Clothing Optional Dining
Clothing Optional Dining
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Clothing Optional Dining
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Post #1 - February 18th, 2005, 10:46 pmReuters, February 18, 2005 wrote:Nudists dine in New York style
Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:29 PM GMT
By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The diners arrived at a nice Manhattan restaurant on a cold February night and stripped off coats, hats, gloves and scarves. They didn't stop there.
Skirts, shirts, pants, underwear and stockings all ended up stashed in plastic bags by the bar as the patrons got naked for the monthly "Clothing Optional Dinner."
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The dinner was started by a group of New York nudists who wanted something a bit more elegant than the wilderness getaways and beach resorts they generally frequent.
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John Ordover set up the dining club about a year ago, recruiting members through word of mouth and the Internet.
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Around 30 people arrived for the buffet dinner -- organizers specified no hot soup on the menu -- most of them middle-aged, several married couples, some singles, the youngest perhaps in their 30s.
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Health regulations mean staff must remain clothed even if they wanted to join in. And diners must bring something to sit on -- a towel or, for discerning women, an elegant silk scarf.
The restaurant's manager covered the windows to maintain privacy at the strictly private party. Extra heaters kept the temperature at a comfortable level for nudity.
Ordover's wife, Carol, said they first went on a naturist holiday five years ago and she found the experience empowering. But, she explained, it's "the least sexual thing you can possibly imagine."
...Cathy2
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Post #2 - February 18th, 2005, 11:12 pmI love the way the word "empowering" is the ultimate justification for anything. You dare not trample on the empowerment of others; it is their inalienable right to become as empowered as Godzilla absorbing the juice of an electrical transformer he's just eaten.
For my part, I ate a number of lunches recently in the immediate vicinity of the nearly nude, the beaches in Playa del Carmen taking a decidedly European attitude toward how little of an already skimpy bikini is strictly necessary, but I don't think empowerment is quite the word for what was going on among either the displayers or the viewers.Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
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Post #3 - February 19th, 2005, 12:16 amI can't believe the headline writer passed on, "Buffet in the Buff."
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Post #4 - February 19th, 2005, 10:59 amI have been to "clothing optional" swimming areas, and can say that once you get over the "oh my goodness everyone is naked" thing, it really isn't sexual - and the people who feel uncomfortable are the people who remain clothed. Somehow being naked among the naked isn't weird, being clothed among the naked is.
I think being partly bikini-ed would be amazingly different than totally nude. But I'm not sure I'd want to be either when eating. Or watch someone drip pasta sauce into his tummy hairs.Leek
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Post #5 - February 19th, 2005, 12:44 pmleek wrote:and the people who feel uncomfortable are the people who remain clothed. Somehow being naked among the naked isn't weird, being clothed among the naked is.
leek,
Well, that may generally be true, but it's also uncomfortable (disempowering?) being in a nude swimming area with a wife who is the only female not wearing a swimmng suit. I honestly don't think there should be "optional" swimming wear areas; I say it should be completely commando for everyone or for no one, and nothing in-between.
David "This topic brings out the fascist in me" Hammond"Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
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Post #6 - February 19th, 2005, 4:03 pmI honestly don't think there should be "optional" swimming wear areas
I have had only one nude beach experience, in Jamaica, and that was the rule there. One guy was wearing a t-shirt and nothing else, and he was the only person who seemed "dirty." Sightseers were also not permitted, although there were a few in kayaks off in the distance.
As others have said, it's surprisingly un-sexual. Where I was there was a mix of attractive and not-so-attractive people, so it wasn't like everyone was simply unappealing. The strangest thing was applying sun block to parts that normally don't need it. Also strange was that while I was there we had a brief rain and many people got under cover. I remember standing in a gazebo with my girlfriend and a bunch of other people and it was only after we had been there for a few minutes that it dawned on me that we were all naked. It wasn't at all uncomfortable, but it was memorable.
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Post #7 - February 19th, 2005, 7:03 pmI personally would hate to hear "pork butt" and wonder if someone was ordering dinner or greeting me.
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Post #8 - February 23rd, 2005, 2:26 pmI'm waiting to see something like this pop up in the "Events" section.
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Post #9 - March 10th, 2005, 8:24 pmAs a counter point, bOINGbOING is reporting a restaurant in Switzerland completely in darkness where you're served by blind waitresses.
This brings up two observations (well, not in a dark room, but, well, you know what I mean):
1) This makes the clothing optional dining sort of redundant
2) It's even more important not to order hot soup when the waitress can't see where you are
