Woman takes top off her Jeep - and herself

REGINA - Stares, complaints and applause followed a woman here Thursday as she rode topless in an open Jeep down this quiet Prairie city's main drag.

Dolores Uhren, 44, said she was simply tired of having to wear confining clothes, especially during the current heat wave in southern Saskatchewan.

So on a dare from her boyfriend Bill, who wouldn't give his last name, she doffed her top and he donned her bra before taking a spin.

Police pulled the pair over after they drove up and down Albert Street in their red Jeep during heavy traffic for a half hour.

"I go topless all the time on our (rural property) and every time I come back into the city, I always have to put a top back on," explained Uhren, who pulled on a cropped sweater before emerging from the police cruiser.

"Bill had suggested at one point (I should) stay topless. And I said only if he would wear a bra so men out there would know what it really feels like on a hot day like today to be all harnessed up and tied up."

A lacy bra, unclasped in the back, dangled from Bill's shoulders as he climbed out of the cruiser.

"It felt really, really cool, as in my body temperature," added Uhren, who seemed shaken by the incident.

"I felt really free, I wasn't all adjusting (clothing). I felt cool."

Police took statements, but did not arrest the pair.

The matter has been referred to the Justice Department to decide if a charge of public nudity will be laid against Uhren.

Women have been baring their breasts in public with more frequency this summer since the Ontario Court of Appeal gave women in that province the same right as men to go topless.

Last winter, the appeal court overturned an indecency conviction against an Ontario woman who removed her shirt on a hot day in 1991.

Such displays are rare in Saskatchewan, a conservative province where the government is now fighting to uphold its law that bans strippers in outlets that serve alcohol.

Two young women toting babies congratulated Uhren on her topless ride after police left.

"I thought she had totally every right to do that," said Rhiannon Watchman.

"I mean, I don't know why men can do it and we can't. There's really no diference, the only difference between her and (men) is that hers are bigger and she can feed with hers."

Uhren denied responsibility for tips to police and some media outlets about her ride.

But Bill admitted they had been planning the public drive over the past few days.

Uhren insisted women should be free to choose for themselves whether to go topless.

"Each woman for themselves," said Uhren, whose appearance drew blasts from car horns, shouts and at least one woman's complaint to police.

"If they feel they would like to do this, hopefully the government would let women be like men or else make men start wearing bras or halter tops."

No thanks, said her bra-chafed boyfriend.