There is something sleek, sensual and sassy about showing a tad bit of your midriff section. When you’re dressed elegantly, womanly or playfully, yet a mere portion of your midriff skin is exposed, the look can be classy and clean!
Fashionably fit and flashy in a crop top; let your midriff come out and play for a day.
A crop top is a piece of clothing covering the upper body, but cut short to end above the naval, thereby exposing the midriff area (stomach, abs). Midriff is a particular term referring to the human body between the thorax/chest and the pelvis/hips.
Hip-hop, the crop top!
In some cultures, exposure of the midriff is socially discouraged or even banned, and the Western culture has historically been resistant to midriff-baring styles.
Crop Top Fun Fact: Baring the midriff was introduced into Western fashion in 1932 by Madeleine Vionnet when she presented an evening gown with strategically cut openings in the waist. Fashion designer Bill Blass, when speaking of the crop top/midriff shirt once said, “It is too difficult. Women will much more readily wear bare-back or plunging neckline styles.” That noted, crop tops do indeed make many appearances on the catwalks/runways of high fashion.
Take a crop top peek during Fashion Week! Many celebrities have been draped in crop top midriff chic while walking the red carpet, on stage and in fashion photo shoots.
Women’s fashion in the 1960s saw a spike in crop tops and midriff baring shirts due to the sexual revolution, and in the 1970s with the popularity of halter tops and tube tops.
Midriff Facts and Terms Used to Describe the Garment:
- The belly area.
- A synonym for the waist.
- A name for the area below the diaphragm (including the stomach region).
- The Eastern art of belly dancing places the female midriff on center stage.
- During the 1940s, schools with dress codes added the bare midriff look and all crop tops to the forbidden list. The majority of private and public schools still ban the crop top today, unless a tank top or undershirt is worn underneath that covers the bare midriff skin.
- When abs are toned and only a wee section of midriff is exposed, crop tops add a fit, flashy and fashionable demeanor to an outfit.
Midriff Fun Fact: During the 1980s, pop star Madonna appeared in a bare midriff in her performances and music videos, which helped spread the popularity of the crop top into mainstream fashion.
Midriff Fun Fact: According to the PBS Frontline documentary, “The Merchants of Cool”, midriff is a marketing classification for an American teenage female who is characterized as prematurely adult and consumed by appearances.
Midriff marketing magic! Sizzling yet cool!
Crop tops wear well with most all clothing items and add a touch of frisky fashion to their cool, chic image. Pair a crop top with a pencil skirt, jeans, high waist pants, hip huggers, shorts and flared skirts. A crop top can be worn with a bottom garment that fits either above or below the naval. Alluring abdomen peek-a-boo pretty.
For Indian women, baring the midriff has always been considered fashionable attire. Indian women have traditionally worn saris that bare the midriff, especially South Indian women. The cholis, worn by Indian women, exposes a thin section of midriff, usually 3 to 4 inches. Currently in Hollywood, the bare midriff is a fashion trend.
In addition to the sexy front that crop tops show off, many crop tops have adorable backs as well!
The midriff look flaunts one of the most desired symbols of beauty and health today: a flat, toned abdomen (abs). Jane magazine fashion editor Elizabeth Kiester stated, “A woman’s stomach and waist is the most feminine part of her body. It’s sexy, but not overtly sexy like cleavage.”
Sashay the runway or strut the streets with a spicy touch of an exposed midriff.
The Crop Top: Cream of the “top” crop!
The crop top – Short on length; long on style.
Nancy Mangano is an American fashion journalist, screenwriter and author of the Natalie North murder mystery book series. Visit Nancy on her global online fashion/style/beauty magazine Nancy Marie Mangano Style at https://nancymariemangano.com, her Facebook page Nancy Mangano at https://www.facebook.com/nancymmangano/ Twitter @https://twitter.com/nancymangano and her author website http://nancymangano.com
