A Swoon-Worthy Visual History of Male Celebrities Wearing Crop Tops, From 1982 to Today

For a brief time during the ’70s and ’80s, it seemed like male crop tops would become the hot new fashion trend for men looking to join the ladies and show a little skin in midriff-baring cut-off t-shirts. Sadly, the trend cooled off during the ’90s and early 2000s, but male crop tops have seemed to be making a gradual comeback as queer and straight men alike have started showing off their bellies once again.

Personally, we love male crop tops: They can be fun, stylish, sexy, sporty and even a little trashy if done right. Plus, as you can see from our timeline below, male entertainers have sported male crop tops throughout modern history. Even NFL draft pick Ezekiel Elliott rocked one on the red carpet in 2016, so the look has never really gone away.

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Let’s take a second to enjoy these male crop tops while we contemplate wearing one ourselves to the next gay bar beer bust.

1. Carl Weathers wears one as Apollo Creed in Rocky 3 (1982)

2. Johnny Depp lounges athletically in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

3. Ilan Mitchell-Smith gets liberated in the sci-fi sex comedy Weird Science (1985)

4. Prince styles a crop top at a Wembley Arena concert in England (1986)

5. Alex Winter rocks a midriff in the time-traveling comedy Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

6. Funnyman musician Will Smith sports a crop top in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990)

7. Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark) shows off with Kate Moss in a Calvin Klein ad (1992)

8. Matthew McConaughey shows some man-flesh in the male stripper drama Magic Mike (2012)

9. Rapper Kid Cudi wowed Coachella audiences with his crop top (2014)

10. Zac Efron shows off during a film shoot (2015). Love the fringe!

11. Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott loves wearing crop tops. He wore one to the NFL draft in 2016.

12. To the surprise of no one, Harry Styles loves a crocheted crop top and wore one in his “Watermelon Sugar” music video (2019).

13. Thirst trap zaddy Chris Meloni wore one for an Interview magazine shoot (2021).

14. Damiano David, lead singer of the band Maneskin, which won the 2021 Eurovision Awards, loves a crop top, too.

What do you think of male crop tops? Are they finally making a comeback? When you bite the bullet and finally get one of your very own, here’s a great selection.