Lately men seem to embrace the tricky trend that has had women working their abs off, the crop top.
Boys in crop tops is now a thing. According to social media, the risqué menswear trend has taken off. Menswear fashion designers have already introduced the shrunken shirt look over the past five years during men’s fashion week.
The years 2011 and 2013 Calvin Klein had taken the first step by having their male models wear cropped men’s jacket and tops . Topman joined the trend by introducing colourful and athletic cropped tops. And even when you thought this was confined to the realms of the catwalk, the boys crop top has actually been available on the high street with sell out success in shops like Topman, American Apparel and other online retailers selling Dsquared and Farfetch.
Through some research both males and females thought the look could only be accepted if you’re famous or at least well known. Boys in crop tops was also associated with gay guys making it even more difficult for the average guy to even try on a cropped top. Most males felt that they would be judged by society and by friends who weren’t willing to break the fashion boundries.
The Trend isn’t as soon new as it seems. Here’s a few examples way before it even hit the catwalks. Prince was often seen flaunting his wash board abs in a midriff baring top during his 1980’s tour. Johnny Depp was seen wearing a cut up sweatshirt in the 1984 film, Nightmare in Elm street.
Will Smith was often showed on the Fresh prince of Bel air days wearing various crop tops which has also influenced his 18 year old son Jaden smith 20 years later. Rapper LE1F in his 2012 video for soda also wears a purple crop top and famous rapper Kid cudi in 2014 performed at Coachella in a crop top and a pair of jeans.
Article by Candice Simon
TrendER Insights’ Editor & Trend Analyst
