by Bridget Webber

Created on: February 15, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

Tank tops and mesh shirts have a rather sad image due to the way in which they have been portrayed in the media. Tank tops first became popular in the United States in the 1980's. In the United Kingdom they have been around for somewhat longer, and were known to be the favorite garment worn by the daft character Frank Spencer in the much loved comedy from the era of free love and glam rock.

The hapless Frank Spencer would produce belly laughs from his audience by being lovable, but somewhat stupid in a slap stick manner. Unfortunately for tank tops, being Franks trade mark, they became ingrained upon the minds of the general public as being synonymous with being idiotic.

The actual name, 'tank top', was derived from its similarity in appearance to a tank suit, which is a type of women's swimsuit that has shoulder straps. Nowadays when people think of a tank top they are more likely to visualise a type of woolly vest, which is what modern tank tops tend to resemble.

Both tank tops and mesh shirts were actually produced for practical purposes. They were meant to be worn in hot countries to provide the wearer with garments which provided ventilation. Their main practical uses now, that are the most acceptable, are as sports clothing. In this way they still fulfill their original purpose of letting the wearer stay cooler than if he, or she, were to wear a full tee shirt while engaging in sporting activity.

Tank tops had a brief moment of popularity when a few pop bands were spotted wearing them. For a short while it looked as though the tops might take a grip on the fashion rails of society. However it was never to be. The craze, if you could call it that, stopped almost as quickly as it had started.

Many people who have a desire to wear either tank, or mesh tops are pretty worried about doing so these day's, lest they are poked fun at by observers who associate the tops with nervous nerds or muscular show offs. People are even sending anxious questions out to discussion groups on the Internet asking if others think that it is alright to go out in public in their top, or whether they would be making fools of themselves if they did so.

You can also find tank tops for sale on the Internet reduced in price by as much as 75%, presumably because no one wants to buy them and stockpiles of them are building up in warehouses.

Another image problem that mesh and tank tops have is of being used as underwear by the older generation. When Tony Blair was spotted wearing a vest underneath his shirt people began to question whether this was a bad fashion choice. It was almost as though they were silently asking whether a man who openly wore a vest was fit to be in a position of political power, as he was still in office at the time.

Some men like to wear such tops in order to show their physique to its best advantage. This has led to the next association that may be made with them, that is of well oiled body builders who may not be terribly bright, but who are vain.

Often such associations are unwarranted. The wearers of tank and mesh tops, or mesh vests as they are often known as in England, may well be sporty individuals, or ones who simply like the versatility of the garments. However, with all of these negative associations made about them the mesh top and the tank top have never really been cool, only around the armpits.

Sources; http://www.itiswhatitis.co.uk

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