Once the temperatures start heating up, it’s hard to wear pants every day. They can just feel so restricting and hot, especially here in the South. I love dresses and skirts, and have several that are incredibly comfortable for travel. But with TSA doing extra touchy feely patdowns, a girl can feel might exposed in a skirt. So what can a lady traveler do when she wants to wear something, anything but pants, but not get too close and personal with a TSA agent?

Bike shorts! I actually have worn bike shorts under my skirts and dresses (on travel days, anyway) for years. And once the new patdown policy came into place, it made even more sense. I have a couple of pairs that I rotate between, although they are technically “yoga shorts” (like these from Gaiam). They have the added benefit of smoothing the line of whatever I’m wearing, but are more comfortable than Spanx. Even if you don’t want to wear bike shorts the whole day, just slip them on before going through security and the slip them off when you’re done. Just takes a few minutes extra, and you don’t have to worry if you get selected for the patdown.