belly shirt

[Orion Montoya]

I remember "belly shirts" from fairly early in my 1980s Denver-area
preadolescence; I'd say certainly by 1987.  The first time I heard
"bare-midriff" (a.) it seemed incredibly stuffy and clinical.  Google
Groups doesn't have 'belly shirt' until 1994 (though it has "bare
midriff" (n.) from 1990).

Google Groups also has a 1991 concurrence of belly + shirt in a
rec.arts.startrek posting, with the opposite meaning:

"And, when they added the late-season "hide-the-belly" shirt for
Shatner, it was a slightly different shade of green. . . .
For example, the regular shirt was yellow and the belly-shirt was
green on my parents TV, until they got a new TV near the end of the
third season, then all of Kirk's shirts were green - the "right"
color."

O.