 Sketch of a sleeveless shirt | |
| Type | t-shirt without sleeves |
|---|---|
| Material | fabric |
Asleeveless shirt, also known as atank top, "wife beater", among other names, is ashirt that is manufactured withoutsleeves or with sleeves that have been cut off. Depending on the style, they can be worn asundershirts, byathletes insports such astrack and field andtriathlon, or ascasual wear by both men and women.
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In the United States and Canada, any casual sleeveless shirt can be calledtank top[1] ortank shirt,[2] with several specific varieties. It is named aftertank suits, one-piece bathing suits of the 1920s worn in tanks or swimming pools.[3] 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 amuscle shirt, is the same design as aT-shirt, but without sleeves.[4] 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 withsurfers andbodybuilders (hence the name "muscle" shirt) and often bore the names and logos of gyms.[citation needed] Such shirts without logos are now more commonly worn as casual wear.
The tank top designed for a tight fit and often made ofribbedcotton is also colloquially called anA-shirt. Other slang terms includewifebeater,beater,guinea tee ordago tee (guinea anddago being Americanethnic slurs for people ofItalian ethnicity).
A popular claim regarding the origin of the term "wifebeater" is that it became synonymous with an undershirt after a Detroit man was reportedly arrested in 1947 for beating his wife to death. Allegedly, newspapers printed a photo of the "wife beater" wearing a stained undershirt.[5][6] However, no evidence has been found in news archives to substantiate this rumor.[7] Another claim was spread by Paul Davidson, a filmmaker, in a blog post where he claimed that the term had evolved from a medievalchain mail undergarment called a "waif-beater", and this was picked up as fact by other outlets.[8] Davidson openly admitted in 2018 that the "waif-beater" story was a hoax, created to trick people who believed unquestioningly anything they read on the Internet.[8]
In the UK, especially when used as an undershirt, it is known as avest (compare the American usage ofvest).[9] It is called asinglet in Australia and New Zealand, and abanian,banyan organji in the Indian subcontinent. In the Philippines, a sleeveless undershirt is called asando.
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.
A camisole, also abbreviated to simplycami, is a sleevelessshirt worn traditionally by women, normally extending to the waist. Camisoles often havespaghetti 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,[10] including overshirts (worn under adoublet orbodice),[11] women'snégligées, and sleeved jackets worn by men.[12] In modern usage, a camisole orcami is a loose-fitting[13][14][15] sleeveless undershirt which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than achemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose themidriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region.
Camisoles are manufactured from light materials,[16] commonlycotton-based, occasionally satin or silk, or stretch fabrics such aslycra,nylon, orspandex. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, or cotton.
Adudou (Chinese:肚兜;lit. 'belly cover'), known as ayếm inVietnamese contexts, is an item ofEast Asian andSoutheast Asian clothing resembling asilkapron orbib but traditionally used as anundershirt orbodice to flatten the figure and,medicinally, to preservestomachqi. Beginning around the year 2000, Western and Chinese fashion has also begun incorporating them as a sleeveless and backless shirt for women.
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.
Atube 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 asboob tubes.[17]
1816.... 1. Formerly applied to jackets of various kinds. 2. A woman's underbodice 1894.
1. a short garment worn underneath a sheer bodice to conceal the underwear. 2. a woman's negligee jacket. 3. a sleeved jacket or jersey once worn by men. 4. a straitjacket with long sleeves.
a woman's loose-fitting undershirt for the upper body. — ORIGIN French, from Latin camisia 'shirt or nightgown'.
Up until the present time when a woman wished to wear a camisole due to its loose fitting nature and she still required support for her breasts, she was required to wear a bra underneath her camisole to achieve the desired results.
A short light garment worn by ladies when dressed innegligee;strait jacket for lunatics or criminals condemned to the guillotine.
