I wear workout/gym/running shorts for my commute. They are lined so they are against my skin - no underwear. In the cooler months, I wear some wicking boxer-briefs underneath windpants.
My distance is ~5 miles in the morning, and ~9.5 for the way home.

I don't wear anything special for my commute. It's 6 miles each way.

when on vacation w family I don't wear liners or bike shorts. if we bike to the beach we all wear our regular underwear, whatever shorts we prefer, socks and shoes, then when we get to the beach we change into bathing suits and sandals or flip flops, then when done, we change back to shorts, underwear, socks and shoes.

but yeah, if your commute is short then "bike shorts" may not be necessary

13-14 miles round trip. I just wear regular athletic underwear (Under Armour, Adidas, Champion) and some athletic pants from REI in the winter or hiking shorts from REI in the summer. I have a leather brooks saddle... comfy.

My commute is over an hour each way and I typically wear cargo shorts and underwear or jeans and underwear. The last time I wore cycling shorts must have been about 30 years ago.

Anything more than 10mi and I'm in padded shorts underneath my shorts. Jeans kept getting ripped at the crotch so I stopped wearing jeans on the commute. Shorts also help me lengthen my commute when I so desire to turn 4 miles into 24.

I never even heard of cycling shorts growing up. Rode in jeans or shorts or whatever I was wearing that day. I rarely wear cycling shorts now; mostly only when I ride with a local club on their breakfast ride, and then just to fit in.

I do have Brooks saddles on all my bikes; I think they make the difference in comfort that makes cycling shorts unnecessary.

In South Florida where nights could be 90* and days 97-98* with a very high humidity, I wear them all the time, unless I'm going less than 3 miles.

My commute is 20 mile one way and I have never worn cycling shorts. FWIW, I don't wear them when I run errands locally by bike either. Once in awhile I'll wear them for recreational rides, but I find my rear end gets numb within 20 miles when I wear padded shorts - Never had a problem blistering (saddle sores) or numbness from wearing regular gym shorts on the bike with U/A wicking underwear. To each their own though.

I wear padded cycling shorts (12-16 miles one-way).

Either cycling shorts or chamois liners. I shower and change when I get there anyway, so it isn't any less convenient to wear something comfortable to ride in. I never found riding in jeans very comfortable.

I ride that way sometimes. Like when all my bike shorts are in the hamper and I need to ride anyway. I wear the UA sport undershorts and a pair of thin gym shorts over them. Works great...except I tend to roll my nuts once in a while if not careful.

Retired20 years now . . . but did commute for 16 years and did not wear cycling snorts on my 6 mile commute.

I never wore bike shorts until I started gearing up to ride a century, and it turned out they were still an improvement for my 6 mile commute so they stayed. I never commuted in work clothes (which are highly informal anyway) (for the last 10 yrs anyway) just because of mud muck and grease.

I wear shorts, but I always wear underwear underneath, even on my 250 mile mountain rides. I wouldn’t feel right going commando; I’d feel indecent.

dickies with no underwear. havent gotten a saddle sore since.