The tankini (also known as tanqueray) is a bathing suit combining a tank top, mostly made of spandex-and-cotton or Lycra-and-nylon, and a bikini bottom introduced in the late 1990s.Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, "Tankini", Oxford University Press, 2005Alisha Davis, "It Rhymes With Bikini", Newsweek, 1998-05-04Becky Homan, "Tankini goes over the top", St.