History Main / ModestyTowel

* In ''SecretAgentClank'', [[RatchetAndClank Ratchet]] and the more humanoid enemies wear these in the showers (and lost them upon taking damage, leaving them with {{Censor Box}}es).

* In [[TheSims The Sims 3]], if a character has their clothes stolen while skinny dipping, they immediately cover up in one of these on emerging from the pool.

* In [[TheSimsThree The Sims 3]], if a character has their clothes stolen while skinny dipping, they immediately cover up in one of these on emerging from the pool.

* Isaiah Mustafa of the ''TheManYourManCouldSmellLike'' Old Spice adverts is known for wearing one. It's all he wears in the personalized Youtube response videos, and even mentions that the only way to do community service is in a towel.
** Subverted in that whenever he changes the scene, he wears new clothes as the situation demands. [[WalkingShirtlessScene But never a shirt.]]

* The unusual usage of towels is lampshaded in ''{{Hayate the Combat Butler}}'', where the narrator [[NoFourthWall points out]] that the towels are added due to broadcast regulations and shouldn't be worn in baths because it's unhygienic and disliked by bath attendants.

** In ''Lagann-hen'' [[spoiler:the trope [[http://i47.tinypic.com/30j413d.png returns]], but with an added touch of MagicSkirt. Modesty towel indeed...]]

[[folder:Comics]]

* In ''Film/FantasticFour'', Reed gets an AccidentalPervert moment as he accidentally walks in on Sue when she's about to get into the shower. She responds by clutching the towel to her and simultaneously turning invisible... you'd think one of the two would be enough, but maybe it was just reflex.

* Riffed in ''{{The Man with the Golden Gun}}'' when JamesBond surprises Andrea Anders in the shower. She tells him to hand her a towel, so he does. Only it's a hand towel.

* In ''[=~The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy~=]'' movie, Trillian is about to emerge from a shower when she asks Arthur for a towel, adding to the already well-established "Most Versatile Object in the Universe" gag.

* Lampshaded and lampooned in TheThreeStooges short film "A-Plumbing We Will Go." Curly has to evict a bather from a shower he needs to repair. After some bantering with the bather, Curly loses his patience and pulls the shower curtain, to reveal that the occupant had been showering with a towel already wrapped around him.

* In ''{{Romancing the Stone}}'' Joan Wilder emerges from the shower with a towel around her.

* Subverted in ''{{Prelude to Foundation}}''. Hari is dressed from the waist down. Dors is also wearing a towel from the waist down. [[CaptainObvious One causes a bit more awkwardness.]]

* In the new ''{{Battlestar Galactica}}'', in one episode ("Home, Part II"), Number Six uses an interesting variant -- a Modesty ''Chair'' which she straddles backward -- when she talks with Baltar.

* ''[[GreysAnatomy Grey's Anatomy]]'': Dr. Sloan's first appearance.
** His first appearance was actually hitting on Meredith in the hospital, although the scene with the towel is probably his most famous.

* Appears in {{DevilBear}} after the Daivas share some time in the [[http://www.thedevilbear.com/comics.php?p=103 Hot Springs.]]
* ''{{Misfile}}'' had one of these [[http://www.misfile.com/?page=395 here.]]

In film and television, characters that have just bathed or showered will often be wrapped in towels to preserve their modesty. Men will wear the towel wrapped around the waist, usually reaching to the knees, while women will wear it from the chest to the hips, covering themselves up even if there is no-one else around. This is often TruthInTelevision: those who are accustomed to doing so while others are around will often cover themselves out of habit, even if they are alone -- not to mention that if you've just stepped out of a hot shower, the rest of the bathroom's going to seem a bit chilly. A woman will also often wrap a towel around her hair in [[WomensMysteries a complicated turban arrangement which menfolk are entirely incapable of recreating]]. Effeminate males are sometimes shown to wear towels in the feminine style for comic effect. Some females might wear towels masculine-style (with an extra towel worn like a tube-top), but [[BareYourMidriff in that case]] it is done for {{Fanservice}}.

[[folder:Print Media]]
* Subverted in ''{{Playboy}}'s College Girls'': [[http://www.imagebam.com/image/fcd1c951208877 Wendy Christine's]] towel only covers her private parts.{{NSFW}}
[[/folder]]

* BugsBunny, who is always naked except for his gloves, wears one in the short ''The Wabbit Who Came to Supper'', during a scene in which he's coming out of the shower. This scene is somewhat controversial because at one point his towel slips, revealing what looks like a white fur-covered penis for a couple frames. This has pretty much been discredited by most though, it was most likely supposed to just be the area between his legs and the towel behind them. Then again, it's always possible this wasn't just a simple animation mistake and they were trying to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar get crap past the radar]] or they figured the censors would have cut it and they never did, the folks at Termite Terrace were known for this.

* Subverted in ''{{Playboy}}'s College Girls'': [[http://www.imagebam.com/image/fcd1c951208877 Wendy Christine]]'s towel only covers her private parts.{{NSFW}}

* CensorSteam aside, this was also quite common in Akamatsu's next work, the anime version of ''MahouSenseiNegima!'', also done by Xebec. In the manga, however...

** In Lagann-hen [[spoiler: the trope [[http://i47.tinypic.com/30j413d.png returns]], but with an added touch of ''MagicSkirt''. Modesty towel indeed...]]
* Aeka and Sasami used these at times in versions of ''TenchiMuyo!'' Even in the spring. This would be more of a character decision, though; it's hard to call it censorship when everyone else around them goes without.

* While the title character of ''[=~Ranma ½~=]'' [[InnocentFanserviceGirl really couldn't care less]], ''Akane'' will wrap her in a towel anyway. Even if there's nothing but girls in the room.

* There's a short SuperDeformed [[HotSpringsEpisode Hot Springs Anime Special]] for ''[[HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3]]'' that features {{Modesty Towel}}s; and apparently it's entirely possible to ''swim underwater freely'' while wrapped in these. Also, considering [[BlueBishonenGhetto the nature]] of the ''Haruka'' franchise, had the special not been drawn in the SuperDeformed style, it probably would've been much more valuable in terms of {{Fanservice}}...
* One gets applied in the Anime Adaption of {{Eiken}} but [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Eiken]] [[GagBoobs being]] [[UpToEleven Eiken]] this barely covers the girl's front as opposed to wrap around..

* In SummerWars, Natsuki emerges from the bathroom to chase down [[NakedPeopleAreFunny one of her little cousins who had gone running from the bathroom without a stitch]], when she runs into Kenji. She quickly darts back in to the bathroom, while Kenji averts his eyes and insists that he saw nothing.
* Pictured above Kallen of {{Code Geass}} does this when she's pulling [[MsFanservice double]] [[ActionGirl duty]] yet again, storming in on C.C. to complain about how their plan at the beginning of season two played out. Turned into a {{Crowning Moment Of Funny}} when she realizes C.C. is in the middle of a meeting with a few gentlemen from the Chinese Federation. In an oddly-effeminate (if understandable) moment she screams and runs behind a screen, despite the men having gotten a good look already. Angrier than ever, she continues to complain to C.C. and almost has the towel fall off in the process.

* In ''[[Fanfic/{{Ptitle0028gzjm}} Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', Mikuru had one of these the first time [[spoiler:she arrived at Nagato's apartment for training]].

* Haley wears one for a gag on the bottom of [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0277.html this strip]] of ''{{The Order of the Stick}}''.

** Roy gets one [[spoiler:[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0665.html post-resurrection]]. Did you know you arrive naked when you're resurrected...?]]
*** That's not even a towel. That's V's cape.

* One of the Figuretoons at [=OAFEnet=] showed [[{{X-Men}} Wolverine]] wearing one of these towels [[http://www.oafe.net/toons/0502/3.php on his way to the shower.]]

* "Around The Universe in a Bath Towel" is the fourth ''GirlsInSpace'' story. Scarlet 'Red' Macrumble spends almost the entire story wearing only a modesty towel
* In ''{{The KAMics}}'' [[http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/index.php?p=105761 Nikki wears one here]]

* Done by Kate in the ''{{KateModern}}'' episode "Tariq Attack" and by Gavin in the episode "A Close Shave".

* A joke similar to ''Hot Dog!: The Movie'' was used with Zapp Branningan stepping out of the shower in the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "War Is the H-Word".

* Yumi Ishiyama is seen in a Modesty Towel in at least two episodes of ''CodeLyoko'', most notably the first. To be fair, the boys are seen wearing one even more often over the run of the series.

** This is the villain who has a rubber ducky in his bathtub. ''Beast Wars'' [[{{Understatement}} sometimes]] does invoke the {{Rule of Funny}}.
* In the ''VeggieTales'' song about Larry's hairbrush, Larry is shown in a Modesty Towel (even though he doesn't wear anything other than the occasional period-appropriate headdress in the regular animated stories or on one occasion, in a corporate setting, a tie when his character was promoted) coming out of the shower, and everyone who walks into him still recoils in embarrassment.
** At the end, the Peach shows up and is ''also'' wrapped in a towel. The two are embarrassed by each other.
* ''{{Phineas and Ferb}}'''s "Gaming the System" has Candace fighting off video game villains in one that stays put. [[FridgeLogic Technically, she even went on her]] ''[[FridgeLogic date]]'' [[FridgeLogic wearing it under her dress.]] That must have been kind of uncomfortable to dance in. (Well that, or she went on the date with nothing underneath.)

* {{Played for Laughs}} with Jimmy Five during the first half of a ''MonicasGang'' cartoon named "Quero Entrar" ("Let Me In").

* In one episode of the JusticeLeague, Green Lantern visits an old friend of his and is introduced to his pretty fiancee, who had stepped out from the showers with nothing but a towel.

** Subverted in the sequel, where Johnny comes out a shower room wrapped in a towel and is accosted by the female military officer he's had his eye on. Johnny insists she was waiting there on purpose to catch him in the nude. Seeing as how he's played by Chris Evans, [[EvenTheGuysWantHim who wouldn't]]?

In film and television, characters that have just bathed or showered will often be wrapped in towels to preserve their modesty. Men will wear the towel wrapped around the waist, usually reaching to the knees, while women will wear it from the chest to the hips, covering themselves up even if there is no-one else around. This is often TruthInTelevision: those who are accustomed to doing so while others are around will often cover themselves out of habit, even if they are alone -- not to mention that if you've just stepped out of a hot shower, the rest of the bathroom's going to seem a bit chilly. A woman will also often wrap a towel around her hair in [[WomensMysteries a complicated turban arrangement which menfolk are entirely incapable of recreating]]. Effeminate males are sometimes shown to wear towels in the feminine style for comic effect. Some females ({{tomboy}}s, [[BottleFairy Bottle Fairies]], etc.) might wear towels masculine-style (with an extra towel worn like a tube-top), but [[BareYourMidriff in that case]] it is done for {{Fanservice}}.

* In the ''VeggieTales'' song about Larry's hairbrush, Larry is shown in a Modesty Towel (even though he doesn't wear anything other than the occasional period-appropriate headdress in the regular animated stories) coming out of the shower, and everyone who walks into him still recoils in embarrassment.

* [[TimeSkip Late into]] ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', there is a fight scene in the prison bathroom between [[spoiler: Simon and [[TheLancer Viral]]]], who are wearing nothing but ridiculously tiny towels.

* Pictured above Kallen of {{Code Geass}} does this when she's pulling [[MsFanservice double]] [[ActionGirl duty]] yet again, storming in on C.C. to complain about how their plan at the beginning of season two played out. Turned into a {{CrowningMomentOfFunny}} when she realizes C.C. is in the middle of a meeting with a few gentlemen from the Chinese Federation. In an oddly-effeminate (if understandable) moment as she screams and runs behind a screen, despite the men having gotten a good look already. Angrier than ever, she continues to complain to C.C. and almost has the towel fall off in the process.

* Pictured above Kallen of {{CodeGeass}} does this when she's pulling [[MsFanservice double]] [[ActionGirl duty]] yet again, storming in on C.C. to complain about their plan at the beginning of season two played out. Turned into a {{CrowningMomentOfFunny}} when she realizes C.C. is in the middle of a meeting with a few gentlemen from the Chinese Federation. In an oddly-effeminate (if understandable) moment as she screams and runs behind a screen, despite the men having gotten a good look already. Angrier than ever, she continues to complain to C.C. and almost has the towel fall off in the process.

* In one episode of the JusticeLeague, GreenLanturn visits an old friend of his and is introduced to his pretty fiancee, who had stepped out from the showers with nothing but a towel.

* Speaking of Chris... Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker fight like this in a bath house during the second ''Rush Hour'' movie, replacing towels with bath robes. (They end up throw out and naked, anyway.)