Tank top
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Tank (disambiguation).
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 colourful 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.
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[edit] Origin of name
The name Tank top, recorded in English since 1968, derives 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.
