Why Is 'Sheer And See-Through Clothing' Suddenly A Trend On YouTube? A Controversial New Meta Explained

Parents of teen boys with limited internet access beware: You can go on YouTube dot com right now and find women trying on outfits that would make the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit catalog blush.

A baffling meta has been developing on YouTube for months now in which content creators will try on and review clothing that gives barely obscured views of the creator's breasts and genitals, and while these creators say their videos are simply fashion reviews, it appears to many like this is the flimsiest of pretenses for getting nudity onto YouTube.

Here's a little breakdown of what the "trend" is all about and how people are reacting to it online.

What Is The "Sheer and See-Through" Trend On YouTube?

In recent years, sheer clothing has had a moment in fashion, as some celebrities have taken to the red carpet with dresses where slightly opaque clothing gives viewers a pretty clear view of "the girls," so to speak.

Some fashion-centric YouTubers have reviewed these dresses, but usually do a dutiful job of blurring the female-presenting nipples in order to focus solely on the fashion — and avoid incurring YouTube's demonetization wrath or bans.

The recent "sheer clothing" trend on YouTube, however, does no such blurring. Content creators have experimented with the format before over the past couple years or so, but it seems the trend started growing more widespread around February this year when the account "Transparent Try-ons With Kelsey" crossed a million views with a video in which the creator tried on a bunch of outfits that offered clear views of her breasts.

Following her success, numerous other creators have pushed the envelope further, with some open-weave clothing that does very little in the way of actually covering the kinds of body parts that would earn a streamer a three-day ban on rival platform Twitch.

How Is The Internet Reacting To Sheer And See-Through Clothing "Hauls" On YouTube?

For the moment, the trend remains fairly underground — at least, as underground as a trend with millions of views can be. There has been some outrage and commentary, however.

Earlier in June, streamer PaymoneyWubby voiced shock that some of his videos get demonetized while women's nipples are freely available to view on the platform, which is something many content creators have expressed annoyance at in recent years with the platform's sporadic decisions to enforce vague guidelines.

Still, the trend has yet to pick up the coverage the similar Twitch Sexual Content Meta earned where streamers came up with increasingly innovative ways to "show off the goods," so to speak.

Perhaps because YouTube has not cracked down on "transparent try-ons," despite being relatively strict with adult content in the past, the videos have not garnered much publicity outside of their intended audience.

Why Are Sheer And See-through Clothes Allowed On YouTube?

All of the "transparent try-on" videos are "age-restricted" videos on YouTube. While this means, hypothetically, a minor should not be able to view them (in the same way a minor would have to "Click 18 to enter" on other sites), the videos very technically may not violate YouTube's Nudity and Sexual Content Policy.

The policy bans "the depiction of clothed or unclothed genitals, breasts, or buttocks that are meant for sexual gratification." Because the women are – again, very technically – clothed and not acting in a sexual manner while trying on the pieces, they appear to be skirting the policy.

A similar technicality may have been the reason YouTube allowed advertisements for adult games — the sort that promise "I can make you c-- in a minute." A controversy about those ads happened in February, days before Transparent Try-ons With Kelsey launched their channel.

For the full history of the Sheer and See-Through Clothing YouTube Trend, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.