City-based fashion stylist shares new and fun ways to wear a crop top

Bella Hadid in a corset crop over an open shirt. Pics courtesy/Getty Images (left) Upcycle worn-out pants into crop tops (right) Crop top over loose capris and heels

Crop tops are to Gen Z styling what skinny jeans were to a millennial. We're not asking to drop the crop like we did with skinny jeans - rest in peace, denim from hell - we simply want new and fun ways to style it. Like Ananya Panday's mullet crochet top, which was a crop only in the front and gave us a fun and fresh look to the otherwise repetitive styling. Taking off from Panday's look styled by Meagan Concessio, here are a few new ways to wear crops. Nisha Sainani, fashion designer and founder of Waikiki, a clothing boutique in Bandra, shares a few tips.

Fun with fashion

Using her shirt crop top with customised hand-embroidered motifs (R3,950), she suggests a fitted high-waisted pencil skirt with a long slit. We would love to see the crop shirt or a full-length shirt worn under a net or corset crop, or even a long scarf turned into a crop top. Don't forget to keep the shirt buttons undone under the top. Pair this with oversized denims or pants, similar to Alia Bhatt's recent airport look with baggy denims, and heeled leather boots.

Ananya Panday's crochet crop top. Pic Courtesy/Instagram (right) Nisha Sainani

Glam girl

Sainani suggests putting together an embellished net crop or a lace bralette over a fitted crop top and a flared skirt. Playing with lace, we suggest a net leotard peeking across the midriff. Over this, add a loose crop or a tee roughly cut into a crop which you can wear as is or tie into knots near the waist and shoulder. Pair this with cargo shorts or loose capris and strappy heels.

Upcycling is cool

Other fun ways to play up your crop top is to repurpose your sari blouse into a crop top, or get inspired by Julia Fox and wear a thick-width belt as a top. You can also upcycle your old denims into a crop. And before the weather gets too hot, play around with layered tops.

Works for all

Sainani highlights that crop tops can be worn by all bodies, and adds, "It's not necessary that you need to have a particular body with abs to wear crops. You can accentuate features apart from the [midriff], if you have to draw attention to strong shoulders and arms, go for a tube crop with high-waisted pants."