If you’re looking for the vintage tank tops with narrow straps worn in the Amazon Prime series The Man in the High Castle, read on.
I’ve had several discussions recently related to certain vintage tank tops. More specifically, those with narrow straps.
Here is a question from a reader similarly related:
Hi Tug – I hope you can help me identify a tank top undershirt.
I’ve attached some shots of shirt I’d like to try and buy.
The video stills are from The Man in the High Castle series. Joe wears them in these shots. It’s set in the 1950’s/60’s.
The tank tops are ribbed with extremely narrow straps.
I have also attached some things I found online (Italian brands?) that look similar?
What do you think?
I’m desperate to hold of something exactly the same.
Antony
Birmingham, United Kingdom
The Man in the High Castle Vintage Tank Tops
Finding Vintage Tank Tops
Heya Antony,
Good to hear from you buddy and thanks for your question!
I wish I could help you find the exact narrow strap tank top, but sometimes costume designers from movies and shows find limited edition products, or sometimes apparel pieces that are from certain periods of time.
Meaning, they may not be commercially available to purchase. They may even be custom pieces.
I don’t know anything about that show, but it looks like it’s a period piece placed around 1960’s.
If that is indeed true, then the costume designers may have found vintage tank tops somewhere, or even had to custom make them.
There are similar looking ribbed tank top undershirts, such as the ones you’ve found from those Italian brands.
I had a really great email exchange with a guy mid last year who was also looking for a ribbed tank top with narrow straps, and he found the following:
1. Lord Ribbed Tank Tops (link)
2. Moretta Tank Top (link)
3. Several other narrow strap tank tops (link)
As of his last email, his most favorite was the Enrico Coveri narrow strap tank top, though that doesn’t look like the tank top worn by Joe in the High Castle series.
Hopefully the links above will help you find a ribbed tank top undershirt like the one worn by Joe (:
Feel free to keep me posted on your search, as I will likely be writing an article about this exact topic in the coming weeks.
Sound good?
Best, Tug
Antony’s Reply
Hi Tug,
Thank you so much for your comprehensive reply. This is all really useful info.
I managed to track down the costume designer for the series so I may drop her an email too.
I’ll look out for your article on the topic.
Keep up the great work.
Antony
@tug & everyone Hello, can I ask, What’s the season & episode of that the man in the high castle vintage tank top screenshoot? Thank you so much
heya rez, thanks for stopping by and for your question!
sorry to say, i don’t know the answer to your question. however, i do have two ideas on how you might find out.
1. do a google image search for “man in the high castle”, and scan through all the images. if you find a similar photo, look at the source article and see if it mentions the episode & scene info.
2. see if there’s an imdb (or similar info page) that shows photos and their corresponding season & episode.
if you can’t find it that way, the worst case is that you jump on amazon prime, and fast forward through each season’s episode until you find it (:
I have just finished watching Hollywood. I love it. I’ve been google searching for the brand and purchasing information on the a shirts/muscle shirt/tank the men wore. Can someone assist me with this or direct me in the right direction.
I’ve been reading the messages and I’m kind of confused. I too and in search of these shirts any help please
Joseph,
Assuming you are in the US or Canada, look at this Canadian supplier. They have a number of Italian thin strap tank tops very similar to the vintage styles. Their prices are reasonable too. I purchased some of them and they were great fits and look just like the Hollywood actors’ tanks. I purchased both the Moretta and Henri brands and both were good.
https://www.gracetextilewoodbridge.com/Mens_Italian_Underwear
Brent
heya joseph,
a long-time reader (lew) still has some vintage tank tops he’s selling.
you can get his email from this article:
https://undershirtguy.com/1940s-vintage-hanes-tank-top/
drop lew a line and see if he has anything that you’d be interested in.
The current Netflix show Hollywood by Ryan Murphy has all the male characters wearing the same vintage narrow strap tank tops from the 1940s and 1950s
Looks like it’s catching on, on TV at least. Maybe if enough people are interested, they’ll become more readily available. Looks good on these guys, anyway.
There are two other movies which are also shirt-watchers. “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” set in about 1937 and which was released last month, features Daniel Zovatto in the lead showing through.
Coming up in September or so is “Mank,” based on the life and career of Herman Mankiewicz, the man who produced “Citizen Kane.”
Keep a watch out………..
heya lew, didn’t you supply/sell some of your vintage tank tops to one of those shows?
if so, tell us about it here (:
I like that one can see the tank top through the white shirt.
Oops, that didn’t work. Here they are:
Netflix Hollywood Series: David Corenswet as Jack Castello
Netflix HOLLYWOOD: Dylan & David at Station
The two links don’t seem to work. Could you please post the photos themselves?
It seems a lot of people object to the visibility of a tank undershirt under a white shirt, but it doesn’t bother me.
I don’t always wear a white shirt, but when I do, I think the look suits me.
Like any other fashion, it works better for some than others, but if you enjoy it and (as Tug has pointed out) it makes you feel confident, then that’s all that really matters.
Enjoy your narrow strap undershirts. It’s good to converse with a like-minded fellow.
+1 — you’re 100% right (:
wear what makes you most comfortable, and confident!
Take a look at Cagi Italian undershirts. They sell in the UK:
http://www.cagi.eu/en/prod/vcat01100-ribbed-narrow-shoulder-vest/
I’m in the US and cannot find any of these Italian Men’s undershirts. Any ideas?
heya brent, thanks for sharing that info on cagi italian narrow-strap ribbed tank tops — looks like a good find.
the only other tanks i know of that look like vintage tank tops with thin straps are:
1. zimmerli richelieu rib tank top — but it’s $200+. you can find more info here
2. ribbedtee micromodal/supima narrow strap tank top — currently on clearance. learn more here
hope the information helps! let me know if you have any other questions (:
Tug,
I second the recommendation on the Ribbedtee tanks. They are cut similarly to the vintage style, but with wider straps. Very comfortable and look great even if you’re not a model.
Brent,
I had some luck on Ebay and Amazon, but it’s hit and miss and in some cases the shipping cost is prohibitive. I’s a shame this type is so hard to find in the US because it’s a great style.
Thomas,
Look at this Canadian supplier. They have a number of Italian thin strap tank tops very similar to the vintage styles. Their prices are reasonable too.
https://www.gracetextilewoodbridge.com/Mens_Italian_Underwear
tom / richard,
one of my long time readers has a collection of vintage tank tops, many with narrow straps.
he’s looking to sell them, so i’m going to help him with that here on the site, promoting them via a future article.
also, i emailed the costume designer from man in the high castle to see if she would be able to provide some information about the narrow strap tank tops they used in the show.
dunno if i’ll hear back from her, but we’ll see.
Tug, I am wondering if you know why narrow strap tanks were discontinued. I know tank undershirts are not as popular as a full cut T. I also have read so many articles refering that lower class income men wear them. Crazy!
Men don’t know what they are missing! Such a great staple on a hot summer day! Keeps me from sweating through my shirts!
Hope all is well!
heya richard!
most products get discontinued as a result of low sales volume.
while there may be a small loyal following to a particular product, a brand may not be able to justify continuing to manufacture it for overhead/cost reasons.
this is especially true for large main-stream brands.
to make any product, there are fixed costs to cover. if sales are slow, it takes a very long time to recover those fixed costs.
from a business standpoint, that isn’t a successful or profitable formula.
Hi Richard
The thin-strap shirts were available from about 1928 until the mid-1960s or so. Sears (and many others) had a subsidiary brand called Pilgrim that made them.
Tug,
I still really like the Enrico Coveri undershirts, though finding them at an affordable cost is a challenge. I also found a style Jockey sells in India that I like a lot, though they require the removal of a sewn-on logo patch to wear with some shirts. I’d love to see Hanes bring theirs back or something similar sold in the US.
Thanks for the forum.
heya tom!
thanks so much for the update, as well as the ongoing dialog we had about these vintage-style tank tops with narrow straps.
— side bar —
for those reading this comment, tom is the “with a guy mid last year” that i mentioned in this article (: we had 7+ email exchanges, and tom provided some great information about his search for these narrow-strap ribbed tank tops.
— end —
so tom, do you have any intel/information or photos about those jockey tank tops you’re referring to?
if you have photos, be sure to email them to me so i can include them in this article.
if it’s just intel, you can post it here in the comments.
Tom, I beleive you are refering to the Hanes Premium tanks from several years ago. The were ribbed with a narrow strap and very very compfortable! They definelty had a vintage look to them. When they were being discontinued I bought as many as I could get my hands on. I think the narrow straps make your shoulders look bigger. I also think the outline under a shirt is fine. Armani also makes a tank with really narrow straps. Not ribbed though. But again compfortable. Very italian looking. Very narrow straps.
Richard,
I tried the Armani years ago. I liked the look at first, but they did not hold their shape. That’s why I generally prefer rib nit, though adding elastane could also help.
Where can i find those jockey ones from india?