History VaporWear / Literature

* ''Literature/TheOneWhoEatsMonsters'': While clothes shopping, Naomi is surprised when Ryn mentions that she never wears any kind of underwear. Of course, Ryn is an immortal monster far older than the concept of clothing and no experience with humans, so it's not surprising that she neither knows nor cares about underwear. Even her "normal" clothing is actually a part of her, a hair-like substance that she can use for stealth, attack, or defense.

* ''[[Creator/TimDorsey Serge A. Storms]]'': Early in ''Atomic Lobster'', Serge and Coleman observe that GirlOfTheWeek Rachael has gone braless under her favorite t-shirt so often that her nipples have made stretch marks in the fabric.

** In ''Empire Rising'', Christine changes out of wet clothes and is given another officer's dry underwear, but the bra is too small, forcing her to go without in tight jumpsuit. She remains sans bra when deployed on the next mission, changing into a tight wetsuit, then into another set of dry clothes. When she greets the team, she realises that the chilly room has made her nipples clearly visible through her thin, white t-shirt. Her later change to a satin blouse also leaves her without a bra, which she exploits by exposing more cleavage to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract guards]].

** Implied in ''Treason''. Caught in the middle of a coup, Christine disguises herself as maid, quickly switching her figure-hugging evening gown to a thin white blouse and black skirt. During her escape, she is swept down a river. She awakens to find her [[ClothingDamage clothes torn up]], exposing her back and breast.

** In ''Empire Rising'', Christine is given another officer's dry underwear, but the bra is too small, forcing her to go without in the mostly male-staffed submarine. She remains sans bra when deployed on the next mission. The team inadvertently notices her chilly reaction through her thin white t-shirt. Her later change to a satin blouse also leaves her without a bra, which she exploits by exposing more cleavage to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract guards]].
** In ''Blackmail'', Christine is captured while only wearing a nightgown. When swimming to the submarine, it becomes completely see-through. Lampshaded when the supply officer suggests she stows her own underwear on board permanently.
** In ''Treason'', Christine has to quickly change from a figure-hugging evening gown to a blouse and skirt, implying little to no time to find appropriate underwear. Christine later has her [[ClothingDamage clothes torn up]], exposing her breasts. She never receives a bra when she replaces her clothing.

** In ''Blackmail'', Christine is captured while only wearing a nightgown. Upon returning to the same submarine, she is again given another officer's underwear. Lampshaded when the supply officer suggests she stows her own underwear on board permanently.

* In ''Literature/Catalyst'' by Rachel Grant, aid worker Brie Stewart flees an insurgent raid sans bra, which matters little as she is stripped naked to be sold as a sex slave. She spends most of her escape from South Sudan wearing only a cloth. Played straight when she is asked what she would if she had her period. Brie reveals that her personal inspiration was to advocate for Sudanese girls who drop out of school because they don't have underwear and sanitary products.

* In ''Literature/DangerClose'' by Marliss Melton, Navy SEAL Sam Sasseville is tasked with rescuing an oil tycoon's daughter, Maddy Scott, and finds her sleeping naked. She puts on a shirt and skirt without any underwear. Her shirt turns transparent in the rain and Sam has a hard time focusing during the bumpy car ride. At a later lavish dinner, Sam finds that Maddy is not wearing anything underneath her figure-hugging dress. When they hook up much later in the story, Sam jokes that he is surprised Maddy is finally wearing underwear.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Lady Nym wears a very translucent garment to a feast. It makes some guests very uncomfortable, but as someone who knows her notices, it's actually safer: usually she has half a dozen concealed weapons in her clothes.
* In Philip Kerr's SF novel ''The Second Angel,'' a woman named Veronica (a major character) wears a long lambskin coat, but no underwear, even though the Earth has become arctic, due to the melting of the icecaps. This takes Fanservice to the point of [[ExposedToTheElements near suicide]].
* Done by Craye Sawtelle, the {{Evil Sorcere|r}}ess of "The Spring", one of the Literature/SilverJohn stories by Creator/ManlyWadeWellman:
-->"She winnowed close then. I made out that she didn't have on air stitch under her silky dress. She was proudly made, and well she knew it. She stood so close she near about touched me."
* Creator/PiersAnthony [[AuthorAppeal is in a polygamous marriage]] with this trope and PantyShot, and they recur regularly, separately or in the same paragraph, throughout all his series.
** In ''Literature/OnAPaleHorse'', when Death meets Nature, she is wearing a dress made out of fog. In every other book in the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' series, she wears a dress made of leaves.
** In the Literature/{{Xanth}} novel ''The Color of Her Panties'', TheQuest is to determine [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the color of a certain female character's panties]]. It's an unanswerable question for two reasons: first, the magic of Xanth means that any man who sees a woman's undies will freak out, and second, the woman in question is a mermaid. [[spoiler:She eventually does get her panties -- in plaid.]]
* ''Kiss Me, Deadly'' opens with PrivateDetective Literature/MikeHammer picking up a female hitchhiker in a belted trenchcoat. He doesn't realise she's got nothing else on [[ShowSomeLeg until she slips his hand underneath it]] to encourage him to get her past a police roadblock.
* Invoked and used for [[DistractedByTheSexy nefarious purposes]] in ''Literature/TurnCoat'' of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Harry has just finished talking to another private investigator who has been tailing him. The other PI is a decent fella, so he backs off the case when Harry tells him lives are in danger if he keeps it up. However, he doesn't tell Harry who hired him because he's got integrity. He reports this to his apprentice, barely-legal Molly Carpenter, who decides to go ask him (ostensibly for a "job reference")... but not before taking off her bra and cooling her chest for maximum effect. Poor guy never stood a chance.
* Conversed in the book ''Literature/DorkDiaries'' by Nikki in her diary. She points out about the habit of some celebutante/actresses of 'continuously forgetting to wear their underwears'.

* Part of the fantasy of the "zipless fuck" in ''Literature/FearOfFlying.'' "Underwear blows apart like dandelion fluff," and clothes don't get in the way of raw passion.
* In the ''Literature/DominoLady'' stories, much description is lavished on how Domino Lady's sheer white gown clings to her body with nothing underneath it.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
** Graendal, the most shamelessly [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] of the Forsaken, usually wears nothing but misty, translucent dresses that lighten and darken with her mood. The beautiful people she [[LivingDollCollector collects]] and reduces to {{empty shell}}s have the same dress code, not that they are aware of it.
** The female {{Big Bad}}s in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' are partial to wearing gowns of "streith", which is basically mood cloth. Under certain conditions, it becomes transparent or smoky, showing that they don't bother with underwear, and making this "vapor wear" of the most literal variety.
** Most of the Seanchan empire's slaves are only permitted sheer white robes that don't conceal much of anything. This is in part for their owners' [[EatingTheEyeCandy enjoyment]], particularly in the case of trained dancers, and in part to drive home their total lack of status.
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin balks when the royal tailors tell him he must wear his new trousers without underwear; they're deliberately made to show off his, er, assets, and won't fit snugly enough unless he's {{going commando}}. He reluctantly gives in, despite saying he both feels and looks naked.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Nyissan women wear sheer, see-through gowns (deeply embarrassing Durnik).
* ''The Trouble With Bubbles'', by Creator/PhilipKDick, has a 'sideglance' robe. It's invisible out of the corner of your eye, but appears opaque when you look at it directly.

* In ''Literature/MartianTimeSlip'', Otto drools over the girls in New Israel, who work in sweaty T-shirts with no bras.

* ''Literature/BeingBindy'': When Bindy, Janey, and Hannah go out, Hannah pressures Bindy to wear a skimpy top. When Bindy protests, "You can see my bra," Hannah says, "So? Take it off."
* ''Literature/TheFrostGiantsDaughter'': Atali is described as wearing a thin, sheer gown which leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, and it's torn off later anyway.

* In M.L. Buchman's ''Literature/OneChef!'', several supporting characters are [[WardrobeMalfunction braless for show]]. The well-endowed main character, Kate, loses her bra when she is rescued from a North Korean cargo ship. The captain develops an obsession with her breasts and keeps her bra in his pocket. Later, she is told to wear a small, thin t-shirt without a bra to pose as a raunchy tourist.

** In ''Empire Rising'', Christine is given another officer's dry underwear, but the bra is too small, forcing her to go without in the mostly male-staffed submarine. She remains sans bra when deployed on the next mission. The team inadvertently notices her chilly reaction through her thin white t-shirt. Her later change to a satin blouse also leaves her without a bra, which she exploits by exposing more cleavage to distract guards.

** In ''Treason'', Christine has to quickly change from a figure-hugging evening gown to a blouse and skirt, implying little to no time find appropriate underwear. Christine later has her [[ClothingDamage clothes torn up]], exposing her breasts. She never receives a bra when she replaces her clothing.

** In ''Empire Rising'', Christine is given another officer's dry underwear, but the bra is too small. She spends most of the book braless under tight-fitting coveralls. She remains sans bra when deployed on the next mission. The team inadvertently notices her chilly reaction through her thin white t-shirt. Her outfit change also leaves her without a bra, which she exploits by exposing more cleavage to distract guards.
** In ''Blackmail'', Christine is captured while only wearing a nightgown. Upon returning to the same submarine, she is again given another officer's underwear. Lampshaded when the supply officer suggests she being stowing her own underwear on board permanently.

* A recurring point for Christine O'Connor in ''Literature/TridentDeception''.
** In several books, Christine is extracted via submarine. There is no female underwear on board. Lampshaded in later installments when supply officer jokes that she should permanently store her own underwear.
** In ''Empire Rising'', because of the above, Christine goes on the mission without a bra. Her team notices this through her thin, white t-shirt.
** Implied in ''Treason'': Christine has her [[ClothingDamage clothes torn up]], exposing her breasts. She never receives a bra when she replaces her clothing.

* In M.L. Buchman's ''Literature/OneChef!'', several supporting characters are [[WardrobeMalfunction braless for show]]. The well-endowed main character, Kate, loses her bra when she is rescued. Later, she is told to wear a small, thin t-shirt without a bra to pose as a tourist.

* Creator/PiersAnthony [[AuthorAppeal is in a polygamous marriage]] with this trope and panty shot, and they recur regularly, separately or in the same paragraph, throughout all his series.

* Creator/PiersAnthony [[AuthorAppeal is in a polygamous marriage]] with this trope and PantyShot, and they recur regularly, separately or in the same paragraph, throughout all his series.

* ''Literature/BeingBindy'': When Bindy, Janey, and Hannah go out, Hannah pressures Bindy to wear a skimpy top. When Bindy protests, "You can see my bra," Janey says, "So? Take it off."

* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': At the wizard costume contest, Vanora wears a see-through green garment with nothing underneath while made up as an [[NatureSpirit undine]]. Jorian is suitably impressed. This is ''toned down'' from the previous contests, where wizardesses competed wearing ''nothing'' before it was ruled that your birthday suit isn't a costume, with one then wearing an ornate jewel in her navel though otherwise nude [[LoopholeAbuse to qualify]] afterward.

* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': At the wizard costume contest, Vanora wears a see-through green garment with nothing underneath while made up as an [[NatureSpirit undine]]. Jorian is suitably impressed. This is ''toned down'' from the previous contests, where wizardesses competed wearing ''nothing'' before it was ruled that your birthday suit isn't a costume, with one then wearing an ornate jewel in her navel though otherwise nude [[RulesLawyer to qualify]] afterward.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Nyissan women wear shear, see-through gowns (deeply embarrassing Durnik).

* Invoked and used for [[DistractedByTheSexy nefarious purposes]] in ''Luterature/TurnCoat'' of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Harry has just finished talking to another private investigator who has been tailing him. The other PI is a decent fella, so he backs off the case when Harry tells him lives are in danger if he keeps it up. However, he doesn't tell Harry who hired him because he's got integrity. He reports this to his apprentice, barely-legal Molly Carpenter, who decides to go ask him (ostensibly for a "job reference")... but not before taking off her bra and cooling her chest for maximum effect. Poor guy never stood a chance.