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What to Wear to a Massage, and What Happens With Draping

By The Hana Spa team · October 28, 2026 · 1,454 words

What you wear to a massage matters less than what you wear during it, and that depends on the style. Oil based massages, which is most of the menu, are done undressed to your comfort under a sheet. Shiatsu and Thai massage are done in loose clothes. Nobody is ever asked to remove more than they want to.

The short answer: arrive in loose, comfortable clothes you can get back into easily, decide in the room how far to undress, and let the drape do the rest. At Hana Spa in Palisades Park you are left alone to change, only the area being worked is uncovered, and the therapist adjusts to whatever you choose.

The short answer

Wear whatever is comfortable to arrive in. For an oil based massage you will undress to your comfort in private and lie under a sheet; for a clothed style you will keep your clothes on, so make them soft and stretchy. That is the whole rule.

People worry about this far more than it deserves. The therapist steps out while you change, you get under the sheet before they come back, and the sheet stays on everywhere except the part being worked. Keeping underwear on is common and completely fine; so is taking everything off. The FAQ page covers the related questions people ask at the desk.

What to wear by type of massage

The style decides whether you undress, so pick the style first and the clothing question answers itself. Here is the whole Hana Spa menu.

For the clothed styles, the therapist presses along the body and, in Thai massage, moves your limbs through stretches, so jeans, belts and anything stiff get in the way. A T shirt with soft pants or shorts is ideal. The page on shiatsu massage in Bergen County describes that style in full.

How draping works

Draping is the sheet. You lie under it, the therapist folds back only the part they are working on, and folds it back over before moving on. At no point is more of you uncovered than the area under the hands.

In practice it goes like this. You start face down with the sheet over you to the shoulders. For the back, the sheet is folded down to the waist. For a leg, the sheet is tucked so that one leg is out from hip to foot and the other stays covered. When it is time to turn over, the therapist holds the sheet up as a screen and looks away while you roll. Face up, the sheet covers you to the collarbone and each arm or leg comes out in turn.

Underwear and comfort

Keep your underwear on or take it off; both are normal, and the therapist will not comment either way. The only practical difference is on the glutes and the top of the hamstrings, where a waistband gets in the way of long strokes, so the therapist works around it or asks whether they can tuck it.

• Keeping underwear on is the usual choice for a first massage, for a couples session and for anyone who simply prefers it. Pick a pair you do not mind getting a little oil on.
• Taking everything off makes the low back and hip work smoother. The drape keeps you covered regardless.
• Bras get in the way of back work and are usually removed for oil based styles; the drape does the covering. For clothed styles, a soft sports bra is more comfortable than an underwire when lying face down.

Oil, lotion and your clothes

Oil based massages leave a light film on the skin, and most of it comes off on the sheet or absorbs within an hour. Still, dress for it: skip silk, linen that shows marks and your favorite white shirt, and wear something dark and washable to go home in.

What helps: a cotton T shirt and soft pants, a sweatshirt you can pull on, and underwear you are not precious about. What to avoid: tight jeans that are hard to pull on over oily skin, anything that needs dry cleaning, and heavy lotion or perfume on the way in, since lotion stops the oil from gripping and strong scent fills a small room. Aromatherapy sessions use lavender, eucalyptus or peppermint, which can leave a faint scent on clothes for a few hours.

Dressing for the season in Bergen County

Winter is the only season that takes any thought. You arrive in a coat, boots and layers, you leave warm and relaxed with oil on your skin, and the walk to the car or the 154 bus on Bergen Boulevard is colder than you expect. Dress so the way out is easy.

1. Layers that pull on, not button up. A sweatshirt or zip hoodie over a T shirt beats a shirt with twelve buttons when your hands are loose and oily.
2. Boots you can slip into. Laces after a deep tissue session are a chore.
3. A hat and scarf. You will be warmer than usual from the massage, hot stone especially, and the cold on the way out is where people catch a chill.
4. Leave the heavy coat on the hook, not on the table; the room is kept warm.

The steam sauna before a massage in any season means you will be warm and damp when you change, so bring a hair tie and plan on a slower exit. For the sauna itself, see what to wear in a sauna.

What to tell your therapist

Say what you want kept on, what you want skipped and what pressure you like. The short conversation at the start of every Hana Spa session is where this happens, and it takes less than a minute.

Before the massage

If you are keeping underwear on, there is nothing to say; the therapist sees it when they fold the sheet. If you want an area left out, the stomach, the chest, the glutes, the feet, say so. If you have a skin condition, a rash, a recent tattoo or sunburn, say where, so the drape can stay over it.

During the massage

One word is enough: lighter, firmer, cold, too hot. If the drape slips or you feel exposed, say so and it is fixed immediately. If a stretch in a Thai session or a position on the table is uncomfortable, say so. Korean and English are spoken, and every question about clothing has been asked a hundred times before.

What the setting expects, and what therapists wear

Hana Spa works in the traditional Korean spa style, which is calm, private and matter of fact about the body. Nobody is undressed in front of anyone else, each session is in its own room, and modesty is handled by the drape rather than by anxiety.

Therapists in a licensed massage setting dress for the work: clean, plain clothing with sleeves that stay out of the oil and closed, quiet shoes. That is the norm wherever you go.

Other settings have other norms. A hotel spa may hand you a robe and slippers; a sports clinic may have you in shorts in an open bay; a communal Korean bathhouse has its own rules about bathing areas. At a massage spa with private rooms, which is what Hana Spa is, the rule is simply the one above: dress to arrive, undress to your comfort, let the drape do the rest. Tipping norms by setting are covered in how much to tip a massage therapist.

Visit Hana Spa in Palisades Park

Hana Spa is at 520 Bergen Blvd in Palisades Park, open every day from 9 AM to 11 PM, with free parking on site. Walk ins are welcome, or call 201-242-0444 to hold a time and ask about pricing. The NJ Transit 154 bus runs along Bergen Boulevard, and the spa is six minutes from Fort Lee and the George Washington Bridge.

Come in whatever you are wearing. The private rooms, the fresh linens and the drape take care of the rest, and the FAQ page answers anything this guide has not.

Questions readers ask