Carlos Yulo, Dennis Trillo sport fitted crop top, help break norms on gender-based clothing

From double-Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo to actor Dennis Trillo, men wearing crop tops have become a strong fashion statement — there is nothing that can crop on men's freedom to suit and style themselves.

Yulo, while on vacation in South Korea, sported a blue-fitting crop top, earning over 77,000 likes on Instagram.

Netizens praised Yulo's norm-breaking stunt, quoting, "It's giving secure masculinity! We stan a progressive guy! 'Di gaya ng iba d'yan, pang-dark ages ang mentality." 

Actor Dennis Trillo while strolling with his wife Jennylyn Mercado at a theme park in Tokyo, Japan, shared  a short Instagram video clip with the caption, "King of the Crop😂🏰"

Netizens quickly linked his post to Yulo's trendsetting fit, asking "Did you go shopping with Carlos Yulo?"

Screen grab: Instagram/Dennis Trillo

Not long after, Filipino boxer Eumir Marcial while wearing a black-fitting crop top, also tagging  Yulo in an Instagram post with the caption, “@c_edrielzxs bro hindi na talaga ako nakatiis😅.”

While it seems to be groundbreaking in the local scene, international celebrities such as social media personality Bretman Rock, Harry Styles, Conan Gray, Jacob Elordi,  Ateez's Seonghwa, and EXO's Kai already sported and stunned in these crop tops. 

They say trends or fashion just goes in circles. Back in the 1970s, action star Sylvester Stallone during his early ‘Rocky' film wore a crop top, followed by Will Smith's stint in the Fresh Prince Bel Air episode,  Zac Efron's fringed-crop top on the set of "Dirty Grandpa" and Johnny Depp in "Nightmare on Elm Street." 

At present, many micro and macro men influencers like Dior Veneracion,  David Guison, and Mellan Bernardino have long sported these crop tops into an IG-worthy fit.

In an interview with Deo Angelo Cabrera, a 23-year-old Tiktok content creator and an advocate for genderless clothing, he opened up on his love-hate relationship with the growing trend, "Why is it that when straight men celebrities wear crop tops, they are praised for breaking gender norms and being progressive, yet when members of the queer community express themselves through "cross-dressing", we are ridiculed and even harassed in public?"

He added that the focus shouldn't be solely on men celebrities wearing crop tops but on the queer community who have been challenging gender expression through clothing and fashion.

"Many still mock the idea of men wearing crop tops. Even calling it a "trend" feels off to me, as it suggests that men breaking gender norms by "cross-dressing" is something performative— done for attention or entertainment. I am not trying to break gender norms or shake up society, I simply wear my cute dresses and high heels because I want to. It's [the] society that labels it as radical." Deo stated. 

On the other hand, Pierce San Pedro, a multimedia arts student and character designer, also shared the same sentiment that fashion is a form of self-expression, "I grew up with [my] mother, sisters, and aunts. I saw how they had an abundance in clothing."

He added that men wearing crop tops shouldn't be viewed only as a trend and could be the norm itself, "If a woman is allowed to wear pants and shorts as normal clothing, why shouldn't a man wear crop tops and skirts?"

Carlos Yulo makes a statement on fashion and financial management

RELATED VIDEOS: