And the 2014 Word of the Year Is...

Vape, according to Oxford Dictionaries, but there were some interesting runners up, including bae (similar to one's romantic boo, perhaps?) and one of my personal favorites: normcore:

-core (from hardcore) has been a remarkably productive suffix for decades, most commonly being used to christen a new extreme or intense music style. More recently it has become semantically diluted so that it means something akin to “non-mainstream”, and has broken away from music to embrace film (think mumblecore).  Although examples of its use can be found as far back as 2009, 2014 is the year that normcore shot into the popular consciousness. Referring to a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement, normcore has already been declared “over” by fashion blogs and magazines. However, language doesn’t tend to work quite as quickly, and therefore normcore the word still remains very much alive in the vocabulary of English.

Passé, maybe, but it was a mere three or four months ago that my boyfriend introduced the term to me, and I flipped. It all clicked in that moment: the resurgence of Birkenstocks over the last few years (which I adore), and not just that, but Birkenstocks with socks--the stuff of my youth! Add the nondescript windbreaker and sky-high blue jeans--not the high-waist skinnies we've seen for some time, but the ones that fit a little baggy all over--GAP jeans circa 1990.

Think Seinfeld and Friends. Mom and Dad. Over-sized sweaters, gray sweatshirts, and a rejection of the idea that fashion be painful in any way. In fact, it can be less fussy and fanciful; it can embrace the body rather than restrict it. The criticism, I suppose, is that this type of fashion suggests to the world that one just doesn't care, and while this look can certainly toe the line, I'm not convinced that an overt disregard for style is at the heart of normcore.

I mean, check out some of this loveliness:

I personally love any look with stripes, camel coats, or chunky blue sweaters. (I know I'm not alone in this.)

Ah, normcore. May it be a word and a look that follows us well past 2014. And for more word play and previous word winners, read on, my friend. 

(Photos: www.ellecanada.com/blog , www.blog.lonewolf.com)