Exercising generally involves a lot of sweating and getting red in the face, but the gym attire of physiotherapist Maja Lukic ended up having that effect on other people. The Telegraph reports that the 25-year-old was told by the manager of Snap Fitness Yarrawonga that her outfit – tight shorts and a tank top – was inappropriate.

"If (Ms Lukic) wants to dress in that length of shorts and show her private parts, that's her business, she can take it down to Sinsations and Honeypot,'' said the gym's owner Griff Davies, referring to two local strip clubs.

So how short is too short? "When someone stands up to reach up and grab the pull down machine and shows their private parts, it's too short,'' Davies said, adding that the gym also bans crop tops and shirtless men. "We have a standard that we set across all our gyms and have to protect the interests of different shapes and sizes and religious groups because our gym is for everyone."

Lukic was defiant, saying that her shorts were simple Puma ones. They are certainly a lot less brief than the trunks in which Tony Abbott was happily interviewed on Australian TV last week after he'd been surfing. Some people have an aversion to the sight of cyclists in lycra; others are alarmed by men in short shorts in which "the boys risk coming out of the barracks". Some prefer to cover up entirely – lest we forget, Australia (specifically Bondi Beach) was the place Nigella Lawson donned a burkini.

Yet is it anybody else's business what people wear to exercise? If you're getting hot and sweaty, you want to be as cool as possible. If you're moving around a lot, you don't want to be restricted. Then again, few people want their appearance to offend others. So what's appropriate workout attire?