Crop Tops: The Fashion Trend That I Can’t Freaking Get Rid Of

With the passing of each new season comes new trends, new fashion, faux pas, style codes, the whole nine yards. And although I love my job and love working in the fashion industry with every ounce of blood in my veins, there are certain summer trends that eat me up inside. You know those looks that you pray won’t make a comeback next June, but somehow still end up dominating the racks whenever you hit up the local Saks.

For me, that trend is crop tops.

I. Hate. Crop. Tops.

If I was offered the opportunity to gather all the crop tops in the world and put them into a giant pit and burn them to shreds, I would not think twice.

Maybe it’s the fact that my awkwardly square torso body type has cursed me and I’m forbidden from wearing them. Whatever it may be, I can’t help but scrunch my brow as I scroll down my Insta news feed, passing one cropped outfit after another.

Isn’t style supposed to evolve and adapt from season to season?

HOW THE HELL IS THIS ONE SURVIVING?

And the worst part is they’re so bloody popular. As a business major, the concept of supply and demand has been ingrained into my retail rationalization. The more in demand something is, the more one is able to charge for it. So naturally, I can understand why the hottest fashion trends usually cost the most. That being said, crop tops are literally LESS fabric than a regular shirt and that means they used less direct materials and less direct labour to produce. The most ironic part in this crop top critique is that despite these design features, they usually cost the same, if not more.

Yet we keep buying them…and buying them…and buying them.

Think about the last time you went out with your gal pals to a club (or bar or whatever the kids are calling it these days). The population of ladies rocking this exact outfit is slightly mind-blowing:

Peep toe boots/heels.

High-waisted, pencil skirt.

A crop top that is basically a bra.

When did it become so socially acceptable for ladies to go out in public in lingerie. I totally get the rational of “well a bra is essentially a bathing suit, so what’s the harm there?” And the truth is, there really is no harm I guess. But how about we twist the situation: if a girl wore the outfit I just described to a bar, no one would bat an eyelash. However, if a girl wore an oversized knit turtleneck (which is totally in style) with the same skirt and heels, heads would definitely be turned.

Does it come down to a matter of who we are trying to impress or are we actually trying to follow what’s in style? If the latter is the real issue, then who the f*ck decided girls need to be rocking the “less is more” look this season? And last season? And the season before that?

Also what happened to having an individual style, and choosing to be different and go against fashionable norms? As much as fashion trends refer to what is popular among the masses, fashion has always been about making a look your own; something that our generation seems to be forgetting more and more with the passing of each season.

I look back at the outfits my mom used to wear when she went “clubbing” and honestly I’m jealous af. Girls back then rocked outfits that were just as fashionable but showed 1/8th the amount of skin that we currently do. Yet our generation wears bralettes and leather mini skirts while waiting in line at the club in frostbitten temperatures. I’m all for being fashionable but there’s a fine line between wearing what’s on trend and being just flat-out stupid.

This article isn’t a rant to boycott all the crop tops on the market (although I wouldn’t be complaining if you did). Instead, it’s a plea. All I can hope is that somehow, someway, someone in the fashion industry comes across this discussion, and maybe, just maybe, crop tops won’t live to see another season.

Featured image via Laura Chouette on Unsplash