Red underwear is widely associated with New Year's Eve luck in Italy.
In a popular Italian custom, wearing red underwear while welcoming the new year is believed to attract luck, love, or prosperity. Red is connected with vitality and celebration, and the tradition is especially visible in holiday shop displays and gift-giving, although participation varies by person and region.
The custom is often described as requiring the garment to be new, and some versions say it should be received as a gift. These details are popular variations rather than a single universally enforced rule. The color itself is the central feature.
This tradition is separate from Italy's more widely recognized New Year's foods and public festivities. Lentils, for example, are commonly associated with prosperity because their shape resembles coins, while cotechino and zampone are traditional pork dishes in some celebrations. Red underwear is therefore a clothing superstition, not a required national uniform or a religious ceremony.