A vest is a type of garment. The term has different meanings in the
United Kingdom and the United States.
In the UK, a vest is an undergarment typically taking the form of a
white sleeveless T-shirt (US: undershirt, though in the US most
undershirts have sleeves). A common sleeveless undershirt is the
A-shirt. When worn without anything on top, it may be insultingly
referred to as a "wifebeater", due to a stereotype of violent men
as people who sit around in their underwear drinking beer.
A variant is the string vest which is constructed from a loosely
woven string mesh. The string vest in particular is seen as having
comic potential and is even more strongly associated older aged
working class men.
A vest may also be worn as an outer garment in sports wear,
especially in athletics. Advanced sports vests are made from
high-tech man-made materials designed to wick perspiration away
from the body and aid cooling.
In the US, the word vest is used to mean what is referred to as a
waistcoat in the UK. It is also the name given to a Kutte, which
in the North Americas is known more commonly as simply a "vest".
Vests are for both men and women.
In this context, the vest is commonly associated with outdoor
activities. The padded vest is popular apparel for hunting. Another
common variant is the fishing vest which carries a profusion of
external pockets for carrying fishing tackle.Baniyan (/b?nija?n/)
is commonly used in Indian English to mean vest.