without a stitch on

Idioms  

1. Naked, as in They let their baby run around outside without a stitch on. A related phrase is not have a stitch on. These expressions use stitch in the sense of “a piece of clothing,” a usage dating from the early 1800s.

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Example Sentences

And they could overlook the Indians’ practice of letting prepubescent children run about without a stitch on.

From Literature

“I lived in trees or on my bicycle. The only clothes I liked were old clothes, always the same ones. My mother got so exasperated she would throw them out. So one day to get back at her, I marched out into the garden without a stitch on.”

From Washington Post

My point of reference for naked male behavior is the man I live with, who is decidedly unembarrassed about walking around without a stitch on, up to and including wearing nothing but boots while he shovels the snow off the porch.

From Salon

The little brown manikin, without a stitch on him to conceal God's handiwork, sprawled on his stomach across his mother's knees, making inarticulate noises, and wriggling after the manner of infants when it is well with them, for the sun was pleasantly warm, and his mother's rubbing appealed to his budding sensations.

From Project Gutenberg

He was in a White House bedroom one day when Lyndon Johnson disrobed, and the Texas lawyer beheld the Emperor without a stitch on.

From Time Magazine Archive