Men, shouldn't you always wear an undershirt?

Over here in england town it’s called a vest & I haven’t worn one since I was maybe 8/9yrs old…I do have nice nipples though ;-}

They went out with pantyhose and slips?

@ucme So let’s say you’re going in to the office and you wear a nice suit, you don’t wear an undershirt (wife beater or something) under your business shirt?

I’m sure your nipples are fabulous!

@KNOWITALL is that why men wore them? I never thought of that.

@KNOWITALL I wear nothing underneath dress shirts, they’re buttoned up with a tie anyway so no nipple exposure, not unless you want it :D

@KNOWITALL My husband still wears undershirts. He comments (to me) when he notices co-workers don’t.

Undershirts also prevent pit stains on nice shirts ;)

@janbb I don’t know really, but I assume it’s polite and for the sweat, etc…

My grandfather was a master mason and even wore undershirts while doing construction (even in hot summers) under his work t-shirts, and of course on special occasions under his shirt. I never saw male nipples unless we were swimming or something like that.

@SpatzieLover :)

@ucme I think you just like talking about nipples lol

Yeah – I thought it was mainly for the sweat. I think in the past people didn’t necessarily wash clothes after each time they wore them.

The feel of a soft cotton tee shirt is better than a starched shirt against my body. Also, because the cotton undershirt breathes, the outer shirt stays fresher longer.

What’s with all the sweat references? Deodarant has moved on, us blokes no longer look like we just wrestled a pig.
@KNOWITALL You started with your nipples, err…that didn’t sound right :-)

@ucme First of all, people still sweat, whatchootalkinbout?!

Secondly, no one mind’s seeing lady nipples – lol, am I right?

Of course folks sweat, but not so an undershirt is an essential requirement, not unless you happen to sweat profusely, like a fucking bull I mean.
Depends on the…ahem, lady, she gotta be perdy.

Yes, I do. The only way one can get away without an undershirt is in the tropics, partying where people wear the coolest (breathable, I mean) clothes possible.

See @ucme, WE aren’t the crazy ones, YOU are…lol
David Beckham, my dream lover, wears undershirts, too, and he’s from jolly old England.

Now you have an excuse to overload on fish n chips n pints at the pub tonight while smoking a fag you old bugger! hahahahaha!

Officially creeped out now :/

@Bill1939 My husband also prefer the comfort of his soft under T to the button up shirts against his skin. It’s cozy.

No, never have, never liked them, never saw much use for them.
I always figured that is what the shirt was for, to cover up those awesome nipples..

BTW we commonly call them wife beaters examples as well but only when they are worn alone.

I wear a t-shirt so that my outer shirt stays cleaner. I feel like wifebeaters don’t do much though.

This is from someone called zbeckabee on the origins of the undershirt:

“First, we must address the origins of said “wife beater” shirts. Whether or not you know it, the history of the “wife beater” goes back to the Middle Ages, where knights who lost their armor in battles often had nothing but the chain-mail undergarment to protect them. Now, those chain mail undershirts, if you will, were damn strong — even a sword couldn’t get through. Often, when a knight lost their armor and continued to fight successfully, they were referred to as a waif beater (waif, referring to an abandoned or lost individual). Due to the fact that knights who had been abandoned and continued to fight with only the “shirt off their back” (albeit chain mail), they were given this noble title — an abandoned fighter, beating their way through battle.

During 1700’s Europe, of course, the phrase “waif beater” no longer had much meaning due to the fact that there weren’t really knights running around fighting battles in chain-mail undershirts. As a result, the phrase was changed to the similarly sounding “wife beater” and used to refer to husbands who treated their significant others in a less than stellar way.

The trend changed in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan — when police arrested a local man (James Hartford, Jr.) for beating his wife to death. Local news stations aired the arrest and elements of the case for months after — constantly showing a picture of Hartford, Jr. when he was arrested — wearing a dirty tank top with baked bean stains on it…and constantly referring to him as “the” wife beater.

From there, everything snowballed. From then on, men wearing dirty tank-topped undershirts were referred to as people who were “wearing wife-beaters” and the lexicon stuck from that point forward.”

Though I would pass it on.

@rojo Nice, thanks for the history, I dig it!

Nah.

My son sweats a lot and wears undershirts under everything. My fiancé doesn’t perspire much, so he doesn’t wear undershirts most of the time, and it seems odd to me.

I still do. But then again, I’m 62 years old. HA!

Well aren’t the tables turned in this question?
I am constantly confronted with female nipples, and I have to pretend I didn’t notice that the temperature dropped unexpectedly. Should my eyes pause for an instant, I am called a lot of awful names.
But, no… I don’t wear a tee, and it is rare that… HEY! I’m Up HERE!

I don’t wear one.

Do you ever go to a swimming pool or the beach? That must be torture.

I don’t mind seeing the male nipple, personally.

Nope. I buy thicker, cotton-based dress shirts.

I blame Clark Gable.

When I wear a business suit I wear an undershirt. It absorbs any sweat that appears while I am doing a presentation.
Also the undershirt keeps me warm. When I shake hands I do not put out a cold, clammy hand.

When I first came over here I noticed how many men, even young men, wore vests (or as they call them here, singlets). I haven’t noticed a man wearing a vest for years! My husband doesn’t. I do agree that the reason for people wearing them was to absorb any sweat which is probably why they were/are? more popular here.

In the past, my normal shirts (not “dress shirts”, but regular office wear) have been of a color, fabric and weight that doesn’t permit any exposure underneath. That is, whether I’m wearing a t-shirt or not underneath that, you would not notice.

However, once I had my shirts laundered with starch, and the resulting rub on my nipples was so painful (after just a single day! and I wasn’t even particularly active!) that I’ve decided to wear t-shirts to eliminate the possibility of potential chafe. (I forgo the starch now, too.)

With my much lighter weight and nearly-see-through dress shirts, I always wear a white v-neck t-shirt underneath. It protects the shirt and adds to comfort.

@filmfann I worked in two mostly male offices and they would purposely turn the air on cold so they could see the sights….lol, sneaky. :)

I very rarely see men wearing undershirts under a business shirt, unless the weather is cold or they’re elderly.

I have to wear one regardless of the weather, but it’s a special one to hide certain attributes I’d rather be rid of. Thankfully that will change soon.

There is something sexy about the outline of a short-sleeved plain white t-shirt under a dress shirt. Maybe it has to do with the lack of nipple exposure, but I doubt it. It has more to do with the polished, professional look it subtly gives.

@Pied_Pfeffer I get just the opposite reaction. When I see an undershirt I either think old fashioned and out of touch if older or Neanderthal sweathog if younger.

@rojo I wonder if it is a matter of culture, as well as personal preference based upon past experiences.

@Pied_Pfeffer I agree, I think it’s classy. Remember the polished look in the 40’s and 50’s, it was kind of cool.

I’m more inclined to be with @rojo here. Nothing sexy or classy about a vest.

First of all I’d like a link to a photo of a vest. (Must be a UK/Australian word for a Wife Beater?)

Second, if the shirt is buttoned up, how are you seeing the t-shirt underneath? Unless it’s a thin, white shirt, I can’t see the Tees my husband wears under his dress shirts.

@SpatzieLover If the dress shirt is so thick that you can’t see an outline of an undershirt, what exactly is the point of said undershirt?

@livelaughlove21 See above: Sweat & comfort. His T-shirts are just plain ol’ 100% cotton white and dark charcoal/black tagless Hanes.

@SpatzieLover I suppose I get that a cotton undershirt would absorb sweat, but I’d think it would cause the guy to sweat more in the first place. There’s nothing comfortable about being hot all day. My husband is a freak and hardly ever sweats, so if he wore dress shirts (which he doesn’t), he wouldn’t need an undershirt. I only know a few men that sweat enough to need one.

This is a man wearing a vest.

If they all looked like this I’d like ‘em.

Here’s another man wearing a vest.

And here’s another. Let’s make that four.

@Bellatrix What?! You mean you don’t find this sexy?

Ye gods… now I have to go and scrub my eye balls… :D

I shared some ‘vest’ shots too!

@Bellatrix That’s a tank top (also known as a “wife beater”) here.

My husband (and all of the men in his family & in mine) wear crew neck T-shirts under their dress shirts. Even in autumn/winter men around here wear tees under their flannel shirts.

Possibly this is a regional thing. It’s much less common for guys to wear a shirt alone here. When we see it (as in the case of my husband’s comments from work) it tends to be quite noticeable. Either the fella is large, very hairy or extremely sweaty to make it impossible not to notice.

We’re in the Midwest if that makes a difference.

I suppose if we lived closer to the equator light weight dress shirts without any under shirt would be more comfortable….possibly.

@KNOWITALL In that case, you make the sly comment to someone, to be overheard by one of the men, that the colder it is in the office, the smaller their bulges are.

Vests/wife beaters have no pits, how do they help with the sweat?

Maybe it is regional. This is how we dress for the Texas heat.

I’m in the sub-tropics so people don’t just sweat from their underarms. On really hot days your shirt could be sticking to you. In saying that, I can’t recall seeing a guy wearing a vest/singlet for a long time.

Why the heck are they called wife beaters? That’s an awful phrase.

@Bellatrix The origin of the term…

“First, we must address the origins of said “wife beater” shirts. Whether or not you know it, the history of the “wife beater” goes back to the Middle Ages, where knights who lost their armor in battles often had nothing but the chain-mail undergarment to protect them. Now, those chain mail undershirts, if you will, were damn strong — even a sword couldn’t get through. Often, when a knight lost their armor and continued to fight successfully, they were referred to as a waif beater (waif, referring to an abandoned or lost individual). Due to the fact that knights who had been abandoned and continued to fight with only the “shirt off their back” (albeit chain mail), they were given this noble title — an abandoned fighter, beating their way through battle.

During 1700’s Europe, of course, the phrase “waif beater” no longer had much meaning due to the fact that there weren’t really knights running around fighting battles in chain-mail undershirts. As a result, the phrase was changed to the similarly sounding “wife beater” and used to refer to husbands who treated their significant others in a less than stellar way.

The trend changed in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan — when police arrested a local man (James Hartford, Jr.) for beating his wife to death. Local news stations aired the arrest and elements of the case for months after — constantly showing a picture of Hartford, Jr. when he was arrested — wearing a dirty tank top with baked bean stains on it…and constantly referring to him as “the” wife beater.

From there, everything snowballed. From then on, men wearing dirty tank-topped undershirts were referred to as people who were “wearing wife-beaters” and the lexicon stuck from that point forward.”

@rojo and @livelaughlove21 I honestly can’t believe that the term “wife beater” has chivalric origins. That sounds like PC wishful thinking to me. I would love for someone to produce an example (from that time) of it being used in that context. Likewise, I think it’s unlikely that the current association is derived from the actions of one man whose name we know.

Regardless of where it comes from, it’s an ugly phrase, and I wish we could eliminate it from our language.

@glacial

“Through tattered clothes great vices do appear; Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold and the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks. Arm it in a waifbeater, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.”

Shakespeer (I believe) from King Leer.

GA for the apparent scholarship, @livelaughlove21.

@livelaughlove21 hey! you stole my answer, wonder if that has ever been done before? I might have to ask that question.

We call them just undershirts here. A derogatory term is guinea tees.

@rojo I’m not disputing that “waifbeater” was a word in those times, I’m just saying I don’t believe there’s a link between it and “wife beater”, the undershirt. There are plenty of words in this language that look and/or sound the same, but that have different meanings and/or different etymologies.