Americans! Please help me with tank tops!!!

[Stubbette]

So when I read up on the cruises, it said no tank tops in the MDRs. My reaction was positive - Disney obviously has fashion sense, but I wondered why something so horrendously dates was being called out. Because in the UK, THIS is a tank top - a 1970's knitted monstrosity with no sleeves:



Shudder!!! Can you imagine it?!?! Anyway, I did a bit of googling and understand that mens' "muscle vests" are a bit of a no-no (my husband agrees!) but what about ladies? A common look in restaurants and out and about in the UK for both women and girls in the summer is a smart "spaghetti strap" or thin vest top and maxi-skirt or smart skirt like this:



Not claiming I can match her style or figure in any way, but you get the idea! Obviously with a shrug or jacket/cardigan for 95% of UK days... and for covering up in air-conditioning...

So what's acceptable? Is that counted as a tank top? Or a spaghetti strap version? Do I need to invest in something more suitable?!?!? And no, I'm not going to go anywhere near the 70's version!

Many thanks for educating the brits!!!

 

[kamik86]

To me that first thing you posted was a sweater vest.

The spaghetti strap and thin strap ones are what we call tank tops. I would actually think the first would be more fine then the second somewhere that said no tank tops.

Since it says no tank tops I would plan on having a jacket for the dining rooms

 

[MeliMel702]

Greetings from Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm definitely not a fashion expert, but I know the 1970's knitted monstrosity as a sweater vest. Muscles vest are also known as muscle tanks or wife beaters. The top the lady is wearing in the second picture is considered as a tank top. Looking at past cruise pictures they seem to be talking about spaghetti strap top. Hope this helps a bit!

 

[princess pooh]

Love the look in the second picture! That is a tank top but you'd have no problem wearing it in the MDRs.

 

[loves to dive]

Do they specify for men or women? I know most places that say that mean on men, i.e. wife beaters as we call them down here in the south. No one wants to see a man's hairy underarms when eating. I can't imagine not allowing a woman to wear one since you can have them anywhere from cotton to silk and casual to fancy.

 

[Stubbette]

Thank you for the translations! I'll leave the knitted ones at home then!!! I wish they were more specific - is it a Disney hatred of shoulders? Have I been insulting Americans in the WDW resort restaurants for years?!?!?

So I've got a couple of nice full-length skirts that I wear here with a smart black spaghetti strap top normally... so would that be taboo? I'm very short and traditional t-shirts and tops with short sleeves just don't suit me!

 

[laceltris3]

Thank you for the translations! I'll leave the knitted ones at home then!!! I wish they were more specific - is it a Disney hatred of shoulders? Have I been insulting Americans in the WDW resort restaurants for years?!?!?

So I've got a couple of nice full-length skirts that I wear here with a smart black spaghetti strap top normally... so would that be taboo? I'm very short and traditional t-shirts and tops with short sleeves just don't suit me!

It can be chilly in the MDRs. I wouldn't wear a tank top for that reason. I do have sleeveless dresses, but always bring some sort of cardigan or wrap.

 

[TestingH2O]

First, I agree with pp that the dining rooms can be chilly. This is especially true when coming in straight from outside where it's quite warm. I always bring a jacket to eat out in the summer.

Second, let's be honest. Dress codes just aren't enforced. I suspect they were trying to dissuade hairy armpits and visible bras when they said no tank tops. If your foundation garments are covered, then I'm sure you're fine. Who has the energy to quibble over what's a tank top (not allowed) and what's a sleeveless dress or top (allowed?)

 

[Stubbette]

Thanks - I'd always bring a jacket or cardigan too, because I'm a girlie wimp according to my husband! It'll just be nice to discard the layer of thermals we're having to wear in the UK at the moment!!!

 

[Raya]

is it a Disney hatred of shoulders? Have I been insulting Americans in the WDW resort restaurants for years?!?!? So I've got a couple of nice full-length skirts that I wear here with a smart black spaghetti strap top normally... so would that be taboo?

In some very conservative US cultures women's shoulders are considered too sexy for public. Thus you get rules like at my public (that means government run) school an hour from Disney - straps had to be at least 2 inches wide. However, in most places in the US it's perfectly normal for women to have bare shoulders, wear spaghetti straps, or wear a tank top like you pictured (tube tops, which have absolutely no straps tend to be looked down on). The standards are not the same for men. Men in tank tops or tops with small straps may get dirty looks and probably wouldn't be allowed in a 'nice' restaurant.

Thought of something else that might come up -- Shagging is dancing. I was rather surprised when I went to school in England and learned what you think it is.

 

[Scillycruisers]

We are from the UK and have now been to WDW and on DCL several times. It surprised me at first too to see references to tank tops, until we worked out that it means something different in the US - also had visions of people wandering around in their underwear when they spoke about pants and wondered how big ladies handbags must be when they kept so much stuff just in their purse! What we call vest tops or camies are fine for ladies in the MDR, see a lot of them, though my husband wouldn't wear one to dinner! Don't need to see his hairy chest while eating! And I have never needed a cover up of any type in the MDR as don't find them cold, but as I said I'm from the UK so probably used to cooler temps!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Also from the UK glad you have cleared up the tank top mystery I always thought they were referencing the wool kind and thought it strange lol.

Took a while for us also to get the pants and sneakers etc. Not to mention the first time somebody asked me where I got my cute fannypack..

 

[Raya]

Not to mention the first time somebody asked me where I got my cute fannypack..

Fun fact! That one ("fannypack") actually comes up in cast member training, as in "never use this phrase when you're onstage".

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Fun fact! That one ("fannypack") actually comes up in cast member training, as in "never use this phrase when you're onstage".

Oh I love that! Thank you. That made my day. Btw my wife loves wearing 'tank tops' to the MDRs we have been on several cruises nobody has ever said anything. I mean the second photo not the first with the wool version lol..

 

[Drusilla99]

I never noticed the tank top rule until after I wore one to the mdr. It was a casual, cotton one. It was pirate night, and went with my ensemble, so I don't know if that made a difference, but nobody said anything to me.

 

[Stubbette]

Thank you all and LOL to the fannypacks! We worked with Microsoft and one of the girls told me she'd fallen on her fanny and I couldn't imagine what contortions would make this a possibility!!!! I will make sure my husband takes some trousers as well as his pants too then!!!!

 

[Stubbette]

Thought of something else that might come up -- Shagging is dancing. I was rather surprised when I went to school in England and learned what you think it is.

No way!!! You must have raised a few eyebrows when you said you were going shagging on the dance floor.....!!!

 

[redsonja76]

OK what the heck is a fanny in the UK? I'm so confused!

 

[Raya]

OK what the heck is a fanny in the UK? I'm so confused!

It's slang for a woman's reproductive parts. It comes from the book Fanny Hill, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. I was so mystified by this bit of training I ended up reading the book!

 

[Raya]

No way!!! You must have raised a few eyebrows when you said you were going shagging on the dance floor.....!!!

Even better - we checked into a hotel that advertised "Shagging on the Riverwalk". When I joked about it to my husband the employee didn't get it and said, "We have lessons for adults and kids. We can teach the whole family to shag."