>>>Just curious. Like this lady? ;)
>>>http://www.hollywoodtuna.com/photo.php?id=hilary_swank_nails_big&title=Hilary%20Swank%20In%20Jeans%20And%20Tank%20Top
>>
>>Ha ha ha. That's a tank, but it's one that is typically known as a 'spaghetti strap' tank.
>
>I still don't see the connection. Is it supposed to resemble the top part of a tank (as in armored vehicle) - these don't have straps, and should have a hollow phallic symbol protruding from the forehead (and look stupid for it) - or the top part of a tank (as in reservoir) which I imagine would be a one-part job with no seams and nothing to assemble... or is it just an arbitrary name that some genius in some marketing outfit just blew out of their collective nose?
>
>update: found it - "The name tank top, recorded in English since 1968, is derived from its resemblance to a tank suit, a style of one-piece women's swimsuit with shoulder straps. Its name derives from the 1920s term swimming tank, which is an obsolete term for what is now called a swimming pool. "
>
>What Wikipedia knows, so can I.

Often wondered about that myself. I first heard it in the 70s to describe what we'd hitherto referred to as a "sleeveless pullover"