Are tank tops everyday wear?

[EagleOnTheWall]

I have one which my mother once bought for me. I haven't worn in a long time and I wore it today, and I hate to say, I kind of like it.

Is it a middle aged thing? Am I turning into my mother? Are they acceptable everyday wear (to the office?) or something best confined to one's own home?

Well, I was brought up in the UK by UK parents and it was as @Hodgemollar said.
A vest is something you wear under your clothes.
The tops I wore as a teenager, were tops with spaghetti straps (I.e. not vests) and I was always told to wear a tank top to cover the bra straps. I.e the same as my spaghetti strap top but with wider straps.

Those knitted ones are surely sleeveless jumpers?

Yeah, but they also call jumpers sweaters in some so what do they know?

Always astonished that anyone thinks Google understands the nuances of style …

That's not a tank top. It's a vest. Tank tops are everywhere. Softer version of the structured waistcoat which is also everywhere.

Oh yes, that's not what I mean when I say tank top. I would call it a vest, I have some, but I only wear them for layering.
A tank top is knitted like this:
www.seasaltcornwall.com/smallcombe-organic-cotton-long-knitted-vest

Literally google tank top and they are all thick strap jersey vests, from a whole range of UK stores. M&S, asos, John Lewis etc.

Only on this weird mumsnet thread are sleeveless jumpers called tank tops!

I avoided such things in the seventies and every iteration since. They look awful on me.

It’s not about the nuance of style but about almost all retailers using the term to describe the item.

But I own tank tops older than most retail staff!

😂😂😂

My dd (15) would call that a tank top too. I would call it a vest of sleeveless top.

Never heard anyone call a sleeveless top a tank top in my real life. Not taken any notice of what shops call them but a tank top has always been a sleeveless knitted jumper to me.

Only heard Americans call other sleeveless tops tank tops. Was really confused for a while by an interview with an American actress who had been made to feel uncomfortable by the instruction to wear a tight tank top to an audition and how she felt objectified in it. I couldn't understand why a jumper, however tight, would be revealing or be something a sleezy director would request until I worked out it was what Americans call a vest top.

I had a baby blue, knitted, polo neck tank top when I was 18 and totally did not appreciate how fit and toned my arms were.

Got so many compliments on my tank top and toned arms and whilst loving the compliments didn’t understand the comments about my arms. “Arms are just arms”, I thought.

Many years later, me and my flabby bingo wings would love to be able to wear a tank top again.

So yeah, if you can, go for it.

They never have been in the U.K. a vest top is any top without sleeves designed to be work alone. A tank top is a sleeveless knitted pullover to go over a shirt.

A vest is any sleeveless top whether designed as an undergarment or to wear alone. It can have spaghetti straps or not and visible bra straps go 8n and out of fashion. U.K. all my life. Never heard a vest described as a tank top until very, very recently.

Yes, they do. When I buy fitness vests they are always called ‘tanks’ on the website. But I’m saying that this use is recent and has come from the US. I think the disagreement over definitions comes down to generational or regional differences. Maybe those of us who don’t use ‘tank top’ for this style are older on average. (I am late 40s).

Nope. All my life. I’m 60. Just because shops have started calling vest tops tank tops doesn’t mean they are right.

How bad s it that I actually quite like that pattern…….

It's belatedly occurred to me that, if we're now Americanising our wardrobe vocab, this summer's popular city-wear combo of a waistcoat & trousers should be called a vest & pants 😂

That's not a tank top ! It's a sleeveless blouse.
Tank top is woollen.

A “ tank top” is 100% woollen Harold & Hilda delight. Those high necked sleeveless tops may be “ tanks” in the US but they are not “ tank tops” as we would know them. I’m sure this is an erosion of the English due to international brands and social media. Tanks are just standard summer wear aren’t they ?

Bullshit. Everyone I know calls sleeveless jumpers tank tops and nobody calls vests tank tops.

dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tank-top

Wrong

Tank tops. Sleeveless knitted garments

Palava
Brora

I’m not a fan personally. If you’re very young and very slim then you maybe able to pull them off, but if not then I think that they can often look a bit butch.

Yes, that's a sleeveless top to me. Looks like T shirt material.

I'm old and definitely in the tank top = knitted jumper minus sleeves camp.

I wonder if this is a generational thing and the meaning has changed over the years?