The last time the string vest topic came up I was reminded of Colin Fletcher's anecdote in his book The Complete Walker. where he discusses string underwear. I think it's worth repeating for those who may have missed it.
"During World War 2, I was with a British unit that had been issued with fishnet vests as special mountaineering equipment. Eventually the unit was converted to cliff assault duty and moved to a Cornish fishing village. Our string vests astonished the fishermen and their wives. For several years they had, as experienced netmakers, been producing these strange devices for the war effort in great secrecy but they had never been able to guess what the peculiarly shaped nets were used for. No one, when sober, had seriously entertained the notion that they may be some kind of clothing."
I inherited a couple of string vests from my father but found they sawed my nipples off.