The history of men’s crop tops: from American football to queer symbol
Story crop top for men begins in one of the circles that has always been associated with the concept of masculinity: American football. It may seem like a paradox, but in the 80s it was the footballers who wore the crop top, special cutting of sports jerseys to expose the chest muscles and relief abs during matches, as well as to better distribute the body heat generated by physical activity. Not much time passes and caliber marks Nike they catch the trend and start producing i crop top for football or athletics. From the world of sports, the crop top is rapidly integrating into mainstream visual languages, most notably movie: to the cinema “Rocky 3” in 1982, Carl Weathers in a blue sleeveless crop top; in 1984 a young man Johnny Depp to the cinema “Nightmare – From the Deep of the Night”, one of his first film appearances, wears a cropped football jersey; and Will Smithin the series “The Prince of Bel-Air” she wears a rose print crop top. Between the late 80s and early 90s, the crop top moved from a purely sporty field to musical: musician and songwriter prince regularly performs in various cropped tops, as well as Lenny Kravitz, Nirvana, The Ramones and others.
Tanya Loshchi: “The body is a tool for very cool things”
Famous advertising is in vogue Calvin Klein in the 90s Kate Moss and Mark Wahlbergpaves the way for the imaginary, more connected with sexuality and eros. Many fashion brands, following Calvin Klein, are starting to offer different versions of men’s crop tops. At that time, the fear of AIDS is rampant and is still associated with the stereotype of homosexuality. Thatcher in the UK is passing a new law banning homosexual propaganda in British schools, and this, together with the American “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and a number of other measures, is giving rise to growing homophobia in heterosexual men who feel the need to separate themselves from anything that might be perceived as feminine: that’s how crop top in the male version, he is renounced by straight men and classified as LGBTQ+ community for almost thirty years. But something is changing.
Today’s Celebrities Bring Crop Tops Back in Fashion
Gradually, thanks also to the appearance gender-fluid, many current celebrities are wearing crop tops again. After the years have sunk into oblivion, figures such as Harry Styles, a sexless icon, to reinvent the crop top, perform and be photographed in it. With him, Lil Nas Xwho wears a cowboy-style suit with a cropped jacket at the 2020 Grammys, Jacob Elordiin a cropped T-shirt on the cover of Man About Town, Baby Cudie at a Coachella performance in 2014 in a pink crop top and more Bad Bunny, Troye Sivan, Manu Rios and in Italy such figures as Achille Lauro or Damiano dei Maneschin. Even if the crop top for venomous masculinity is still associated with the imaginary gay, steps have been taken to clean it up so that the crop top seems to be a permanent fixture in the latest men’s collections.
Designers’ interpretations for spring-summer 2023
Already last year we witnessed return to the catwalk of the crop top in men’s versionnoted the interpretation fendi who presents the blazer at chest height, and the trend continues this summer with the return of the 90s/2000 aesthetic. In the Spring-Summer 2023 collections, designers have interpreted the men’s crop top in different ways, from knitted versions to jackets and shirts. Louis Vuitton and Collina Strada create a crop top with bright prints, MSGM and Tom Brown the shirt was cut just above the navel, Ludovic de Saint-Serninwith his characteristic sensuality, chooses a short T-shirt in a transparent version and Moskino offers a mid-length denim cowboy jacket. And what do you think? Will crop tops make a comeback in men’s wardrobes? Which version do you prefer?