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BERLIN — What you wear as a reporter matters. You want to blend in. You don’t want your clothes to get in the way of your reporting. When you interview the prime minister, you might wear a suit. When you interview rioting youths, you definitely don’t.

But what do you wear — or not wear — when you’re reporting out a story on nudists?

I was still pondering this question when I arrived for my first appointment at a nudist camp south of Berlin. To my great relief, the guy who gave me a tour, a retired diplomat from former communist East Germany, was fully dressed. (He later admitted that after some deliberation, he had decided to put on clothes because I was a reporter from a United States publication. “I know Americans are a little prudish,” he said with sympathy.)

Things briefly got awkward when my guide introduced me to a fellow nudist, who was sweeping outside his cabin naked and promptly offered us a cup of instant coffee. I had never shaken hands, let alone had a cup of coffee, with a naked stranger before. When I interviewed him, I kept my eyes firmly fixed on his face.