The New Red Carpet Chic – The Singlet!
PHOTOGRAPHY: Cameron Grant | Instagram
EVENT: Afterglow Opening Night | Tickets
Once upon a time, being invited to an opening night and walking the red carpet meant dressing up. But if you’ve stepped out to a big opening recently, as DNA did for the opening night of Afterglow in Sydney, the red carpet looked decidedly dressed down, and one garment did all the work!
It’s what we call a singlet in Australia. In the US, it’s the tank top, in the UK it’s the vest, in France it’s the débardeur, and in the Philippines, it’s the sando.
There’s something deceptively simple about the humble singlet. It’s functional, unfussy, a staple of tradies, athletes, and summer wardrobes. Although the “vest” in the UK is confusing because it has nothing to do with tailoring.
This piece of clothing, once strictly relegated to underwear drawers, has lived a far more interesting life than its cotton simplicity suggests.
Originally designed as an undershirt, the singlet (or tank, or vest) was all about utility. It absorbed sweat, protected outer garments, and stayed hidden. But somewhere in the mid-20th century, that changed. When Marlon Brando appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire wearing one, the garment stepped out from the shadows. Suddenly, it wasn’t just underwear, it was attitude, masculinity, heat.
What followed was a slow but steady evolution. The singlet became shorthand for a certain kind of man: working-class, physical, a little dangerous. That image lingered for decades, even as the garment itself migrated into gyms, onto sports fields, and eventually into mainstream fashion.
By the late 20th century, the singlet had been quietly adopted and reinterpreted within queer culture. Its body-conscious, clinging, revealing, unapologetically physical cut made it a natural fit for nightlife and clubbing. Then the mainstream caught up.
Today, fashion editors are talking about a full-blown tank top renaissance. What was once basic is now central. Designers are reworking the silhouette in sheer fabrics, exaggerated cuts, and gender-fluid styling. The garment that started life as invisible underwear is now not just visible, but styled to become the focal point of an outfit.
The singlet shifts between classes, cultures, and identities. It can be utilitarian or erotic, subcultural or supermarket! It can signal masculinity, subvert it, or ignore it altogether. Not bad for a piece of clothing that wasn’t even meant to be seen.
