Tank top In the United States and Canada, any casual sleeveless shirt can be called
tank top or
tank shirt, with several specific varieties. It is named after
tank suits, one-piece bathing suits of the 1920s worn in tanks or swimming pools. The upper garment is worn commonly by both men and women. The build of a tank top is simple: the neck and armholes are often reinforced for durability. They often have large armholes and neck holes, which may reach down as far as the bottom of the chest; particularly low armholes are referred to as "dropped armholes." Women's tank tops have smaller holes, to conceal their breasts. They are also sometimes made long to make tucking into pants easier. In almost all cases, they are buttonless, collarless, and pocketless. A sleeveless T-shirt, also called a
muscle shirt, is the same design as a
T-shirt, but without sleeves. Some sleeveless T-shirts, which possess smaller, narrower arm holes, are traditionally worn by both women and men. They are often worn during athletic activities or as casual wear during warmer weather. They were quite popular in the 1980s and were commonly associated with
surfers and
bodybuilders (hence the name "muscle" shirt) and often bore the names and logos of gyms. Such shirts without logos are now more commonly worn as casual wear. The tank top designed for a tight fit and often made of
ribbed cotton is also colloquially called an
A-shirt. Other slang terms include
wifebeater,
beater,
guinea tee or
dago tee (
guinea and
dago being American
ethnic slurs for people of
Italian ethnicity). In 2005, Paul Davidson, a filmmaker, made a blog post in which he claimed that the term "wifebeater" had evolved from a medieval
chain mail undergarment called a "waif-beater", and this was picked up as fact by other outlets. In the same blog post, he claimed that the term became synonymous with an undershirt after a Detroit man was reportedly arrested in 1947 for beating his wife to death. The story claims that newspapers printed a photo of the "
wife beater" wearing a stained undershirt. This claim was repeated by numerous outlets. However, no evidence has been found in news archives to substantiate this rumor. Davidson openly admitted in 2018 that the blog post was a hoax, created to trick people who unquestioningly believed anything they read on the Internet. In the UK, especially when used as an undershirt, it is known as a
vest (compare the American usage of
vest). It is called a
singlet in Australia and New Zealand, and a
banian,
banyan or
ganji in the Indian subcontinent. A uniquely Australian variation is the "
Jackie Howe", in particular referring to navy blue examples, named after the famous 19th century shearer of the same name, who according to legend was wearing one when he shore 321 sheep in a day with hand shears, a world record that still stands. In the Philippines, a sleeveless undershirt is called a
sando. In addition to athletic usage, tank tops have traditionally been used as undershirts, especially with suits and dress shirts. They are sometimes worn alone without a dress shirt or top shirt during very warm and/or humid weather. Tank tops are often worn alone under very casual settings, as lounge wear, and/or while completing yard work or other chores around the home. Ribbed tank tops are also used for layering during colder weather.
Camisole as outerwear. A camisole, also abbreviated to simply
cami, is a sleeveless
shirt worn traditionally by women, normally extending to the waist. Camisoles often have
spaghetti straps. Originally worn as an undershirt, like the A-shirt, they have become increasingly used as outerwear. Historically,
camisole referred to jackets of various kinds, commonly
cotton-based, occasionally satin or silk, or stretch fabrics such as
lycra,
nylon, or
spandex. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, or cotton.
Dudou A
dudou (), known as a
yếm in
Vietnamese contexts, is an item of
East Asian and
Southeast Asian clothing resembling a
silk apron or
bib but traditionally used as an
undershirt or
bodice to flatten the figure and,
medicinally, to preserve
stomach qi. Beginning around the year 2000, Western and Chinese fashion has also begun incorporating them as a sleeveless and backless shirt for women.
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, essentially a tube that wraps around the wearer's torso. Some versions cover most of the torso while others leave a large midriff. In British and Australian English, they are informally known as
boob tubes. ==References==