The current trend of crop tops is confusing to me. It is not exactly flattering for anyone with a fuller belly or bottom. Wearing a longer layer underneath the crop top doesn’t look polished. Is this a teens-only thing, or is there a way to manage this style for a more sophisticated look? — Lila, Cincinnati

Crop tops, that style of shirt or jacket or sweater chopped off anywhere from the bottom of the breasts to the waist, are indelibly connected to the early 2000s, when pop stars like Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears and Mariah Carey made the look their own. The tops were most often paired with low-rise pants that made the whole look resemble nothing so much as the millennial equivalent of Barbara Eden in “I Dream of Jeannie.”

Little wonder the look returned on the recent wave of nostalgia for all things Y2K and the last gasp of the analog world. Baby one more time and all that. There are currently 2.4 million posts hashtagged #croptop on TikTok.

But while a large percentage of today’s crop tops may be the province of the generation that didn’t get to experience them the first time round, or anyone who simply wants to show off very worked-out abs — hello Cameron Brink of the W.N.B.A., who recently wore a cropped pinstriped jacket and matching trousers for her tunnel walk — not all crop tops are those crop tops.

Which is to say, not every crop top is either a madeleine for the days of yesteryear or a fashion Freddy Krueger for anyone with poochy stomach anxiety.