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A sleeveless shirt, tank top or singlet (or sometimes vest) is a shirt manufactured without sleeves, or one where the sleeves have been cut off. Sleeveless shirts can be worn by either sex, depending on the style. These sleeveless undershirts do not prevent sweat stains from showing through. Tank tops are often worn by athletes in sports such as track and field and bicycling. Tank tops have been popular warm-weather casual wear in the United States since the 1980s, and are regarded as acceptable public casual dress in some locales. They are mostly preferred in hot climates, since the arm holes provide ventilation and the thin fabric provides comfort.
In American English, a tank top is a sleeveless T-shirt-like garment that can be worn by either sex. It is often worn under the shirt as underwear, although more colorful and well-designed tank tops are usually worn as an outer shirt. The term is also used in Australian English, although the term singlet is commonly used to refer to the garment. In British English, the term vest is used, while tank top refers to a sleeveless pullover. The name tank top, recorded in English since 1968, is derived from its resemblance to a tank suit, a style of one-piece women's swimsuit with shoulder straps. Its name derives from the 1920s term swimming tank, which is an obsolete term for what is now called a swimming pool. The tankini (a portmanteau of the words tank top and bikini) is a female swimming version of the tank top.
One popular allegation has it that when laid flat on a table, a T-shirt (or tee-shirt) is so called because the vertical garment with the lateral upper sleeves resembles a capital letter "T." Whereas, a sleeveless strap-style tank top or singlet is called an "A-shirt" because it resembles a capital letter "A."
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Types of sleeveless shirts
Halter top
A halter top is a sleeveless shirt in which a strap goes around the back of the neck, leaving the upper back uncovered. Halter tops are worn mainly by girls and women.
Tube top
A tube top is a shirt with no sleeves or shoulders, and is, basically, a tube that wraps around a woman's torso. In Great Britain and Australia, it is called a "boob tube" (not to be confused with the identical American slang for television set).
Spaghetti-strapped shirt
A spaghetti-strapped shirt is a tank top with strings or thin material on the shoulders to hold up the shirt. It is thought to have originated in 1920s England, and made fashionable by rich upper class mencitation needed, but is now worn mainly by girls and young women.
Cutoff shirt
A cutoff shirt is a shirt with the sleeves cut off. The original shirt is usually a t-shirt, but it can be any kind. They are most commonly worn by men.
"Sun's out, Guns out" is a saying made popular by the Elliot in the Morning radio show, referring to sleeveless shirts worn outside during warmer weather.
T-back shirt
A T-back shirt is a tank top that is much narrower in the back than the front. It is similar to a male variant of the halter top.
A-shirt
Short for "athletic shirt" because it is often worn in sports, such as basketball and track-and-field events. Also known as a wife beater, Guinea tee, or (in British English usage) a vest,1 (cf. American usage of vest) or in Scots as a semmit,2 as a singlet in Australia, an A-shirt is usually worn as an undershirt, although it is also commonly worn as a single outer layer. It gained popularity as worn by men, but is now often worn by women, as well.
The build of an A-shirt is simple: the neck and armholes are often reinforced for durability. One usually has large armholes and a neckline that can reach down as far as mid-chest. They are also sometimes made long to make tucking easier. In almost all cases, they are buttonless, collarless, and pocketless. An A-shirt is generally tight and made of ribbed cotton or other fiber, however, over-sized A-shirts, while otherwise generally considered a fashion faux pas, are sometimes used as nightshirts. Common A-shirt colors include: white, black and grey.
The slang, "wifebeater," comes from the popularity of the shirt among post-war working class men, who are stereotypically imagined as violent or abusive.
The string vest has fallen from favour in the United Kingdom,34 but a string semmit as an underclass fashion item was made famous by Rab C. Nesbitt, leading character in the TV sitcom of the same name.5
Muscle shirt
A muscle shirt is the same design as a T-shirt, but without sleeves.
References
- ^ "Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press". Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Scottish Words illustrated - Semmit". Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Decline and fall of the string vest blamed on modern women’s tastes - Times Online". Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Unravelled! The death of the string vest - Features, Fashion - The Independent". Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Rab C Nesbitt (1989-99)". Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
Bibliography
- A Sleeveless, Ribbed White Cotton Undershirt by Booth Moore, Press & Sun-Bulletin, January 13, 2003.
External links
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- This page was last modified on 22 November 2008, at 15:21.
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