I can’t find it right now, but early in Tami’s travails the Dean remarks that Tami doesn’t need clothes or shoes. Tami is outraged (though she can’t express it -- she’s supposed to want to be naked as part of her religion); she is in the middle of making her way naked through a Vermont winter. However she has to admit the Dean has a point. Not only has she survived, she never caught the flu that was going around her dorm wing. The Dean has stripped her mind as well as her body.
Somewhat later her new roommate Mandy, who is aware of Tami’s true situation, observes:
“Tami, Face it. Having all your clothes taken away was the best thing that could have happened to you. I was talking to Jen and some of my other friends around here and I heard an amazing story. These folks really think you’re a committed nudist. And they tell me you’re the most popular girl on campus. Everybody loves you. And you’ve got this hot thing going with Rod Sykes. Tell me, is it true what they say about black men?”
Tami couldn’t help but smile, thinking of her passionate quickie with Rod a couple of hours ago downstairs. She knew what Mandy was referring to. Being so in love with Rod, his dick seemed to her like it was the biggest in the world.
“Ah-ha,” Mandy said, noticing the smile. “I suppose it is true then.” She got a half-finished bottle of iced tea from her dresser, then sat in the lower bunk and started sipping it. “You’re a math major. I bet in high school you were a nerd. Suddenly now you’re popular, admired even, and with a hot relationship. Face it, you’re lucky. By watching you I’ll make sure you STAY lucky.” Another sip. “I’m not a sadist like Wanda. Actually I like you a lot.”
Tami’s face burned with a red blush. She knew that Mandy was, at least partly, correct. There were so many good things in her life now, that she owed to being naked all the time. But she just couldn’t admit the truth to this girl. It might be a trick. One wrong word and Mandy might go straight to the Dean.
In a different context Kai-Kai, who has been naked all his life, tells Angela that he never understood the idea of bodily modesty, but he knows everyone else feels it, so he makes allowances for it. (For example, he is perfectly capable of peeing in public, but he always uses the bathroom,)
I can also mention Brigid, whom one can call more or less naked due to her minimal uniform, who can march and twirl in all weathers, and go to classes in it and play in indoor concerts. She could probably live her entire life in her uniform, with 99.5% of her body exposed, though being a proper girl, she wears it only when she’s supposed to.
Then there are the “bobbins” at Blanke Shande College, where female students are required to be naked at all times, even up at the Alturas campus. Most get over their residual feelings of shame after a few weeks. And begin to see clothes as silly.
A related activity at the main campus, though possibly with the opposite motivation at heart, was what had become known as “Bobbins” -- as in, “are you a Bobbin?” The idea was to plan to “wear”, during college breaks, the most ridiculous objects so as to cover the “legally necessary” body parts. The name started when one girl thought up the idea of gluing sewing machine bobbins onto her nipples. Other innovations were wine corks to cover the vaginal opening, scotch tape used as a thong, and bras made of twine onto which potholders had been sewed. The idea was to show how ridiculous it was to require certain body parts to be covered -- anything at all would do, so why not have fun with it? There were even rumors of parties at the main campus where girls would wear these things, a clear violation of BSC policy, but it sounded like a lot of fun.
A theme of all my stories is that being naked makes the person tough -- not only as to getting rid of bodily shame (and the many body issues that young females obsess on) but as to the elements. Indeed unless one is in an extreme climate clothes and shoes can be dispensed with entirely, as Tami Smithers proved.
Every girl needs a good comfortable pair of shoes. Fallen arches and busted feet are not fun things.