Men's Crop Tops are Officially In
Well, you can add crop tops to your list of trends that gay men are responsible for starting.
A recently published New York Times article examines this trend, while a photographer hit the streets of New York looking for midriff-bearing guys to photograph.
One such guy, David Mendoza, said that he owns crop tops of varying lengths. "If I'm wearing one just to go out casually, the crop top will be mid- to long length," he said. If he wants the crop top to be the focal point of the outfit, he'll usually opt for one that shows more skin. He was a bit nervous wearing them out first, but after wearing one to the gym and posting a photo with the caption "let's normalize crop tops in the gym," his friends starting doing the same and his confidence increased.
Ethan Garland was drawn to crop tops because they make his legs appear longer. "If you're willing to do something slightly past the norm, something past the bare minimum, people usually appreciate it and take notice of it," he said.
Joseph Damian, a 22-year-old from Fresno, has been wearing (and making) crop tops for the last few years, and has even taken to TikTok to give others advice on how to style them. Although he has received some negative attention, this hasn't deterred him. "I feel like the way to actually rock a crop top is just to be confident," he said.
According to Ben Barry, dean of fashion at Parsons School of Design, this isn't the first time crop tops have emerged as a men's trend. In the '80s, he said, crop tops were "the epitome of American straight masculinity in football" after many players started to rip their shirts to expose their stomachs. Also in the '80s, Johnny Depp famously donned one in the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" film, and Will Smith later sported one on TV's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air."
Codey James, a 27-year-old New Yorker, started wearing crop tops in part because of these styles he saw on screen when he was younger.
James estimates that about 70% of the shirts he owns are cropped, though most hit below his navel. "My girlfriend always makes fun of me because sometimes she just wants a shirt to wear to bed, but they're all crop tops," he said.
Professor Barry from Parsons says that the trend of men wearing crop tops comes at a time of "shifting dynamics of gender" and an "openness in masculine fashion to truly embrace a variety of aesthetics." But for some men, he added, crop tops can be more than just a fashion statement, as he has seen them become embraced by men with larger bodies "as a way to really kind of affirm their bodies and challenge stigmas against their bodies in public spaces."