my bare naked chest when I wear only my baggy sweatshirt on top in the very near future. Don't know what footwear I will choose -- perhaps my snorkeling flippers.

I agree.

The TSA website makes clear (and has since it debuted) that security doesn't demand a certain type of dress.

Perhaps the TSA should publicly admit the truth:

The TSA does not require any particular type of clothing, but failure to wear tight or body-hugging clothing greatly increases the odds that a screener will fondle your breasts and genitals.

Can't be too safe, after all.

THANK YOU, Stone. Thank you very much.

Last winter I was forced to remove my practically transparent silk/wool shawl and place it in a filthy bin to go through the X-ray. This year I will refuse!

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

My experience this month is mixed on refusing to disrobe (in my case, a blazer). About half the time I am told "Keep it on, and you don't fly." The other half of the time I am allowed to keep it on and I am just sent to secondary.

We cant have it both ways! You either show us that you are hiding nothing in baggy OUTER clothing OR you go to secondary screening. LYCRA SPANDEX leotards will never be in style!

If what you are wearing is the only cothing that is next to skin, it DOESNT come off! IF it is very loose fitting though you might be sent to secondary. I like the flippers idea.

Did they threaten you with anything? It is your choice not to remove anything. We will work around it to accomodate you.

I'm sure it must have occurred to others that perhaps the lack of consistency demonstrated by TSA screeners is intentional. After all, if FFs don't know what to expect, then neither does anyone else. Or perhaps it's just designed to keep the screeners from gettting stuck in a complacent routine (What are they supposed to take off today? Ah yes, there's an r in the month ...)

A few weeks ago I was patted down by TSA in the small airport I fly out of every Monday morning. I am female and was patted down by a female screener and I felt violated. I especially hated when she touched the tops of my breasts. I wear nothing lose but because it's a small airport and someone must always be in the TSA screening line, I often get picked for screening.

There has yet to be an answer to my question to TSA people. Why, if you're wearing nothing underneath, does it not need to come off? Do people who wear undershirts pose a greater security risk?

Monday 1/10/2005; Checkpoint for D-gates (and others) at BWI:

Man in front of me in checkpoint line (late 40s, mild non-US accent probably of Mediterranean origin) wearing a pullover sweater/sweatshirt was asked to remove it prior to WTMD to "expedite" his screening. The garmet was not "baggy."

Underneath the sweatshirt he was wearing a thin white turtleneck undershirt. Man made a comment that in a few years we'll be stripping naked. Screener who told him to take it off said that will "never happen." I pointed out that two years ago we would have said making this man take his shirt off would "never happen," and the screener agreed. I asked the man if he considered the garmet an undershirt, and he said yes.

I have yet to be asked to remove a sweater (and normally would be wearing a sweater over a button-down shirt over an undershirt, so my complaint about being made to take my sweater off would be having to remove my glasses, not being stripped), but I have seen many people with "hoodies" worn as true outer garmets told to remove them. But this was the first time I saw a man stripped to his undershirt.

He was clearly unhappy but I didn't want to push him into filing a complaint. He and I did have a nice post-checkpoint chat about what we thought of TSA policies though.

Indeed. One can "connect" from a precleared airport like Vancouver to Seattle going through normal Canadian screening - NOT requiring the removal of shoes, shirts, underpants, ect... - and then sit next to you on an aircraft after you've been molested by the TSA.

Absolutely makes no sense to endure the shoe and shirt nonsense.

Unfortunately most of what passes for security with respect to flying makes no sense. Some eggheads in D.C. reacting and then coming up with half-***ed ideas.