History Main / ModestyTowel

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 but [[BareYourMidriff in that case]] it is done for {{Fanservice}}.

* One scene of Goku bathing in ''DragonBallZ'' is censored with the use of a digital towel. They even animate it falling off to the ground as Goku jumps in. That is to say, animated it POORLY.

* The cover for the first print collection of ''{{Housepets}}'' shows Peanut and Grape wearing the male and female versions, respectively, of a modesty towel, even though they almost always walk around wearing only a collar in normal conditions.[[hottip:*:In the comic, even pets soaked down to the bone aren't any more detailed about their mostly-undressed state than when dry.]]

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

* A deleted scene from ''Diamonds Are Forever'' had Plenty O'Toole, a minor character and almost one-night-stand of James Bond, returning to his apartment wearing nothing but a white towel after she had been thrown out of his hotel room and landed in a pool while wearing nothing but her underwear and high heels.

* ''TheOrderOfTheStick''

Contrast SexyCoatFlashing.

* Roughly half of the episodes in ''MaicchinguMachikoSensei'' show the main character in a modesty towel in one scene. In the vast majority of those scenes, the towel ends up ebing taken away one way or another.

** This is the villain who has a rubber ducky in his bathtub. ''Beast Wars'' [[{{Understatement}} sometimes]] does invoke the RuleOfFunny.

* In Series Five of ''DoctorWho'', the Doctor, under the (mistaken) impression that his roommate is being attacked, races out of the shower to rescue him, barely managing to wrap a towel around his waist beforehand. Considering that this is the [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace Eleventh]] [[CloudCuckoolander Doctor]], it is rather impressive that he remembered to grab a towel at all.

* After being pulled into the water [[spoiler:by Corphish]] in the episode "Gone Corphishin'", [[{{Pokemon}} May]] appears briefly in one, while the protagonists' clothes dried.

* After being pulled into the water [[spoiler:by Corphish]] in the episode "Gone Corphishin'", May appears briefly in one, while the protagonists' clothes dried.

* AtelierIris has [[ActionGirl Lita]] wearing this while she's drying her clothes the time she meets a BigBad in person.

* At the WWF's 1987 "Slammy Awards," "Ravishing" Rick Rude -- playing up his character as a sexy ladies'-man chippendale, did a strip-tease act when he came onstage to accept the "Jesse 'the Body'" award for best-looking male wrestler. At the height of his act, Rude began taking off his pants when "Mean" Gene Okerlund ran out and began wrapping a towel around an annoyed Rude's waist (Rude, of course, was wearing a thong). After his acceptance speech, he took one of the showgirls backstage and threw a towel on-stage, giving the impression that Rude was completely in the buff (off-stage).

* The WWE's Val Venus (Sean Morley), as part of his "porn star" gimmick, wore a modesty towel around his waist during his standard ring entrance. (Yes, a pair of wrestling trunks was underneath).

* ''MondayNightFootball'': One of the most infamous pre-show skits, aired November 15, 2004, was a takeoff of Nicolette Sheridan's Edie Britt character on ''DesperateHousewives''. Sheridan, in-character as Edie and dressed only in a towel, enters the Philadelpia Eagles locker room and seduces wide receiver Terrell Owens. Owens remains focused until Edie takes it off ... takes it ''all off'', after which Owens remarks that the Eagles "are gonna have to win this game without me" as an estatic Edie jumps into Owens' arms. Afterward, two women -- perhaps reflecting the soon-to-come negative criticism over the incident (and it did come, despite the absence of outright nudity) -- scoff at the skit before shouting to the camera, "Are you ready for some football?!"

* A parody of the Terrell Owens-Nicolette Sheridan ''MondayNightFootball'' "towel skit" aired shortly afterward on ''WWERaw'', in response to negative criticism by conservative critics and women's groups. Shelton Benjamin was initially in the Owens role, while babelicious blonde diva Trish Stratus was the towel-clad Edit Britt (Sheridan's ''DesperateHousewives'' character), this time with Benjamin trying to prepare for a match and Trish doing her best to turn on her sexual charms. WWE owner VinceMcMahon entered the locker room to express outrage, claiming the swift downfall of society would result by said actions being aired on TV. Benjamin walked off disgusted, and after he left [=McMahon=] immediately focused entirely on Trish ... who took it all off. Cue the ''Monday Night Football'' theme as an orgasmic [=McMahon=] gleefully said, "Are you ready for some wrestlin'?"

* ''MondayNightFootball'': One of the most infamous pre-show skits was a takeoff of Nicolette Sheridan's Edie Britt character on ''DesperateHousewives''. Sheridan, in-character as Edie and dressed only in a towel, enters the Philadelpia Eagles locker room and seduces wide receiver Terrell Owens. Owens remains focused until Edie takes it off ... takes it ''all off'', after which Owens remarks that the Eagles "are gonna have to win this game without me" as an estatic Edie jumps into Owens' arms. Afterward, two women -- perhaps reflecting the soon-to-come negative criticism over the incident -- scoff at the skit before shouting to the camera, "Are you ready for some football?!"

* In ''TheKamics'' [[http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/index.php?p=105761 Nikki wears one here.]]

* ''{{Freefall}}'': [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1600/fc01526.htm Florence is called to the videofone.]]

* ArTonelico features ModestyTowel as a ''battle costume'' for Aurica. It gives most stats of all her clothes selection, somehow.