Wifebeaters: Let's Discuss

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I'm not sure if this is strictly an American thing (though I suspect it is), but let's discuss the term "wifebeater" that refers to tank top-style undershirts (nicknamed so due to the frequency in which white trash wifebeating males are seen sporting them).

Does anyone have ANY CLUE what these shirts are actually called? I used the term the other day without thinking in a group of middle-aged people (don't ask me why we were discussing undershirts) and I got some pretty weird looks. I then had to remind myself that that's not what they're actually called. Yet for the life of me I have no clue what their proper name is.

I think this is a pretty interesting case of a slang term completely taking over an object that's not a brand name like Kleenex or something. I've asked numerous people and they all use the term 100% of the time. So what is it then? Anyone care to educate me on the right terminology here? Otherwise I'm going to keep saying "wifebeater" and loving every minute of it.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:40 (twenty years ago)

Singlets? I think that's a better term.

― nathalie's post modern sleaze fest (stevie nixed), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

they're called a-shirts, to distinguish from t-shirts.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:45 (twenty years ago)

I think I'm right (oh god that sounds so pedantic). I just looked it up on google. :-)

― nathalie's post modern sleaze fest (stevie nixed), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

This is one of those things that I always thought was called different things depending on region. Although Teeny may have proved me wrong by her answer, since I've previously only heard "a-shirt" in Massachusetts. I've always called them wife-beaters.

― sgs (sgs), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

Singlets, eh? That lacks all the pizzaz and danger that "wifebeater" brings to the table.

Mind you, when i say this term I am not for a second thinking about wives of beating anyone. It's just what my brain knows them as. It's pretty strange, I have to say. Despite actually saying the words, the literal meaning doesn't even enter my mind.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

(xpost Also in the UK "wifebeater" means a can of Stella.)

― sgs (sgs), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

just got to the store and see what the paackage says. they'll always be wifebeaters to me.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 18 June 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

I've never heard a-shirt used by actual humans, only in catalogs and packaging and such. I've only heard singlet used by europeans. If everyone calls them wifebeaters, then that's what they are.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

What's funny is that if i were to go into a store and the package simply said "Wifebeater" instead of "Singlet" or anything else I wouldn't even bat an eye. I'd just nod and go about my day.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

Teeny, I was just kidding! I didn't mean to correct you. :-)

― nathalie's post modern sleaze fest (stevie nixed), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Undershirts? Tank tops?

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:08 (twenty years ago)

Btw...I'm wearing one RIGHT NOW.

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:08 (twenty years ago)

Older folks might know them by a slightly different (equally stereotypical) name: dago tee.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dago+T&defid=1124511

― robots in love (robotsinlove), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:09 (twenty years ago)

mark (and oops), do you remember when al3x hild3brand referred to them as "dago tees" on the p.a. in high school? i don't remember what the context was.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

yeah, they're called "tank tops"

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

hi john! no, i don't remember that exactly....but I can believe that someone might say that and not think that it was a racist term! like when you 'gyp' someone.

― robots in love (robotsinlove), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

yeah, exactly.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:14 (twenty years ago)

although i knew someone in college that referred to brazil nuts as "nigger toes" without realizing the offensiveness, which just seems willfully obtuse.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

ah, yes. dago tee. good call on that one. i have heard that dozens of times in my life, though usually from actual italians. though that might also be semi-regional. wifebeater seems to span the nation.

though, has anyone actually heard the term used in a movie or in the media at all? not sure if i have, actually.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:16 (twenty years ago)

muscle tee, i suppose, is another one i've heard. but i think that refers more to a shirt someone wears around in public instead of as an undershirt.

it also conjures up different imagery. muscle tee to me = someone working out at the gym, whereas wifebeater = the disgruntled father at the beginning of that Nelson video for "After the Rain"

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

a muscle tee is one with the sleeves cut off, not necessarily a wifebeater.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

They sound like vests.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:37 (twenty years ago)

my old jewish relatives call them "hemdellahs"!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:40 (twenty years ago)

They are vests, in the UK.

― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:40 (twenty years ago)

a muscle tee is one with the sleeves cut off, not necessarily a wifebeater.
-- cutty, June 18th, 2005.

really? i've heard it used for both. but who knows. maybe i'll check out wikipedia or something
for some clarity.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

i know theyre called 'singlets' in australia and Bonds have a more product specific name - "chesty bonds".

http://www.bonds.com.au/Men/Underwear/MUWSinglets.asp

what i find interesting is that it seemed, and i could be wrong, but it seemed to me that almost as soon as they got the name 'wifebeater' they became real popular for girls to wear. strange, no?

http://www.bonds.com.au/Women/underwear/1507.asp

maybe its just because they look good wet.

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

"chesty bond" is totally james bond's wife's name after he settles down.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

NOW we're talkin' turkey!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wifebeater_%28slang%29

I like how they have De Niro's character in Raging Bull as the display image.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

Called "beerdrinking undershirts" in my family cause grandpa Coleman and his cronies would wear 'em while sipping vintage local brews like Falls City & Oertels 92 on the back porch. Not sure about the genesis of "wifebeater" guessing it must've been a movie, eh?

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

from wikipedia:

however in British culture, "Wifebeater" and Stella Artois are synonymous with male, pub drinking culture, whereby an individual orders a "pint of wifebeater", followed by several more, and returns home intoxicated, followed by domestic abuse.

what the fuck is going on over there?

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

most useful thread ever

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

Yup, that's a vest alright.

That sentence from the wikipedia is killing me.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Saturday, 18 June 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

are there any editors over at that place or what? anyone can just post up an entry, right?

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:00 (twenty years ago)

I always called it an undershirt (though now I may add "beer-drinking" to that now). They call it a wife-beater on The O.C., if you're looking for tv references. I'm just not comfortable saying wife-beater though - I've tried it and it makes me cringe, which is a sign of wrongness, to me.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

Always heard it as wifebeater, undershirts usually have sleeves (to ward off pit-drip), muscle shirts are regular tees but have no sleeves (to show off biceps), tank tops are loose with bigger armholes.

I never really understood the point of a wifebeater - it serves no real function as an undershirt or regular shirt.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)

and yet i wear them all the time!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

i thought it was because it was somewhat tight so you could wear it under collared shirts when its cold

now lets decide who looks hottest in a wifebeater. my vote is for tommy lee. the irony being that HE REALLY IS A WIFEBEATER.

sarah o'hare looks hot in one too but thats her job so it doesnt count

http://www.bonds.com.au/images/WUWSinglets.jpg

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)

In some places, such as Australia, the term wife beater is used more specifically to refer only to a tank top that is white. This definition probably comes from the fact that most underwear singlets are white, and the stereotype of a wife beater is a man who sits around in his underwear drinking and watching television.

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:23 (twenty years ago)

in the US, I think singlets only refer to wifebeaters for the ladies. Thinner strips, etc.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:23 (twenty years ago)

"They call it a wife-beater on The O.C., if you're looking for tv references."

The O.C. always provides the way. Those guys write just like people talk!

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

yeah, now how did ryan keep his wifebeater so white?

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

The secret to white-hott wifebeater is: sunshine and money.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

I've never heard them called ANYTHING but wifebeater. Even my mom calls 'em that (or she did when she was buying them for me in 8th grade). They were the RAGE. This is when ska was popular.

― giboyeux (skowly), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

They used to be called vests in the US, I think, until Clark Gable killed the vest market for a generation. I still have a few muscle-shirts - my ex-wife used to buy them for me, as she liked my muscles. I always felt kind of foolish in them. I'm glad they are something different.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:21 (twenty years ago)

They're tank tops, in the US at least. Jordan got it and you all ignored him.

I, too, don't like the term "wifebeater," for pretty self-evident reasons.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

They're not tank tops, though. Usually constructed out of different materials and in a different cut.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:49 (twenty years ago)

I've got socks constructed out of different materials and in different cuts, too, but they're still socks.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

Women in whatever these things are called = CLASSIC.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

They are called tank tops or sleeveless undershirts.

― Orbit (Orbit), Saturday, 18 June 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 8 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

haha, no beef at all! It's like I'd rather see a bare chest then these brief peeks - there's something unwholesome about that (or possibly too "feminine", that is, the realm of "revealing" clothing should be left to women (and possibly gay men). I am probably being unfair, but thems my feelings.)

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:37 (twenty years ago)

I don't know about unfair, but you're definitely being lame.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:44 (twenty years ago)

(fwiw, I meant fair w/r/t the neon and Spuds. Tank-tops should have pics of Alf on them)

there's something unwholesome about that (or possibly too "feminine", that is, the realm of "revealing" clothing should be left to women (and possibly gay men)

"possibly?" So generous. I'm with Tracer.

― giboyeux (skowly), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

If you call them vests in the UK, what do you call vests?

waistcoats. which i thought made complete sense until i typed it.

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)

ow. But alright then: Mess tank tops = c/d?

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

The thing that's pictured is a waistcoat over here. (xpost)

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 18 June 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

mesh? HOTTTTTT

something about a bare chested man out in public (sans pool/beach type situations) really pisses me off. like i want to go smash a bottle over his head.

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

spuds mackenzie
he liked the funky cold medina

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

WHY DO YOU NOT ALL WANT TO GAZE ON MY MAN-MUSCLES.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 18 June 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)

mesh?

who wears mesh t-shirts besides male strippers & aging rock stars?

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 18 June 2005 19:05 (twenty years ago)

If you call them vests in the UK, what do you call vests?

waist coats, i think? xpost

― stevie (stevie), Saturday, 18 June 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

they're called a-shirts, to distinguish from t-shirts.

otm

― I shift gears when I see tears (deangulberry), Saturday, 18 June 2005 19:25 (twenty years ago)

but it doesnt even look like an a. maybe a U.

mesh?

who wears mesh t-shirts besides male strippers & aging rock stars?

-- m coleman (lovebu...) (webmail), June 18th, 2005 3:05 PM. (lovebug starski) (later)
EXACTLY

― sunny successor (katharine), Saturday, 18 June 2005 19:39 (twenty years ago)

Yes, exactly.
Though sports mesh, like a basketball jersey, that's got purpose. Sports purpose, where the male nipple may roam free and wild as it was born to.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Saturday, 18 June 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

http://www.boxerbriefs.com/Products/FTL2501a.jpg

― I shift gears when I see tears (deangulberry), Saturday, 18 June 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

what i find interesting is that it seemed, and i could be wrong, but it seemed to me that almost as soon as they got the name 'wifebeater' they became real popular for girls to wear. strange, no?

Don't know about the chronology, but I've seen these shirts when worn by females refered to "boybeaters." Were they at all popular with females before Avril Lavigne?

― j.lu (j.lu), Saturday, 18 June 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

they've been a lesbian staple for awhile now.

― j blount (papa la bas), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

A-shirts. horseshit.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

the a also stands for 'athletic'!

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

the a also stands for 'athletic'!
-- teeny, June 18th, 2005.

Hey, if that were actually the case I would probably buy it. But, c'mon, can you get more arbitrary? Why not just pick a number out of a hat?

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:06 (twenty years ago)

Oh wait, it says "Athletic shirts" right there on the package, doesn't it? Well, color me idiotic.

― Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

Asshole shirts. There you go. Buy a bunch now.

― I shift gears when I see tears (deangulberry), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)

vests have got to be the dumbest thing ever invented

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:39 (twenty years ago)

I have always heard the referred to as tank tops officially and wifebeaters casually, but that only came to my attention maybe 10 years ago?

I am known (and ridiculed) for treating my mtn bike very roughly in the wake of race or ride-ruining mechanical failures. So, my riding friends gave me:

http://img23.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc61&image=cd6_tshirt.JPG

― Hunter (Hunter), Saturday, 18 June 2005 21:51 (twenty years ago)

I've always called them undershirts. I used to wear them on a frequent basis when I worked at Kinko's. The denim shirts they made us wear had an embroidered logo on the breast that scratched my nipple as I worked. A regular t-shirt would've been too baggy and added more warmth, but a nice undershirt was cool and unobtrusive.

Think that maybe I'll go put one on now, and then go out into the front room to scare the hell out of sunny successor.

(Mike Hammer and Phillip Marlowe never wore t-shirts, for what it's worth.)

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Sunday, 19 June 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

he did! i thought he was going to put me in a chokenstein:
http://www.bodyslamming.com/other/wifebeater.html

pp looks good in a wb. i can see his pings through it.

― sunny successor (standing in the light of my own musical power) (katharine), Sunday, 19 June 2005 06:33 (twenty years ago)

as dumb as scrunchies?? c'mon!

― sunny successor (standing in the light of my own musical power) (katharine), Sunday, 19 June 2005 06:34 (twenty years ago)

http://www.nofear.org/images/mc_hammer.jpg

COME ON!

― sunny successor (standing in the light of my own musical power) (katharine), Sunday, 19 June 2005 06:37 (twenty years ago)

http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/iketurner.jpg

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Sunday, 19 June 2005 06:46 (twenty years ago)

...which is actually what I thought this thread was about.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 19 June 2005 07:05 (twenty years ago)

For years I have heard of this item of clothing called a "wifebeater". I never knew exactly what that was referring to until now. I feel quite relieved, actually, even if it is a rather disturbing name for an item of clothing.

― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 June 2005 07:14 (twenty years ago)

Hear hear.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 19 June 2005 07:15 (twenty years ago)

DEAR ILX,

FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT, AND FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THIS THREAD, I GIVE YOU, A PICTURE OF ME, IN A WIFEBEATER.

http://photos.friendster.com/photos/17/71/131771/515821614231l.jpg

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 19 June 2005 07:23 (twenty years ago)

in the US, I think singlets only refer to wifebeaters for the ladies. Thinner strips, etc.

On the sites I shop at they just call them beaters. I still don't like it and I just think it's an offensive term and not okay. A-shirt might seem stupid and arbitrary, but at least when you use it it doesn't make you sound like the kind of person who reckons it's okay to call people cripples or spas or retards.

I had this argument with my mother some years ago over a dye colour called "nigger brown". She didn't see anything offensive about it at all, it was just what people called this particular colour. I tried to explain to her that she didn't need to be trying to oppress people by saying it in order for it to be an offensive term.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Sunday, 19 June 2005 07:49 (twenty years ago)

mark (and oops), do you remember when al3x hild3brand referred to them as "dago tees" on the p.a. in high school? i don't remember what the context was.

I don't even remember who al3x hild3brand is! wait. a teacher, with short, cap'n n tenile hair? and big glasses?

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 19 June 2005 08:03 (twenty years ago)

Mmmm, Dogfishhead.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 19 June 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

this thread is reminding me of the subtle differences between a bitch-slap and a pimp-slap.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Sunday, 19 June 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

I had this argument with my mother some years ago over a dye colour called "nigger brown". yeah my mom claims this used to be an actual paint colour. she says it sometimes but only to rile me up til i say 'DONT MESS WITH ME, WOMAN!' then she laughs and stops.

i think its kinda fun calling some people retards. wifebeaters are a good example.

― sunny successor (standing in the light of my own musical power) (katharine), Sunday, 19 June 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)

unnecessarily "cultural" query: were they called wifebeaters b4 "a streetcar named desire"?

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 19 June 2005 17:55 (twenty years ago)

courtesy of google & The Star-Telegram of Fort Worth Texas

'Wife-beater' timeline:

1951: Marlon Brando sets the stereotype in the film version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. As Stanley Kowalski, he shouts at his wife and rapes his sister-in-law -- and he wears a ripped, white, sleeveless shirt.

1955: The Honeymooners debuts, featuring Jackie Gleason as blue-collar bus driver Ralph Kramden. He's loudmouthed and sarcastic and likes to fight with his wife, Alice. And he often walks around the house in a white undershirt.

1980: Robert De Niro plays middleweight boxing champion Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. De Niro's La Motta may be shirtless in the ring -- but he wears a white sleeveless shirt when he terrorizes his wife at home.

1988: Cops premieres on Fox. Seventeen years of police chasing after beer-bellied law-breakers wearing white undershirts will follow.

1993: Long before we'd ever heard of Google or WiFi, someone out there on the Internet uses the word "wife-beater" to describe a shirt. It's the first time the word can be cited, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

1994: "Wife beaters" -- referring to the shirts -- appears in a newspaper for the first time, according to the Oxford English Dictionary's editor at large, Jesse Sheidlower. It's a Boston Globe profile of a 25-year-old youth marketing exec who's an expert on Generation X fashion preferences. Wife beaters, she says, are out; bowling shirts have taken their place.

2000: James Doolin of Dallas launches www.wife-beaters.com, a Web site that sells sleeveless white shirts with the phrase "Wife Beater" printed on the front. He offers a tongue-in-cheek, half-off discount to customers who can prove they are convicted domestic abusers. By 2001, it sets off a firestorm of media attention and condemnation from women's groups.

2002: Rapper Eve and Alicia Keys hit the Top 40 with the song Gangsta Lovin' from Eve's album Eve-Olution. Eve describes herself: "Hair done, outfit crazy, skirt fits just right / Wife-beater with a bangin' tan / Walk in demandin' all eyes / Baby, here I am." No one confuses the fashion-forward rapper with the shirt's stereotypical wearer. Ever.

2004: A weekend anchor at New York's WNBC is demoted, then fired in 2005 for a handful of on-air faux pas. The most offensive gaffe, according to the station? She referred to a tank top as a "wife-beater" during a fashion segment. "It was my misperception, thinking New York was MTV and hip," she later tells The Philadelphia Inquirer. "WNBC is very conservative."

2005: GQ reports that in March, the Oxford English Dictionary is likely to include "wife beater" -- meaning the shirt -- in its online edition.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 19 June 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

I like grrls who wear them. Without bras. In the summertime. Especially when they are mine.

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Sunday, 19 June 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

Jimmy Mod Is Great At Lending His Bras To Grrls In The Summertime

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 19 June 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

i bought a cheap wifebeater to dress up as sin city Marv for a costume party, but now i kinda like it

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 19 June 2005 22:13 (twenty years ago)

I believe in some parts of Oz the vest is known as a 'skivvy', just to add to the confusion.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Monday, 20 June 2005 11:42 (twenty years ago)

?? that doesn't sound right to me. a skivvy is more like a turtleneck.

i've never heard the term 'wifebeater' used in australia. only singlet.

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Monday, 20 June 2005 11:44 (twenty years ago)

they're a very american article of clothing - vests in the uk can be of any kind of fabric, any colour and any degree of bagginess, wifebeaters are specifically white, always ribbed and generally pretty tight. I buy a ton of them whenever i come to the US and wear them in england, where i still refer to them as wifebeaters because 1) that's what they are 2) i think it's funny 3) it winds up certain right-on friends.

― stelf)xxxx, Monday, 20 June 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

I'm thinking of getting some wife-beaters in to lounge around the vicarage, now that my beloved is away. I'm hoping to have let myself well go by the time she gets back.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Monday, 20 June 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

What did the policeman say to his stomach?
You are under a vest!

This wonderful joke proves a vest to be some sort of undershirt in Britain at least.

― Paul Kelly (kelly), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 08:48 (twenty years ago)

Stelfxxxxxx is right though. They are a very specific item of clothing. Get it right and you're in the company of Marlon Brando, Russell Crowe in LA Confidential, and similar. Get it wrong and you're Stan Ogden.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 21 June 2005 09:05 (twenty years ago)

i'd really rather not to be in the company of russell crowe thankyouverymuch

― stelf)xxxxx, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 12:08 (twenty years ago)

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