Wifebeaters?

[John in Covina]

Keeping Up Appearences - BBC

I find the term "slobbish drunk husband with food stains on his vest " to be highly offensive and see it as a put down to all slobbish drunk husbands with food stains on their vests.

*****

Onslo is one of my heros!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

*****

Onslo is one of my heros!

Closely followed and perhaps surpassed by Rab C. Nesbitt.

bk

 

[BellyTank]

The problem is modern shirts, not hairy-ness-

Well then- I must say that modern dress shirts are just too thin- well, the ones which apparently require the use of an undershirt as an optical barrier to the contents of the shirt. That is the shirts job.

My shirts must be made of tougher stuff, no need for hair-hiding.



B
T

 

[Lincsong]

Well, I've got all of 5 hairs on my chest, none on my back but a rather hairy naval.lol Anyway, I wear Athletic Shirts (the correct term) because I don't want sweat stains on the front and back of my shirts.

 

[deanglen]

True words! I am always surprised when I get a shirt and they have made the tag out of something as uncomfortable as a piece of plywood sewn in the collar. I wind up cutting out those lables with the scissors.

Me. too! How can ANYONE tolerate those d***ed things!

dean

 

[BellyTank]

Well, I've got all of 5 hairs on my chest, none on my back but a rather hairy naval.lol Anyway, I wear Athletic Shirts (the correct term) because I don't want sweat stains on the front and back of my shirts.

You talking actual stains, or you mean wet patches..?

B
T

 

[carebear]

I agree it is a "too thin" problem with the cheaper shirt fabrics.

With a thin white shirt it isn't just the chest hair that shows. If you're pale like me you can see nipple.

Never appropriate for the office.

Even if you are tan, you then have tan visible darkly through the material.

Mental note, spend the dough on decent thickness white dress shirts from now on.

 

[The Wingnut]

I sweat more on my chest and back than my underarms, and deoderant / anti-perspirant takes care of the majority of sweat anyway.. A full t-shirt is too much as an undershirt, I'll get hot far too easily. An a-shirt(the PROPER name for the undershirt in question) is a good compromise as a sweat barrier and 'white fill' for dress shirts.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Boy, I came to this one late...

First, if anyone is seriously offended by the use of the term, please PM me.

Now onto the matter, I always always wear an undershirt under my shirts, all of my shirts, even polo shirts, as do most men in the Boston area. It is considered Charlie to have chest hair poking up from the open collar of a dress shirt.

There is nothing that looks worse than a white dress shirt with no T-shirt underneath; you see that pinkish hue of skin showing through. A white T-shirt makes the shirt look deep white and is itself unseen. For those who sweat (I don't), it is a necessity; there is nothing more unseemly than sweat stains on a dress shirt.

That being said, Tank-tops provide none of this protection, so, in my humble opinion, they are ugly and useless. Though, I freely concede that Sonny Corleone looked cool in his, but that guy would look cool in anything. I would never leave the house in any sort of T-shirt alone.

 

[Phil]

First off I don't call them "wife beaters", I call them by their package name, A-shirts. Secondly I only wear them if I'm wearing a polo shirt or a short sleved dress shirt (although that is somewhat of an oxymoron). I never wear just the A-shirt alone, it isn't a shirt meant to be worn alone anyways.

 

[dr greg]

dear me

In this country the garment is known as a 'singlet', unless it is blue, in which case it is known as a "Jacky Howe" after the famous shearer,
John (Jacky) Robert Howe (1855/61-1920/22) was a champion Queensland shearer of the 1890s. His tally of 327 merinos shorn in eight hours at Alice Downs in 1892, still stands as a world record.
It's worth mentioning that his record has never been broken to this day even by men using electric shears, his record was of course achieved using hand clippers.
The legend is that he cut the sleeves from his long sleeved blue cotton undergarment (which was still seen in use by railway workers in my childhood) to facilitate speedier shearing in the blazing heat of the outback.
The wearing of a JH by itself without outer covering is perfectly acceptable in this country, especially when faded, and is de rigeur on building sites to this day despite the widespread adoption of it by Sydney's homosexual community in the 80's.
It is considered a uniform by unionists especially with the Eureka flag
emblazoned on the front,

http://amol.org.au/eureka/gallery2/main.htm

and may be considered as close as you can get to national costume here, despite what you might think from Steve Irwin shows.

http://www.deniutemuster.com.au/content/view/19/33/

Of course there are various hotels and eating houses where you wouldn't wear one, but it is not frowned upon in general public spaces at all.
I have only recently heard this term "wifebeaters' used locally and was shocked, but what the hell, they don't teach kids history anymore, and they seem to know more about what 'fitty cent' says and thinks than what's happening in Iraq for instance, but there you go, that's how it is.
I've worn one since I was about 10 years old and have at least 6 at any given time, they'll probably bury me in one.
The only brand considered authentic and 'dinkum' is Bonds, home of the famous Chesty Bond, no relation to James.

 

[Lincsong]

I agree it is a "too thin" problem with the cheaper shirt fabrics.

With a thin white shirt it isn't just the chest hair that shows. If you're pale like me you can see nipple.

Never appropriate for the office.

Even if you are tan, you then have tan visible darkly through the material.

Mental note, spend the dough on decent thickness white dress shirts from now on.

In the summer I have a tan mark on my chest and back in the form of my A-shirt.lol Seriously, I do.

I don't wear one exposed, except, say if I have a flat tire and I'm going to change it then, I'll take my shirt off so not to get it dirty.

 

[Mr. Rover]

I can rarely find wifebeaters that stay form-fitting enough through the day. Mine usually get baggy by the end of the day- certainly not flattering.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Have never understood the use of that light a undershirt. I prefer a t-shirt for warmth on a cooler evening or under a dress shirt/tux shirt. Personally I think they should go the way of the mullet hair-style.

 

[scotrace]

Me. too! How can ANYONE tolerate those d***ed things!

dean

My dad's favorite saying in action!!

"It's enough to make a preacher cuss!"

lol lol

 

[Mr. 'H']

I can rarely find wifebeaters that stay form-fitting enough through the day. Mine usually get baggy by the end of the day- certainly not flattering.

I'd love to source a less flimsey, more form fitting one, such as what Denzel wore, in "Devil in a Blue Dress". I thought it was an excellent look for the movie.

 

[indyjim]

I also think of Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (I) where there is one or more scenes of Sonny in wifebeaters.

Paul Newman looked great in a wifebeater AND a fedora in one of the scenes in
The Sting.

 

[Mr. 'H']

I must say, I am rather surprised the way this poll is turning out: I expected the majority of golden era enthusiasts to be a-vest wearers.

Interesting.

 

[herringbonekid]

i know what you mean Mr.H.
to me, the white vest is part of noir mythology. the working class antihero lounging on a wrought iron bed in white vest and trousers, smoking a cigarette in some dingy apartment or garret. blinds half drawn.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Exactement.

But it really seems to be part of the American fabric (no pun intended) to this day. I mean, even Tony Soprano wears one.