If you’re a woman, sometimes it’s utter madness whenever you leave your front door. It’s fairly standard proceedure to get catcalled, have random men approach you in the street or even reach out and touch you. Often it doesn’t particularly matter how conventionally attractive you are. You’ll probably get some kind of harassment, at some time or another, whoever or whatever you look like. 

But what if you were wearing something so repugnant, so utterly strange, or unflattering that you were left to walk the streets in peace? Something dull. Something as fucking uncomplimentary as a bin bag.

After livestreaming her comedy show on Periscope and Meerkat one day, a New York comedian got harassed on camera by a shirtless man while talking to her online audience. She was followed for a few seconds before managing to shake him off and continue.

Afterwards, she spoke to her viewers. One said that it wouldn’t have happened were she less attractive. It was this that gave Jessica Delfino the idea to see what sartorial choice could prevent harassment from happening. Bin bags and flip flops, somehow, seemed the obvious option. 

Sure, bin bags are having their moment in the Taiwanese #bagcore scene,but over in NYC, not so much. Despite roaming around in public for hours, barely anyone paid her any notice. As she wrote on Mashable, "Surprisingly, almost no one sexually harassed me in my garbage bag gown. I say almost no one because there was one man who was somewhat flirtatious but pretty polite, and there were a few people who said things under their breath when I walked by, or eye-banged me pretty hard, but no one said anything directly, overtly gross to me."

Granted, she did also have a camera crew with her to scare off any would-be catcallers. Binbags are easy to come by, but camera crews much harder. You can’t take a cameraman with you everywhere you go to avoid being hassled by men.

One day you’d hope street harassment won’t be commonplace. But until then, if you can really be arsed, the only fail-safe option might be to consider wearing bin bags or other household consumables.