The string vest finally comes unspun

String vest wearer Rab C Nesbitt

It was once a symbol of unreconstructed masculinity, beloved of miners and builders and warming the out-of-shape bodies of characters such as Alf Garnett, Jim Royle and Rab C Nesbitt.

Now, however, the string vest is facing extinction, shunned by today's well-groomed, modern man.

Unlike Andy Capp, metrosexual males apparently prefer a classier looking white singlet.

Citing a lack of vested interest, the retailer Asda has decided that the market for the string alternative has unravelled to the extent that it will no longer stock them.

Even the few men who would still willingly pull on a string vest are not buying them, the chain's research suggests, as their more fashion-conscious wives and partners will not let them.

Invented in 1933 by Henrik Brun, a commandant in the Norwegian army, string vests took a scientific approach to keeping warm, by trapping insulating pockets of air close to the skin.

The garment had its heyday in the 1950s, but sales began to look a little threadbare in the 1980s.

Increasingly ragged during the 1990s, by two years ago they had disintegrated completely.

Ed Watson, a spokesman for Asda, said: "The once familiar site of a butch man with his stomach bulging in a string vest is now a thing of the past.

'Building sites will never be the same again."

Article by Gary Cleland - 7 December 2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/majornews/1571832/The-string-vest-finally-comes-unspun.html

String Vests under Nylon Shirts

String Vest

Company: SAATCHI & SAATCHI, GERMANY, Frankfurt Creative Director: Eberhard Kirchhoff/Thomas Kanofsky Copywriter: Michael Causemann Art Director: André Sendel Account Supervisor: Marion Huwatscheck/Ronja Schuett Advertiser's Supervisor: Jutta Meyer/Matthias Becker Photographer: GOSTA REILAND The Print Ad titled STRING VEST was done by Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency for product: Ariel (brand: Ariel) in Germany. It was released in the Nov 2005.

String Underwear Adverts

Vintage String Vest

Brynje String Underwear

The Norwegian army commandant Henrik Brun won himself a place in history as the inventor of string underwear:

In 1933 he sewed together his first set from old fishing nets and then presented them to the assembled officers´ club - including King Håkon VII. Sadly the reaction of this select circle has not been recorded, but Brun's idea must have caught on, because the manufacturer Brynje from Larvik has been supplying all units of the Norwegian army since 1950, for even in peacetime, these troops are up against a bitter enemy - the winter temperatures experienced beyond 57 degrees north.

Of course nowadays the underwear is not made of herring nets but from hard-wearing, sweat absorbing cotton on special raschel machines. Civilians too have learned to appreciate the advantages of this type of underwear, which keeps you warm, thanks to the thin layer of air trapped in the mesh, yet prevents a build-up of heat and can barely be felt on the skin. We have discovered from the relevant magazines, that endurance sportsmen in particular, appreciate this lightweight underwear.

Of course, there are people who maintain that the string vest is more at home on a building site or in a pigeon loft. But if the likes of miners appreciate the qualities of these clothes when underground, it's no wonder they wear them in their time off. In fact it should be looked upon as a compliment.

String Vests on Flickriver