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Hanging Our Clothes to Dry

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A character gets wet for whatever reason, like by falling into a river or stream. Upon climbing out and finding themselves lost in the woods, they do the first, most logical thing. They take off their clothes and hang them on a branch or over a fire to dry them off. This can lead to an awkward situation, as all the people are now either in their underwear or naked.

Depending on the people involved, it could be an awkward situation never to be spoken of again or a chance for the relationship between characters to develop. Sometimes, you can expect the characters to spend a night sitting back to back (to share body heat) and have an intimate, heartfelt conversation. When their clothes are finally dry, they will probably thank them for taking such good care of them...or threaten to kill them if they ever mention it again. Or even both.

Compare Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen and Naked People Trapped Outside.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • When a young Lucy and Kouta get in a water fight with one another in a shallow stream in Elfen Lied, the next scene has them sitting back-to-back nude while their clothes dry out nearby.
  • Happens in Kyou no Go no Ni when Ryota accidentally squirts milk on Megumi and spills soup on Yuki, Megumi's tank top and Yuki's skirt are then seen drying on the windowsill in the Nurse's office where Megumi and Yuki are covering up with a sheet.
  • Happened to Cagalli in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED when she was on the deserted island with Athrun.
  • Happens to Shinn and Stella of Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny after the latter dances off the edge of a cliff. Also constitutes a Naked Second Impression, as it's the first time the two actually meet. (Their first interaction was a Thanks for the Mammary Crash-Into Hello, but there's no indication that either of them actually recognize each other from the incident.)
  • Nagasarete Airantou: This happened to Yukino and Ikuto in chapter 9, Machi in chapter 34, and Ayane and Suzu in chapter 59.

    Comic Books 
  • One fanservice-y Betty and Veronica comic ("Clothes Encounter", originally published in issue 81 of the 1987 Betty and Veronica series) had the girls fall out of their boat while on a fishing trip, forcing them to hide in the bushes wearing nothing but their bras for a few hours while their clothes dried in the sun. Hilarity Ensues when a passing Boy Scout troop nearly makes camp on the trail right between them and their clothes.

    Films — Animation 
  • A downplayed version is in Sleeping Beauty: Prince Phillip is riding and gets thrown off into a mud puddle. He takes off his hat, cape, and boots. Forest animals take these and pretend to be a man for Princess Aurora to dance with.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Alpha (2018): After he falls into an icy river, Keda has to take off his clothes and dry them overnight by the fire. The body-heat-sharing also happens, but it's with his wolf-friend, Alpha.
  • Happens in Bringing Up Baby. Susan accidentally drops one of David's socks into the fire while trying to dry it, and then tosses the other one in to match.
  • Happens to the protagonist and his guardian angel in It's a Wonderful Life. Then we discover that the angel's underwear is outdated by two centuries.
  • In The Man from Kangaroo, John Harland dives into the river fully clothed to save a drowning boy. He takes his clothes off and hangs them out to dry on a branch. The local boys persuade him to give them swimming lessons while his clothes dry. While he is doing so, his girlfriend comes along, finds his clothes, and ties them into knots as a practical joke.
  • In Mansfield Park, Mary Crawford is very keen to help unlace Fanny's wet things after Fanny gets caught in the rain. (The subtext was quite intentional on the director's part.)
  • That Man from Rio: Adrian and Agnes are driving from Rio to Brasilia in an open roadster. At night they're caught in a drenching storm unable to put the top up. Next morning they're on the road in their underwear, clothes drying on a makeshift line. By this point, Adrian has had enough of this adventure he's been dragged into and stops at a police station to turn himself in.
  • In Laurel and Hardy film Way Out West, Ollie Hardy is huddled miserably in a blanket while his clothes dry on a line after he walks into a deep hole in a shallow stream twice. He does it again a third time at the very end of the movie.

    Literature 
  • Survivors, the second book of Barbara and Scott Siegel's Fire Brats series about a pair of teenagers surviving World War III, has this occur when Matt and Dani travel by raft. They get dunked and soaked, and Dani passes out, seeming feverish, so Matt strips her to her underwear to prevent serious illness or hypothermia and then covers her in dry leaves. Being a gentleman, he tries to avoid looking - mostly - before stripping himself naked and creating his own leaf pile. There's still an awkward moment the next morning when she sees her clothes hanging on a limb, though she's grateful he didn't remove everything.
  • The Sound of Waves: This happens with Shinji and Hatsue. They're up a mountain together at night for some reason when their clothes get wet, so they dry them by the fire. They're in love but they just embrace chastely because they are virtuous, honorable country folk, unlike those debauched city-educated types.

    Live-Action TV 
  • H₂O: Just Add Water: The mermaid trio find Lewis injured and soaking wet the morning after a full moon where they tried to kill him while under the moonspell. Lewis is forced to strip and hang up his clothes on a tree to avoid hypothermia while the gang discusses what happened the night before. Normally, Rikki would use her powers to dry him off, but the full moon gave her an upgrade that she can't control yet— her attempt just sets his pants on fire.
  • In one episode of McHale's Navy, Captain Binghamton and Ensign Parker must take a survival test together on a deserted island. They get soaked on their way to shore so when they get a fire going Parker tries to dry their clothes. Unfortunately, since he is such a klutz, he burns the clothes completely.

    Music 

    Video Games 
  • Happens in Final Fantasy V, leading to the reveal that Faris Is a Girl.
  • In Mother 3, when Flint reunites with Lucas and Claus in Chapter 1, they're huddled in blankets with their clothes hanging by a fire.
  • In Project Rub, the hero and the girl get washed up on the shore of a desert island. A scene like this follows a minigame in which the hero nervously helps the girl undress.

    Visual Novels 
  • In Nightshade, Hanzo and Enju do this at one point after getting soaked by a rainstorm.

    Webcomics 

    Western Animation 

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