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Welcome to Closet Constructor, a weekly series where I (a style editor) help you (a well-meaning person who likes clothes) discover new, interesting and affordable ways to really start dressin’.
Call me mean-spirited, but there are few pleasures in life worth more than watching my older, specifically male-identifying coworkers squirm when I threaten to wear a crop top to the office. The term alone — crop top — seems to trigger a noradrenaline spike for a certain subcategory of folks too old to know who Troye Sivan is but young enough to have internalized a sense of mortified embarrassment tied to ‘80s exercise classes, tapping into some ancient, lizard-brain response to avoid bare navel with a serious survival-of-the-fittest fervor.
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The style has moved from trend to staple, so let us help stock your closetAs much as I enjoy the little dance, I also believe the running joke to be an act of service in desensitizing them to the imminent, whether or not the average IH desk jockey finds it funny. The writing is on the wall — the business of skin is booming in the fashion industry.
Google reports search traffic for terms like “crop top” and “crochet shirt” have hockeysticked in the past two years, and they’re currently at an all-time high. TagWalk, a fashion data aggregator, recently suggested that the number of skin-baring runway looks by the 20 biggest brands increased by a whopping 40 percent from 2023 to 2024, a trend similarly reaffirmed by the paper of record. “Mall brands” like Abercrombie & Fitch and Madewell, once bastions of the everyman’s weekend wardrobe, now routinely offer revealing cut-offs and tasteful mesh polos. (Anecdotally, reps from both brands have suggested that consumers can’t seem to get enough of the more casual styles.) Women and men alike seem to be demanding arms or torsos or both, to go along with the universally beloved 5” inseam short.
Fellas showing skin is by no means a new thing. Ezekiel Elliott springs to mind as a recent public example, as does the aforementioned Sivan. (The latter spawned a good SNL sketch.) InsideHook’s very own Logan Mahan wrote a glowing review of the male midriff all the way back in 2020.
There are innumerable reasons for this vibe shift. There’s been a slow tidal wave of macro-level trends pushing men’s style writ large towards a more causal baseline. Similarly, an internet-driven acceptance of movements surrounding a more modern, vibrant masculinity and body positivity, and cultural blurring of traditionally queer styles of dress in mass marketing are only the tip of the iceberg. (It’s summer, too: 90-degree weather can be just as persuasive when it comes to losing the sleeves.)
For some men, this trend is nothing short of scintillating, a chance to peacock their everyday exercise habits or experience the existential bliss of “sun’s out, guns out.” For others, it proves a more daunting reality. But guys less comfortable in their skin might feel miffed at the prospect of a half-covered stomach, or at the idea of baring it all via a fruit-embroidered crochet button-up, even with firm assurances from folks everywhere that dad bods are sexy bods or that dressing can be an act of self-expression, not self-objectification.
Regardless of your feelings surrounding the trend, indulging in a slightly slutty, so babygirl summer is both easier and more complex than you might think. Easy because it starts, as most things do, with the confidence to think you can pull it off. I firmly believe you can. (I won’t even make fun of you for initially balking.) For those still on the fence, know that there are ways around a fully exposed body — as seen above on the Wall Street Journal’s Jacob Gallagher at the recent Milan fashion week, a wavy shirt underneath an incredibly loose crochet top can be a swerve. Many brands offer a denser mesh or crochet weave, as well — I’ll direct you to recent coverage of an excellent Susnpel knit polo that gives the impression of skin, without actually putting you on display.
The aforementioned pitfalls of chopped, cropped and crochet tops typically lie in proportions. If you’ve adopted a do-it-yourself mentality, be sure to err on the side of caution when cropping — as the abundance of TikTok tutorials will surely tell you, you can always go shorter, but not the inverse. Similarly, proportions and sizing have drastic implications for how these tops will look: be sure to take the size closest aligned to your true fit, even if you typically opt for a looser fit. A crop top ceases to be a crop top if it’s three sizes too big.
Naturally, the overachievers will ask, “How can I do it all?” I’ll recommend something like the below. A square, fitted crop top that hits just below the belly button — the optimal length, in my humble opinion — a pair of slightly higher-waisted shorts, the loosest crochet top you can find in your size, and some leather loafers to bring everything together. It’s simple, weather-appropriate and all but guaranteed to score you a table outside Time Again.
Hear me now. Be brave. Embrace change. Grab life by the happy trail. Enjoy your weekend.
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Thoughts? Comments? Queries on how to pick out the perfect pair of socks? Email me your questions and concerns at psandoval@insidehook.com.
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