poor man's vest(?)

[cheng]

...In the UK we used to have a garment called a windcheater which I suppose was in some ways a forerunner of the anorak.

I immediately thought of 'wifecheater'(dont ask further ) and then almost immediately, 'wifebeater' ....isn't there and ant-eater or armadilo-looking animal that sounds something like "anorak", sounds very eskimo

[cheng]

my second Gilet somehow I still prefer my first one...dont know why

[bonniebeth]

  Yes, I always giggle at the name windbreaker! You know, there is a type of shirt we call a wifebeater, too.

[Wesley Myers]

Yes, I always giggle at the name windbreaker! You know, there is a type of shirt we call a wifebeater, too.

I find it really interesting to hear different vernacular and colloquial terms for things. 

Here, in Western Canada, a "windbreaker" would be a jacket (with sleeves) that is made of a material that will stop the wind from blowing through (generally a plastic or nylon or rip-stop material).

We would just call it a vest here.  There might be an adjective that goes along with it such as a "downfilled vest".  Gilet would be a French term and while many French terms are used for things, it is one I have never heard of before. 

[cheng]

bb, I searched 'wifebeater shirt' and learnt 2 more things today...we simply call them 'singlets' (the 2nd one being that there's such an option for men )
...btw this is the 'safest' picture to post here (the others are too inappropriate for kids )
sorry if I'm digressing, myself (I was about to ask you all "why they call 'tank tops'...." )

[playmofire]

I immediately thought of 'wifecheater'(dont ask further ) and then almost immediately, 'wifebeater' ....isn't there and ant-eater or armadilo-looking animal that sounds something like "anorak", sounds very eskimo

You're thinking of the aardvark, cheng.  It's a very gentle, placid creature and has never been known to harm a human being, hence the old proverb "Aardvark never hurt anyone"!

PS: like the other custom.

[cheng]

thank you and that's right....i often cant recall names

[cowabounga]

I prefer the first custom too. I think it's just the color of the second that's wrong. Looks a bit like a life jacket, IMO.
Now: gilet is the French word for cardigan. Though we use cardigan too. A gilet would be knitted wool mostly, with buttons rather than a zip. A sweater or sweat-shirt would have a zip and a hood most of the time; you should hear the French say sweat-shirt, they say sweet-shirt! 
We do have windbreakers that we'd call "coupe-vent".
A gilet buttons up only half way up the chest. 

[bonniebeth]

Cheng, what the guy is wearing in that pic is actually more of a tank top or undershirt. A wifebeater is more like a T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Chris actually has one (no idea where it came from!), and no, he doesn't beat me.

WM, it's becoming more common here to call a light nylon jacket a windbreaker, too. But to my parents' generation, a windbreaker is a vest.

[cheng]

@cowabounga: so a French gilet is a like the inner piece of a man's 3-piece suit

@bb: I have many wife-beaters then! but only use them to protect myself
(btw my favourite game is NBA; in those days they wore what-you-call 'tank-tops' with narrow shoulder straps and now their shoulder-straps are as broad as T shirts but I think they just call them, simply, 'shirts' which make it very difficult for me when asking store assistants if they have any 'what-you-call-those-shirts' )

sorry for digressing but I find it very interesting, like WM says....learning different terms from the East, Canada, England & USA
(the other day I asked a PF if 'wash' is a kind of shirt and of course it wasn't )