A sleeveless shirt is a shirt that is manufactured without sleeves or with sleeves that have been cut off. Depending on the style, they can be worn as undershirts, by athletes in sports such as track and field and triathlon, or as casual wear by both men and women.
In the United States and Canada, any casual sleeveless shirt can be called tank top [1] or tank shirt, [2] with several specific varieties. It is named after tank 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 a muscle shirt, is the same design as a T-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 are colloquially known as shooter shirts in the southern United States. 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.[ 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 of ribbed cotton is also colloquially called an A-shirt, or, more offensively, wifebeater, beater, guinea tee or dago tee (guinea and dago being American ethnic slurs for people of Italian ethnicity).
The term wife-beater reportedly became synonymous for an undershirt after a 1947 criminal case where a Detroit man was arrested for beating his wife to death, and newspapers printed a photo of the "wife beater" wearing a stained undershirt. [5] [6] [7] Another claim was spread by Paul Davidson, a filmmaker, in a blog post where he claimed that the term had evolved from a medieval chain 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 a vest (compare the American usage of vest ). [9] It is called a singlet in Australia and New Zealand, and a banian or banyan in the Indian subcontinent. 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.
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. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, or cotton. Historically, camisole referred to jackets of various kinds, [10] including overshirts (worn under a doublet or bodice), [11] women's négligées, and sleeved jackets worn by men. [12] In modern usage, a camisole or cami is a loose-fitting [13] [14] [15] sleeveless undershirt which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than a chemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose the midriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region. Camisoles are manufactured from light materials, [16] commonly cotton-based, occasionally satin or silk, or stretch fabrics such as lycra, nylon, or spandex.
A dudou (Chinese :肚兜; lit.'belly cover'), 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.
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.
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. [17]
Lingerie is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments, sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashionable, or both. In a 2015 US survey, 75% of women reported having worn "sexy lingerie" in their lifetime.
A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and long-sleeved leotards. A variation is the unitard, which also covers the legs. It provides a degree of modesty and style, while allowing for freedom of movement.
A sweater or pullover, also called a jersey or jumper, is a piece of clothing, typically with long sleeves, made of knitted or crocheted material that covers the upper part of the body. When sleeveless, the garment is often called a slipover, tank top, or sweater vest.
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body.
A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children. It is typically gathered at the waist or hips so that it hangs loosely ("blouses") over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a girl's or woman's dress shirt, although there is considerable confusion between a true blouse and a women's shirt. It can also refer to a man's shirt if it is a loose-fitting style, though it rarely is. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to a shirt which blouses out or has an unmistakably feminine appearance, although even many "standard" shirts today have a somewhat blousy fit, and the numbers of men wearing such shirts may match that of women wearing actual blouses.
Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles or materials are selected to be visually appealing or erotic in addition to their functional purposes.
A nightgown, nightie or nightdress is a loosely hanging item of nightwear, and is commonly worn by women and girls. A nightgown is made from cotton, silk, satin, or nylon and may be decorated with lace appliqués or embroidery at the bust and hem.
A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear. Some jackets are fashionable, while others serve as protective clothing. Jackets without sleeves are vests.
A chemise or shift is a classic smock type of women's undergarment or dress. Historically, a chemise was a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in Western nations.
A camisole is a sleeveless undershirt typically worn by women, extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, silk, or cotton.
Clothing terminology comprises the names of individual garments and classes of garments, as well as the specialized vocabularies of the trades that have designed, manufactured, marketed and sold clothing over hundreds of years.
A teddy, also called a camiknicker, is a garment which covers the torso and crotch in the one garment. It is a similar style of garment to a one-piece swimsuit or bodysuit, but is typically looser and sheerer. The garment is put on by stepping into the leg holes and pulling the garment up to cover the torso. It may cover the whole of the torso or partially and may also cover the arms. They may open at the crotch so that the wearer may use the bathroom without taking it completely off. As an undergarment, it combines the functions of a camisole and panties, and may be preferred to avoid a visible panty line. It is also found as lingerie.
Halterneck is a style of women's clothing strap that runs from the front of the garment around the back of the neck, generally leaving the upper back uncovered. The name comes from livestock halters. The word "halter" derives from the Germanic words meaning "that by which anything is held". Halter is part of the German word for bra, Büstenhalter.
An undershirt in American English, is an article of underwear worn underneath a dress shirt intended to protect it from body sweat and odors. It can have short sleeves (T-shirt) or be sleeveless (A-shirt). The term most commonly refers to upper-body innerwear worn by men.
A dolman is either a military shirt, or a jacket decorated with braiding, first worn by Hungarian hussars. The word is of Turkish origin, and after being adopted into Hungarian, has propagated to other languages. The garment was worn by peasants from the 16th century onward and eventually spread throughout the country, mainly within wealthy peasant circles. It reached people living in the poorest conditions only at the end of the 19th century.
A yelek is the bodice or waistcoat of Ottoman origin, traditionally worn by women. The yelek is typically a sleeveless and collarless garment and usually has small pockets on the sides. Traditional yeleks are generally embroidered and made out of silk cloth as well as velvet and leather. During the Ottoman era, the yelek was a hip-length jacket or vest worn for warmth by both sexes. It could have long sleeves, short sleeves, or no sleeves, and often had a small standing collar. A shorter variant, the anteri was also popular.
Fashion in the period 1900–1909 in the Western world continued the severe, long and elegant lines of the late 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers of Paris late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment.
Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled or damaged by bodily excretions, to lessen the friction of outerwear against the skin, to shape the body, and to provide concealment or support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear is sometimes worn to provide additional warmth. Special types of undergarments have religious significance. Some items of clothing are designed as undergarments, while others, such as T-shirts and certain types of shorts, are appropriate both as underwear and outerwear. If made of suitable material or textile, some underwear can serve as nightwear or swimwear, and some undergarments are intended for sexual attraction or visual appeal.
A dudou is a traditional Chinese article of clothing that covers the front of the torso, originally worn as an undershirt with medicinal properties. With the opening of China, it is sometimes encountered in Western and modern Chinese fashion as a sleeveless shirt and backless halter-top blouse.
Shaluka was a ladies' garment, a sleeveless tunic with a hip-length worn over a short, tight bodice called a kanchli or angiya. It was a part of the court costume of orient culture. The shape was like a half-sleeve kurta or tunic, reaching up to mid-thigh that could be worn under other garments.
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 in negligee;strait jacket for lunatics or criminals condemned to the guillotine.
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