Walking toward airport security usually comes with some anxiety. Did you dump the water bottle? Are your liquids under the limit? Will the scanner beep for no reason at all? Most people brace for inconvenience, not scrutiny over what they’re wearing.
One woman says that changed for her over the holidays. According to her, TSA didn’t just flag her bags or her shoes; it also flagged her outfit.
TikTok creator Dana posted a video describing two back-to-back TSA experiences while flying from North Carolina to California. The clip has since pulled in more than 143,900 views, with viewers questioning whether what she went through had anything to do with security at all.
What Happened During TSA Screening?
Dana opens her video by explaining she had recently flown back to California after spending Christmas in North Carolina and says she had “no idea that the airlines had a new dress code.”
For her first flight, she says she wore a matching sweatsuit. “I was wearing like a sweatshirt and then pants that match with it,” she says, explaining the sweatshirt wasn’t cropped and sat just below her belly button, while the pants were high-waisted. “You still couldn’t see anything.”
Despite that, she says a male TSA agent seemed hesitant to let her pass. According to Dana, he instructed two women TSA agents to pull her aside and pat her down. After the screening, TSA allegedly continued the process. “They ultimately made me have to change,” she says, adding that she had to borrow a family member’s sweater just to get through and board the plane.
She thought that would be the end of it, but that’s not what happened.
More Alleged TSA Scrutiny On Her Way Back
On her return flight from North Carolina to California, Dana says she made a point to dress more conservatively.
This time, she wore a bigger, non-cropped sweater, leggings, and UGG boots. Under the sweater, she says she had on a sports-bra-style top that functioned like a shirt.
As she approached the checkpoint, TSA agents were instructing passengers with knee-high or taller boots to remove their shoes. Dana says she assumed she was fine. “My boots aren’t that high,” she says, noting she was already going through the scanner.
That’s when another male TSA agent stopped her. “You need to take off your shoes. You need to go back through,” she recalls him saying. She complied, sending her boots through the machine. While doing so, she noticed an agent inspecting the inside of one shoe, which she describes as “kind of crazy.”
Dana then says the agent asked if she was wearing anything under her sweater. When she explained it was a sports-bra-style top, she offered to remove the sweater. TSA declined and instead pulled her aside again.
She says two women TSA agents patted her down and tried to tell the male agent that she was fine and could proceed. Still, the screening continued. Dana says she was asked to lift her slicked-back ponytail so agents could inspect the back of her head.
Meanwhile, her family waited on the other side, watching the situation unfold. “No one else in my family got patted down except for me,” she says. “So I was just like, what the heck is going on?”
Dana concluded the video, saying she never realized there was a strict dress code and pointed out that she saw other travelers wearing pajamas without being stopped. “Obviously, I didn’t have anything,” she says, adding that she wondered if her piercings might have played a role.
Does TSA Actually Have a Dress Code?
Technically, no, at least not in the way Dana describes. TSA does not publish a formal dress code for passengers, and travelers are generally allowed to wear whatever they choose unless their clothing could reasonably pose a safety concern.
That said, what you wear can affect how long screening takes. Baggy clothing, bulky layers, and certain footwear can trigger additional screening. TSA agents are also allowed to randomly select passengers for extra screening, even when no prohibited items are detected.
Still, nothing in TSA’s public guidance suggests passengers should be required to change clothes or face repeated pat-downs solely because of a sweatsuit, leggings, or UGG boots.
Commenters Say the Issue Runs Deeper
In the comments, many viewers questioned whether Dana’s experience had anything to do with clothing at all.
One person wrote, “I don’t think there’s a dress code I think they were just bullying you or something along those lines.”
Another said it sounded like “profiling disguised as ‘dress code.’”
@danachuu3 A wild experience for sure. The pat downs and scanner, I was expecting. But the hair check really threw me off #fyp #viral #airport #airlines #traveling ♬ original sound – Dana
Some commenters shared similar encounters. “I asked TSA once why I kept getting randomly selected and they said hoodies/really baggy sweaters, clothes like that, are screened always,” one person wrote.
Others tied it directly to race and appearance. “They were just profiling,” another commenter wrote. “As a small brown woman, I get picked on like this every single time and I fly a few times a month. It is ridiculous.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to the Transportation Security Administration via email and to Dana for additional context about what happened at the airport.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
