This is all Kid Cudi’s fault. Back in April, the Pursuit of Happiness rapper wore an orange crop top for his Coachella set and drove the internet into hysterics over this strange expanse of never-before-revealed man flesh (sample tweet: “Why? How?? I’m confused?? Why??????”).
Four months on, #boysincroptops2k14 is now An Actual Thing on Instagram and Twitter. There’s even an account called @croptopmovement, which regrams abs-flashing dudes and proudly declares “gents can rock crop tops too”.
Obviously, not every boy posting their OOTD selfie is totally serious. And the guys rolling their t-shirts over their stomach really need to learn what a crop top actually is. But after scouring the abs-tastic Insta-feeds and Tumblrs devoted to this latest fashion trend – in a purely professional and objective manner, I hasten to add – I can only conclude that some guys are totally serious about it. I mean, GQ wrote about it!
The Crop Tops Are For Boys Tumblr makes a valiant attempt to reclaim the crop top from ladies’ fashion, arguing that “the cropped shirt was originally created by men for men and was part of men's fashion for years before women began wearing them.”
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Now, it might sound like they’re rewriting history, but the pour homme crop top does go (relatively) way back. Prince rocked a crop top once. So did other Prince, by which I mean the Fresh Prince. Johnny Depp donned one during his teen dream days in 21 Jump Street. And Sylvester Stallone’s buddy in Rocky III, Apollo Creed (yes, that is his character’s actual name), looked very fetching in his midnight blue tank.
OK, I admit I’m taking the piss slightly. But other than its serious throwback cred, the crop top has actually been stewing at the edges of men’s fashion for a while – and yes, it can work in certain contexts.
J.W. Anderson and Astrid Andersen both sent down models in midriff-baring tops for spring/summer 2014; in Andersen’s case, the tops were so cropped that they were basically nipple-baring shoulder shrugs. Nobody batted an eyelid. (Although a lot of people at her show were conspicuously Instagramming Andersen’s oiled-up sports hunks. I may have tagged one picture as #perkynips. Don’t judge me.)
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But Thomas, 27, points out that trends and reality don’t line up so neatly sometimes. The Dazed writer counts himself as a fashion fan, but he won’t be first in line to join the #croptopmovement.
“I like to try things out in fashion but this definitely isn't something that appeals to me,” he says. “My stomach is slightly hairy and isn't a thing I want to show to people. Maybe if I rocked a busting six pack I'd feel differently, but I don't.”
And therein lies the chub rub. Sure, a stomach-baring top might appeal if you’ve got cheese grater abs– but this is one male trend that relies almost entirely on body confidence (and probably a significant number of crunches to boot). I don’t think we’ll see British lads jumping on the Kid Cudi bandwagon just yet – although if your boyfriend starts stealing your Topshop halter crop, you know who’s to blame.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.