Vest

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This article is about clothing. For the cryptographic primitive called VEST, see VEST.

A vest is a type of garment. The term has different meanings in the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the UK, a vest is an undergarment typically taking the form of a white sleeveless T-shirt (US: undershirt, though in the US most undershirts have sleeves). A common sleeveless undershirt is the A-shirt. When worn without anything on top, it may be insultingly referred to as a "wifebeater", due to a stereotype of violent men as people who sit around in their underwear drinking beer.

A variant is the string vest which is constructed from a loosely woven string mesh. The string vest in particular is seen as having comic potential and is even more strongly associated older aged working class men.

A vest may also be worn as an outer garment in sports wear, especially in athletics. Advanced sports vests are made from high-tech man-made materials designed to wick perspiration away from the body and aid cooling.

In the US, the word vest is used to mean what is referred to as a waistcoat in the UK. It is also the name given to a Kutte, which in the North Americas is known more commonly simply as a "vest". Vests are worn by both men and women.

In this context, the vest is commonly associated with outdoor activities. The padded vest is popular apparel for hunting. Another common variant is the fishing vest which carries a profusion of external pockets for carrying fishing tackle.

Baniyan (/bənijaːn/) is commonly used in Indian English to mean vest.