Where have all the string vests gone?

In case you haven’t realised, the string vest has become insignificant to fashion. It’s obsolescence in any respectable (and even not so respectable) wardrobe means demand has plummeted to the faux pas ranks of bootleg jeans and knickerbockers. In fact, you probably couldn’t give the string vest away, expect perhaps to post-era punk fans, Caribbean ragga singers or a gay carnival devotee. Retailers have picked up on the non-trend - including Asda and Tesco – who both announced they will no longer be stocking the string vest and subsequently withdrawing the item from shelf life, according to an article in the Independent newspaper.

Asda, as quoted in the same broadsheet, said: “the contemporary metrosexual chap apparently prefers solid cotton singlets” over what is essentially a fishnet top. The same applies to women. Whilst the string vest conjures images of working class grit, a white solid tank is seen as sexy, comfortable, and most importantly, fashionable, thanks to brands such as C&C California, who re-introduced tanks as appropriate leisurewear to the masses.

So what happened to the popularity of this unfortunate garment? Madonna famously spent the eighties in a black string best, accessorized by arms laden with faux bangles and more hair then she’d care to admit. The revealing nature of the vest – showing realms of flesh in a barely there top – was then considered a statement of style and rebellion. Somewhere down the line, however, the vest lost its kudos, altogether disappearing from edgy fashion shoots, and becoming more synonymous with working class men overheating in ravelled tops.

According to the Independent, the string vest dates back to 1933 when it was invented by Norwegian maverick Hendrik Brun, who used it as a practical undergarment by fusing two fishnets together. The newspaper further goes on to say it’s popularity peaked in the 1950s, but lost its lustre after government tests where members of the the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on duty in Egypt wore it to keep their bush jackets from sticking. Apparently only two men agreed to continue to wear the vest after the tests.

And so, whilst the high street may no longer supply us with the string vest, those longing to flaunt their flesh in public or perhaps relive the punk days, eBay still sells them for under ten pounds as does many an East-end market.