Sleeveless shirt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A sleeveless shirt is, as the name suggests, a shirt manufactured without sleeves, or one where the sleeves have been cut off. Sleeveless shirts can be worn by either gender, depending on the style. Examples of sleeveless shirts include tank tops, muscle shirts, A-shirts, and other similar shirts.
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[edit] Tank Top
In American English, a tank top is a sleeveless shirt-like garment that can be worn by either sex. It is often worn under the shirt as an underwear, though more colorful and well-designed tanks are usually worn as a shirt. The term is also used in Australian English, although the term singlet is more common in Australia. In British English, the term vest is used, while "tank top" refers to a sleeveless pullover. In India, such a vest, primarily designed to be an undershirt, is called a baniyaan.
[edit] Origin of name
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, so called since the 1920s, because it was worn in a "swimming tank," an obsolete term for what are now called "swimming pools." A female swimming version of the tank top, the tankini (a portmanteau of the words "tank top" and "bikini"), is also an option.
[edit] Uses
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 most locales there.
[edit] Muscle Shirt
A muscle shirt is a type of sleeveless t-shirt or undershirt worn mostly by men. The neck is usually similar to that of a regular t-shirt. Muscle shirts can be worn as an undergarment or as a single outer layer. They are meant to be worn as fitted tops, in that their accepted purpose is to showcase physique. However, oversized muscle shirts are often used as nightshirts and, when loose, are generally considered to be a fashion faux pas.
The build of a muscle shirt is simple, but efficient. The neck and armholes (or ends of sleeves) are often reinforced for durability. In almost all cases, they are buttonless, collarless, and pocketless. The fabric is traditionally a stretch cotton or cotton mesh. Calvin Klein is one of the more well-known muscle shirt designers.
[edit] A-shirt
An A-shirt is the industry designation for one of the most common types of sleeveless undershirt.
[edit] Alternative terms
An insulting term for this shirt is "wifebeater". Other terms include "vest" in British English. In New Orleans, Louisiana a traditional name is "esplanades".
"Guinea T" and "Dago T" are other insulting terms for the same style of shirts which are deliberatley offensive, "guinea" and "dago" both being ethnic slurs against Italian Americans, among whom this style of shirt is stereotypically popular.
[edit] Famous usage
Australian shearer Jackie Howe's blue singlet is colloquilly known as a 'Jackie Howe'.
[edit] Sources
- A Sleeveless, Ribbed White Cotton Undershirt by Booth Moore, Press & Sun-Bulletin, January 13, 2003
