It is time to wear tube tops again Like the celebrities of the early 2000s and the it-girls of today

The tube top is one of the garments that best epitomises the style of the early 2000s. Images of Victoria Beckham in tinted sunglasses, pixie cut and her then-boyfriend David hand-in-hand, Britney Spears singing with a twinkle in her eye, Paris Hilton sipping cocktails, the Olsen twins before they became gurus of minimal chic, and especially Sarah Jessica Parker on and off the set of Sex & the City come to mind. When you see it on these celebrities, it seems like a must-have that you can not miss. Yet it's strange to think that a tiny, seemingly insignificant piece of stretchy fabric could have such an impact on pop culture and fashion that it recurs cyclically among the trends of the moment, especially when you remember that it was invented almost by accident. That's right, because while the bandeau in its slimmed-down version dates back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a kind of makeshift bra, the tube top, also known as the "boob tube", only emerged in 1971 as a pile of sleeveless elastic fabric bands made by accident. The young designer Elie Tahari, who had just arrived in New York, bought up the entire stock and resold every single band. He helped turn it into a real garment, perfect for frolicking on the dance floor at Studio 54, and from that moment on it became synonymous with disco fashion. In the 1990s and early 2000s, this hybrid piece that was neither a bra nor a top made its way into the wardrobes of stars like TLC and the Spice Girls and onto the catwalks of Versace and Calvin Klein, taking on different looks depending on how it was paired. With a pair of baggy trousers it became hip-hop, with glitter and poppy butterflies, in minimal plain colours, ...