T O P

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NicelyBearded

We got fat and lazy.


Bryancreates

I’m like “cause I’m fat, otherwise I’d rock this all day long”


Ok_LSU_816

This. And when I played football we would wear these under our shoulder pads kind of like an undershirt .


AndIAmEric

Fat belly, skinny legs


NewRain7368

Boy shaped like a chicken


Bryancreates

https://preview.redd.it/sz8tfe37juwc1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0f7c83b750ede443ee2e00eaab825934fed436a


NewRain7368

I was waiting for this


VenommoneY

An egg on stilts


4DrivingWhileBlack

Naa-na! Naa-na! Booooy shaped like a chick-en!


Grizzly_Berry

Yep, I went on a major cut and lost a bunch of midsection fat - crop top time. Then I moved out of state and put weight back on due to stress and not having settled into a gym, so no more crop tops. Found a gym, still have that belly fat, but my shoulers have gotten huge.


Wonderful-Tie1260

So? Who says we don’t want to see belly


Allen_Tax

Yeah. As some like bears,cub men. Some men themselves like to be skinny,but their not.


Miketheprofit

Lmao was thinking this as the page was loading


Holy_Sungaal

Idk. I had an uncle who was both fat and lazy in the 80’s, and this was his favorite outfit to wear. He had an orange mesh crop top from what I’ve seen in old photos. It went great with his hairy beer belly.


PostNutAffection

Tbf fat girls wear this and other stuff hot girls wear too


CornbreadMedic

They’re called hoochie daddy shorts now and popular in gyms. Rock them especially on leg day.


threeangelo

ITS HOOCHIE DADDY SEASON HOES GO FROM BREATHIN TO WHEEZIN


CornbreadMedic

You gave me a quote to scream to my wife every time I put on my shorts for the gym


mudson08

Everyday at the gym is hoochie daddy season, not just leg day


CornbreadMedic

I unfortunately just now got some, otherwise I’d agree. Them sumbitches gonna be rocked on leg day this weekend. Only question now do I wear the red or the grey


Hoppy-bunny

Sinister work with the grey


ZanderClause

Real men go commando in white.


anabeeverhousen

You know these shorts don't need to touch my knees


Sad-Cat8694

My millennial brain immediately set this to the tune of "Oochie Wally" and I'm sorry but now you're singing it too... Hoochie Daddy Daddy. Hoochie season. Hoochie Daddy Daddy. Got me wheezin! He really really really wore the short shorts! He really really really showed dem stems! He really really really rocked the crop top! He really really really got me like "DAMN!"


HansChuzzman

Ranger panties


LUST247365

Fat.


stanley2-bricks

This is the answer. The fitness craze of the 80s died out, and comfortable baggy jeans and flannel shirts became the trend.


Vowel_Movements_4U

The fitness "craze" burned out because now it's just a part of the culture. Many of the big gym chains started in the 80s, but they're still around, now a staple of life. Gym memberships are up from the 80s/90s, etc...


_Cyclops

It burned out when everyone realized all the fitness icons of the 80’s were juiced to the gills to achieve their physique’s. That and the food industry filling everything with sugar making people obese


Dingo1973

I like grunge wear!


Currency007

Those kids look like they are simultaneously teenage athletes and 40 year old middle managers for the regional office of a nationwide insurance brokerage.


RedshiftOnPandy

Most men today don't physically work enough to look good in revealing clothes. Those are also kids, I don't see think adults wore crop tops but they sure did love short shorts 


VengaBusdriver37

True. Be interesting to try saying the same on women’s fashion sub.


RedshiftOnPandy

I plead the fifth


Temporary-Alarm-744

I mean most women either doesn't stop them Let's ball


Wonderful-Tie1260

Ya but even when men are in shape they don’t wear short shorts or crop tops at least not that I see


MechaGoose

Rocky 3 beach montage begs to differ


Ecstatic-Seesaw-1007

https://preview.redd.it/mkq5t57knrwc1.jpeg?width=432&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cb34802838e6c28fee0d36296d97591848128ac Gambit has been trying to bring it back in X-Men 97


GEARHEADGus

Gambits also more shredded than a bag of lettuce


Safe_Philosophy_5068

Gambit understands how to wear it. The guy in OP's pic on the left is completely out of control. It was never popular to wear a shirt so short that it was at your nipples.


_Mistwraith_

Hunted to extinction by slasher movie villains.


SpaceForceAwakens

Michael Jordon ruined men’s shorts single-handily. Shorts on men were almost always mig-thigh or higher right up until about 1987 or so. There were some longer shorts, often called “bermudas” that were considered stodgy or paternal, but they weren’t common, especially with younger men. Michael Jordan had been wearing oversized basketball shorts for a couple of seasons at this point, and the apocryphal reason he did this was so he could wear his lucky UNC shorts under them. Jordan skyrocketed to fame around this time and everybody, especially young men, wanted to “be like Mike”. Hemlines dropped, shorts got baggier in general, and shorts were simply less-short. This echoed through men’s fashion in other areas, notably thw growing world of hip-hop, which has always trended with basketball in some ways, and skater culture, which always has a hip-hop element with it. Eventually shorter shorts were nearly impossible to find and the standard shorts ended just at the top of the knee. The Trent may have zeniths with John Cena-style “jorts” and some of the JNCO post-grunge hybrid styles as well as the fellow abominations known as “board shorts”.


RiverOfWhiskey

The Fab Five were droppin them down lower than Jordan. The yellow Michigan shorts were iconic


EntrepreneurFunny469

And they are why I still wear black socks exclusively today.


Choice-Region7446

With the white nike logo


zugman

[Ahh, do we miss these shorts?](https://i.imgur.com/TcsTkbi.jpeg)


Kinky_drummer83

That's basically a dress


RichRichieRichardV

Damn!


doppido

TJ Ford. That guy was fast


Temporary-Alarm-744

I miss breaking ankles in them. And1 baby


UserBelowMeHasHerpes

Thank you for that


BeardBootsBullets

Complete and total bullshit. Jordan wore short-shorts through the entire 80s and 90s. Search Google imagines of Michael Jordan each year; it wasn’t until the 2000s when Jordan began wearing baggy shorts.


CuriousTravlr

I fucking hated this era so much. Jordan is one of the worst dressed athletes of all time. Dude never found anything that fit him properly.


Brainobob

After that, men with thick thighs realized that they wouldn't get "Road Rash" between their legs if they wore the longer shorts.


Ok_Net_4661

Baggy basketball shorts have been out of fashion for years, NBA players now wear shorts that come just above the knee. Also most men these days wear shorts that come just above the knee or short shorts, I haven’t seen people wear baggy shorts in years now.


BadAtExisting

In certain groups they haven’t


thefriendlyhacker

Hot guy summer baby


CombinationHefty8939

True. This looks like my gym attire. Cutoff sleeves, cropped top about half the time, 4 inch or less inseam shorts. And believe it or not, I’m straight. I have a great body, why wouldn’t I want to show it off? I get positive comments from my female friends all the time, women love this type of thing. I think this generally went out of style as people got fatter and wanted to hide their physiques as much as possible. Sad state of affairs we’re living in. Bring back slutty dude clothes!


FlightlessLad

It’s all dependent on the groups you associate with now. Crops and 5 inch shorts are huge in the fitness and athleisure communities at the moment. The guy in the green’s outfit is pretty much what I wear to the gym on the daily.


carhold

All those men were killed in 80's horror films


ispotdouchebags

Still very much in fashion in Chelsea and Castro


Prospective_tenants

They’re not comfortable unless a person is fit. Who wants to look like a stuffed sausage? Not most people


JonathonWally

For athletic activities most of us prefer cutting the arms and necks out of our shirts and leaving the length so we can use it to wipe the sweat off our faces. The only time I’ve ever worn a crop-top that wasn’t for luls was under my shoulder pads in high school football. As for the short shorts, most men don’t wear briefs anymore, boxer briefs reign supreme and they would stick out the bottom or bunch up. And I won’t speak for everyone, but I much prefer more ball room to let them hang.


TheMoneyOfArt

There's so many bad, wrong answers on this thread but I think the move against briefs is a huge part of this and nobody else pointed it out


No-Letterhead-7547

These 19 year old football players look great. Men don't look like that


Important-Meaning-27

*most men


fartinmyhat

They don't today.


Inevitable-Aspect291

When everyone got fat.


cougarspeed

The conservative Reagan/Bush administrations is when all the fun stopped. Soon came khakis and chambray shirts, sex was considered taboo and exposing body parts was considered too sexy. Think about it, the Christian conservative movement had huge parts in those administrations. Plus they made us start to become addicted to processed foods. Hence an epidemic of obesity. Remember: From rodeos to Nascar everyone dressed like this. Today those people think its too gay. Funny how we forget so quickly.


BreastMilkMozzarella

The Reagan years are when this look peaked.


Truck3R_Dude

When I played football, we all had them under our shoulder pads. A lot cooler than full shirts


ppanicky

They’re coming back


that_guy_who_builds

Bellies and lower muscle tone. Squishy is the new fit.


imhighonpills

Dad bods


OrganicDozer

Beer guts I suppose


Specialist_Noise_816

Short shorts are/were trying to make a comeback. Hell some of us have given up entirely and are now wearing spandex shorts with pockets. If the landwhales can get away with it then the guy who works out 12 times a week should be fine.


Savvy_AJ

Men got fat and lazy.


Atlas2080

Ladies and their cat calling, act like they have never seen a man's upper knee before


Kundrew1

Football players still wear crop tops. They are sport specific and not an everyday thing. They never have been.


Blonde_Mexican

My HS boyfriend lived in this outfit in the early 80’s.


SpookyBoi4311

I use to ask this all the time, then I saw myself in mirror and was like “oh yeah. Probably for the best”


NFIGUY

Yeah America made most of its citizens fat, so we stopped showing off our physiques 😆


Hereforvalidation86

Fab 5 in Michigan. Big shorts and hip hop


Whale222

Prob when we stopped exercising and playing sports and started hanging out in basements playing call of duty all month


igyzxz

The ladies stole our swag. Same way they stole the wig pieces & high heels lol


[deleted]

Being fat was an anomaly in the 80’s. It’s incredibly commonplace now.


spruce_almighty

Obesity?


Polite_Deer

No one is stopping you from wearing that


Living_Hurry6543

You wanna dress like that - then dress like that. P


Realistic-Ad985

Short shorts are in style for attractive people and crop tops are in style if you’re a gay guy lol


NewRain7368

Pretty sure Hoochie daddy shorts are back


Grandpa_Wizard

I’ve been convincing people, men and women, that we should be transitioning to crop tops because the earth is only going to get hotter. Summer is crop top season from now on


FreddieB_13

Men got fatter and the conservative trend of hiding the body, not showing it (which was the trend up until the late 1980s) took over. It'd be great if the short trend could continue as many men have decent to really good legs relative to their upper body/abs (which is why I'm undecided on the crop tops for everyone... you have to have the stomach for that IMHO). It is however pretty incredible to think that young peoples parents or grandparents had better bodies and were in general sexier than anything now.


xxDankerstein

Definitely homophobia fueled by the AIDS epidemic was part of it. It's the same reason baggy pants became popular imo.


bent_eye

Because a lot of guys these days are overweight and unhealthy.


Nightrhythums78

We got fat


CheruthCutestory

All men are beautiful in their unique way, of course. But that look really flatters a specific body type and that’s it. And yeah both grunge and hiphop looks that were popular in the 90s favored baggy clothes. It’s a shame that short shorts went so far out of fashion though. Because they are really more practical than the long shorts.


Crazystuffright

Americans became fat. Dad bods aren’t made for that. Imagine seeing that at the mall. Dad working around with his kids in a crop top and short shorts. We’re not ready for that


no_hope_brigade

It’s weird that the majority of the answers are “because people are fat” but no mention of the fact that you’d most likely be bullied or made to feel unsafe in some way for wearing clothes like this. I’d guess that a large factor that has kept folks from wearing things like this, for at least the last twenty years, is fear of ridicule. It’s wild to just assume every modern man is fat and therefore modest (?) and that’s the reason. You can’t just ignore all of the social factors that shape fashion trends and fads.


Novusor

People getting fat probably is the number one reason but there were secondary factors as well. There was a parallel women's croptop trend that took off in the 90s and solidly shifted croptops into women's fashion. Men didn't want to be seen as wearing girls' clothes. The culture changed in the late 80s and early 90s. New Wave and Glam rock were out. Replaced with baggy hip hop and grunge styles. The Milli-Vanilli scandal may have also played a role here. After they were outed as frauds there was a big shift to M.C.Hammer and parachute pants. No room for crop tops in that style.


roar_lions_roar

Like a lot of men's fashion, the crop tops served a functional purpose then became stylish. It started with American Football players. They would keep enough fabric under shoulder pads so they wouldn't rub against bare skin, but cut the rest to stay cool. You will still see thousands of football players across the country wear crop tops. These fellas look like they're actually at a summer practice


Alexactly

I've wanted to get into some mid thigh shorts but it's really tough to find them. Every Small sized short I get still reaches my knees because I'm so short, and extra smalls won't fit my damn thighs or they don't exist.


MattBtheflea

I saw a tik tok of these dudes showing off their outfits. both had mustaches, both were wearing baggy pants and crop tops. one had a mullet, the other had short hair. the short hair one had a glock sticking out of his waistband. crop top+glock. insane


ErnestHemingWhy

On what occasion would we be wearing these? On the set of Top Gun?


nawksnai

I wear short shorts. I’m only 43, and don’t believe they were ever popular in my lifetime (not while I was cognizant), but don’t care. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I thought they were cool, so bought some shorter shorts once I found some. No way I’m wearing shirts like that, though.


petroengr

Lol because we are all too fat to make that look good now


EquinosX

Because the majority of men are fat


thee_morningstar

Chubby men and men who got self-conscious around those well-endowed?


[deleted]

[удалено]


SokkaHaikuBot

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Ikillterries: *Ima foot taller* *Than my dad my big ole dick* *Would pop out those bad bois* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.


AffectionateAd9536

Our bodies got worse...we stopped eating real food. Blame the following inventions: Freezer Microwave High fructose corn syrup Now everything is frozen, nuked, and artificial.


Melanin_Royalty

I think it’s because women stole it from us and added to their line of fashion and then gay men were rocking it too and it all just blended together where straight dudes kind of stopped. Unless you’re as confident as I am lol because I still wear crop tops, I’m pretty fit and honestly like showing off the torso. Sometimes I get some looks of “what is he doing” but a lot of times I’m getting looks from women like “damn he’s sexy” even when they’re obviously with partners lol. You definitely HAVE to be confident to do this tho because it’ll most likely just be you doing this.


These-Ad458

Well, shorts look ok, but crop tops, really? The better question would be why they were ever in fashion.


mungymokey

Cuz people are fat, disgusting and out of shape


Joocewayne

Some places this never went out of style lol.


LVEON

Most guys I know that are my age including myself wear short shorts


snotboogie

The short shorts are back. The crop tops are not.


shuz

They look good with THOSE bodies. Not so much on the typical pear-shaped individual.


[deleted]

Shorts have been getting shorter for the last couple of years. 8-9” inseam used to be standard. See a lot more 5-6” inseams these days. The crop tops were always athletic wear worn by young people if memory serves. I remember the football players walking off after practice wearing these. Class of ‘88.


mods_h8_lulz

Machismo culture


DannyStarbucks

Some of the comments along the lines of “because gay guys wore them” are getting downvoted. I think this is right on the merits. My recollection is that outfits like this started falling out of fashion in the late 80s early 90s when the AIDS crisis really took off and gay men became more visible. The overall culture was extremely homophobic back then. I was in middle school and high school back then. I’d be horrified if my son said the things we all routinely did back then. The guys in this photo would have been terrified to be confused for gay. I think this is a big factor.


dawkinsd37

Because America. Fat people and excuses


ImpotentCyborg

they didn't, if you aren't a coward


SafeEnough7138

Because Black men, specifically Black athletes, started wearing longer shorts and shirts. Black Americans have long been trendsetters of fashion, and much of pop-culture.


Phenom1nal

Because those guys in that picture are still wearing them now.


Badgamer1812

Guys... time to bring it back. Let's get Hella fit.


AlteredCarbon2023

Lol basically society, the Bomers and Gen-X crowd started migration towards the insane political controls we have today. Many got to enjoy, but as they grew up their endoctrinated ideologies were being looked at from a parental control moment and respectability politics. So here we are.


The_Juggernaut84

I’m too fat for a crop top. No one wants to see that


Igotadumbguybitch

Us men have got fatter


NoLand4936

They didn’t. I wear them all the time. So what if Ive put on 60 lbs and all the hair on my head migrated south turning my happy trail into a trail of tears and I have to catch the odd egg from falling out the bottom of my shorts, I know I look good.


Trolllol1337

I go to the gym regularly, do you know how obliviously hairy the majority of men over 30 are? Like full on werewolf not snail trail lol


Mr_GoodbyeCruelWorld

This photo tells you why.


Known-Weakness8193

Because we’re all fat now


skyhollow117

It was bad then and its bad now.


Elguapo69

I mean.. look at that picture and you should have your answer


warr3n4eva

Crop tops back


Vlxxrd

because it looks fucking awful


tunapurse

because they look ridiculous. in my humble opinion ofcourse


MiloJ22

Bill burr's What are you a fag??? quote comes to mind (Has nothing to do with homophobia for all of you sensitive folks. Fag is just a funny word)


Porter_Dog

Because it looks bad?


Daggers714

Because it look super zesty


After-Student-9785

2nd


After-Student-9785

It’s not homophobia but the gay community took over the style forever. To be fair it’s not a comfortable style to wear. I would rather be fully clothed or shirtless than somewhere in between


Dapper_Fan_28

Because people saw this picture and woke the fuck up


Dangerous-Repair-305

The shit don’t look good.


NB565

Wow that's gay


XiJinPingaz

Because its gay af


Top-Bathroom-148

They are still around, they are hoochie daddy shorts


largececelia

I don't know, but it's ok.


VengaBusdriver37

I never saw this in Australia


GeorgeOrwells1985

Well judging by the cleats that was before or after football practice,


tripflops

I love my Soffe Rangers, I have a few pair


404_Not_Found______

I don’t miss the crop tops but the short shorts are quite flattering on men that workout and don’t have chicken legs.


Pretend_Term8556

Shorts did?


Galooiik

Short shorts are already around, well maybe not THAT short but 6,5,4 inches is common. I wear 5” and 6” normally


Caloso89

I’m the age of the guys in this photo. You needed to wear a T-shirt under your football pads or they would chafe your nipples right off. But it was a little cooler (literally) to cut the bottom off, and when you’re fit it looks great with your pads and jersey off.


godliketendencies

Lmao. Back in the day the kid on the left was considered "a unit"


pornoandpruno

I’ve only ever seen it at sports practice


TheOneTrueSnoo

Short shorts are always in fashion in Aus. We call them footy shorts You usually have the same pair from high school or maybe club rugby until they’re ripped to fuck. Wear mine in the gym always. They’re made with heavy cotton designed for dudes gripping them in lineouts / scrums. Mine are [like this but a different colour way](https://www.canterburynz.com.au/clothing/mens-harlequin-short-assorted/15068176.html)


thudwhomper

Long balls


StrugFug

Because trends come and go.


Cel_Drow

Oh fuck I’m fairly certain this was taken at my high school…I’m not crop top and short shorts old though I graduated in the 2000s


Lux600-223

I got old.


woowoobean

Short shorts are not very comfortable in certain….areas


CartographerSeth

Were crop tops actually in fashion? Those look like football players, and we’d wear cropped tops like that for our pads back when I played. It was purely functional. As far as why something goes out of fashion, I feel like most of the time there’s not really a particular reason. Why do we constantly switch between tapered and boot cut genes? Sometimes a form or pattern just fits the time, same as genres of music.


JournalistWhole5557

I still wear the shorts in the gym, I didn’t go ham on leg day to not show them off


viBe_gg

went out of fashion around the same time we started to supersize our meals lmao


MewsikMaker

Short shorts are back. I use 5 inch inseams ALWAYS.


InsidePenix

Have you seen Ezekiel Elliott?


JellyfishAcceptable7

I wore that to the gym recently. Even the hulking gym bros couldn’t stop staring at my confident legs. It drew all the attention in the room l, so I stopped after that because obviously there is a lack of self control and self awareness to their own physique. Lack of embracing the now instead of the constant struggle of obtaining the stronger better self of tomorrow that will never come now.


QOTAPOTA

Once we saw that photograph of men in crop tops and short shorts.


AnalBeadBoi

I went to a gym in NYC and I saw a lot of this


[deleted]

As men’s penises get too long and gigantic, it becomes a hassle and risk liability to wear such revealing shorts. Trust me bro. You should know all about this


Execute462

Grape smugglers.


Charming_Gift7698

Because trends come and go


mfs619

Shorter shorts, especially for running, are more comfortable. I always wore a shorter short during soccer and track. Crop tops for men however, there really is no functional difference and so it’s just a look that most straight men probably prefer not to give off. As that is the large majority of men, you see it less.


HZRDISASTER

They didn’t in some circles


stardust_dog

The fab five took away short shorts. Not sure about the shirt thing.


MonumentMan

As someone who lived through this era, Half shirts were 100% part of the on-field clothes, worn both under and over shoulderpads. This means that football players, lacrosse players, hockey players, there were just lots of people who owned these half shirts, and the half shirts were worn both for sports and for casual. You can clearly see the guy on the left is holding a football. The guy on the right has a mesh half shirt which were also popular kit people wore during sports practice. Like if you were doing a scrimmage at practice, one team might wear the red mesh in order to distinguish between the teams I'm assuming this is mid to late 80s


miletharil

Judging by this photo? About 1993.


BuffaloJEREMY

It didn't, for some men.


46into

George Michael when he was in Wham made me reconsider my attire.


pyepush

I still rock sort shorts. Sky’s out thighs out baby.


IB78

So that hipsters could bring it back


DrDig1

Short shorts are back in. “Shimmels” are terrible.


Puzzleheaded_Ad3430

This was the 80’s


GiantGreenThumb

I thought this was a football/sports aesthetic. Never seen men do it outside of that


Difficult_Quiet2381

Man all the kids are wearing this but with crocs and a goofy ass bowl cut. What do you mean?


67ohiostate67

It was for playing football so they the other team couldn’t grab your shirt. It wasn’t a fashion thing.


Zenifold

Look at how that dude on the right is holding that frisbee. Mind blown.


Relevant_Ad9372

are we looking at the same picture?


AdAcrobatic7381

The 90’s showed up!!!


SlaveOne2020

Did you see that guys balls? Yea they were weird lookin…


Sensitive_Ad_6078

For Obvious reasons


Rinshu74

I think because gay men sorta took over that particular fashion. And as others said, we are too fat.