On a recent 80-degree Saturday in New York, Claire Wenrick decided to hang out on a friend’s roof. She slipped into a vintage baby blue tank top and camouflage miniskirt for the occasion. But before she left for the day, she grabbed an extra-large white T-shirt to cover it all up.
It’s a trick the 24-year-old content creator learned from TikTok: use a dumpy “subway shirt” to conceal the actual outfit you plan to wear out. It will keep creeps from staring during the commute.
“It’s a way to protect my safety getting from point A to point B,” Wenrick said. “I don’t want to become a target, as weird as that sounds.”
New Yorkers love to shed their winter layers as soon as the first signs of spring hit the city. But for women who take advantage of sundress season, the much-anticipated warm weather can also bring unwanted attention.
Not that it should. There is little evidence that harassment or assault is motivated by what a victim wears, and clothing is never a justification for cat-calling. Still, anyone who does not want to risk it may utilize the subway shirt, which is also known colloquially as an “outfit dampener”.
Everyone has a subway shirt in their closet: a baggy, shapeless cover-up meant to divert eyeballs away from the body. As one creator wrote on the app: “It’s an oversized shirt we wear over cute outfits so strange men don’t bother you on the train.”
“Just know if you see me in a white button down, the real fit is underneath,” another woman commented.
“I wish I didn’t have to wear one and that it was safe to be able to wear what I want,” Wenrick said. “It feels like I’m going back to a middle school dress code as an adult – continuing to dress so that men leave me alone.”
Ajana Grove, who is 19, moved to New York from Nebraska. “I learned quickly that I can walk around and do what I want to as long as I’m covered up,” she said. “Every time I forget my subway shirt, I instantly regret it and think about turning around.”
Grove has a few dedicated shirts she tries to keep in her bag, and she encourages her friends to do the same. “I’ve noticed it since I moved here – the male gaze is a physical feeling,” she said. “Even if I’m not paying attention, if someone’s staring at me, I feel it.”
Leora Tanenbaum is the author of I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet. She also documents racist and sexist school dress codes on her Instagram account. “I think it’s fantastic these TikToks are raising awareness of the harm caused by sexual harassment and assault in public spaces,” Tanenbaum said. “Hopefully, more people now will recognize how scary it can be to simply go about your day, including taking the subway, when you present as feminine.”
While covering up might make women feel less vulnerable, Tanenbaum adds that is should never be a requirement. “If someone does not wear a ‘subway shirt’ over their tank top and is victimized, they did nothing wrong.”
Though New York is one of the safest large cities in the US, the New York Times found that rates of violent crime on the subway have increased since 2019. More women are avoiding public transit if they can help it: a survey of MTA customers released in February found that 41% of respondents were using subways less frequently. Of those people, 44% said this was due to personal safety concerns.
Though she would prefer to dress how she pleases, Wenrick said that she and her friends made light of the subway shirt. Sometimes, they’ll all show up to parties in their gigantic T-shirts and dramatically reveal the outfit underneath.
“We like to joke about the big reveal,” she said. “That’s become a big question: when do you take the subway shirt off? While you’re in line for the event? Right as you walk in? In the bathroom? Everyone thinks I just came in this huge shirt, but then, oooh, look at my cute top.”
This article was amended on 16 May 2023. An earlier version misspelled Claire Wenrick’s last name.