Justice for the 80s Crop Top
Hear me out... Men showing midriff
I was born in 1997, which was unfortunately well after the men’s crop top craze of the 80s and well into the below-the-knee short, mid calf sock, chunky New Balance sneaker or Sperry Top-Sider combo era of men’s fashion. My sister texted me a link the other day to a TikTok of Paul Mescal wearing tiny shorts and said, “you should write a piece on men in slutty clothes […] and how it’s so slay” (no punctuation or capitalization, but she is Gen Z, so, what can I say?), but I tend to agree with her. As I’m writing this, she keeps sending me more TikToks of men in tiny shirts and shorts. Please see an example below:
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But she makes a case, and I wholeheartedly support the movement: Bring back tiny clothing for men!
Crop tops became popular for men during the 70s and 80s when guys, and athletes especially, got around the “No shirts, no shoes, no service” rules by claiming, in the timeless fashion of high school and college aged kids everywhere, “Well technically…”. Because, well, technically they were correct. They did in fact still have shirts on. But they could also cool down and show off that the many hours in the gym were paying off.
Despite what we think today, crop tops represented peak masculinity during this era. Muscled jocks wanted to show off, and show off they did. The crop top in sports originated as early as the 1970s, with Kent Stephens, the curator at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta claiming that, “The earliest [crop top] I can ever remember is Johnny Musso from Alabama.”1 Pictured below is the aforementioned running back featured on the Sports Illustrated December 1971 cover.
And then Herschel Walker became the player to watch in the early 1980s, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982. All while wearing a crop top. And who wouldn’t want to be like one of the greatest athletes ever?
With football being associated with masculinity for so long, men from the 70s and 80s wanted to emulate their idols, and in doing so, show off their physique. And so, albeit brief, a moment in fashion history was born.
Cult pop culture moments were created, many of these actors unaware just how vital these looks would become to the youth of today. From Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Adam Sandler in Airheads to Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, a case is made for taking scissors to a hemline.
Prince wore crop tops repeatedly, and was considered a trailblazer not only in the music world, but was just as much an icon in the fashion world. Apollo Creed wore a crop top in Creed III. Esai Morales wore one in his Teen Beat ‘Hunk of the Month’ photoshoot. And macho men in horror movies not only wore tiny tops and tiny shorts, they also wore striped mid calf socks and sneakers that would fit in with the revival of the Adidas Sambas and Reebok Club C 85s.
In terms of modern iterations, Milo, Paul, and Jimmy are leading the charge. Can the rest of the world follow suit? Don’t want the full tiny-short, tiny-top combo a-la Milo? Take a cue from Paul and give just a hint of crop - cut off just enough that you can see the belt without tucking in the shirt, but not enough that the midriff is actually exposed. Still not sure? Try it out in a sporty setting. Jimmy Butler does 80s-meets-2020s, with his cropped shirt but full-coverage shorts. There is no right or wrong way to rock a crop top.
Need inspiration?
is a favorite of mine for all things men’s fashion.
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So I leave you to debate whether or not the crop top should come back, but I believe summer 2025 should be Hot Boy Summer. Get out those scissors and get to cutting. And the best part about this? You probably don’t even need to buy anything new. So not only will you look good, you’ll be saving the planet.
If we can bring back mullets we can bring back crop tops I FIRMLY believe this
This is sooo good! I love the idea of these trend and fully support - will be watching all the boys in crop tops from the sidelines eating popcorn.