High fashion trends are nothing if not suspect to the layman clotheshorse, who barely know their berets from their Birkenstocks.
Crotchless trousers and front-less jeans are just some of the sartorial idiosyncrasies to confuse contemporary shoppers in recent months.
Now, ASOS has left shoppers feeling dazed and confused by its latest offering to male customers, which comes in the form of a white cropped vest top.
Usually reserved for teenage girls attending their first festival or millennial women championing their best 90s aesthetic, the humble crop top is rarely viewed as a sartorial staple for men.
However, change could soon be on the horizon thanks to the £10 crop top in question, designed by repurposed men’s clothing label, Reclaimed Vintage
Described as being “extreme cropped” in length and "less is more" in style, the unconventional garment has sparked a flurry of ridicule on social media, with one Twitter user describing it as a sports bra.
“Brrrr - it’s a bit chilly but not chilly enough for a full T-shirt so... I know... I’ll wear what looks like an over-washed, baggy girls’ sports bra,” they teased.
One person couldn’t believe the garment was being sold in earnest:
“ASOS are having a laugh surely,” they wrote.
“The world has gone mad,” another added, “have you seen the men’s croptop on ASOS ?? £10 for a vest cut in half”.
However, given the amount of torso that the top enables its wearer to proudly display, some people argued that it could offer six-pack-bearing men an opportunity to show off their honed muscles.
“For those men that want to show off their six packs but feel lazy to go topless,” one person suggested.
Wherever you stand on the men's crop top debate - take solace in knowing that it's available in three different sizes: small, medium and large, though we're fairly certain it will appear somewhat small on almost anyone who is audacious enough to wear it.
