Recapping the biggest trends of 2014

By Christian Portilla

 

Some of us have already taken down the Christmas lights, unassembled the fake Christmas tree, freaked out about our credit card statements and gained a few pounds from the Christmas dinner leftovers.

 

The nostalgia is slowly wearing off and the new years resolutions are in full effect. However, before we close the chapter on 2014, below are a few trends and happenings that made it memorable.

 

Although Brazil left the World Cup early like Cinderella at midnight, they made it far enough to give the locals something to talk about. The fever was enough to make LeBron James tweet about his favorite Colombian player James Rodriguez (pronounced Ha-mez) and make everyone jump on the soccer band wagon. People who never cared about the sport were decked out in jerseys of their favorite team and filling up local bars as if it was the Heat play-offs.

 

The Ice Bucket Challenge– raised about 115 million dollars for

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” and raised many more goosebumps. The challenge required anyone being “challenged” to drop a bucket of ice cold water over themselves while being recorded. The catch – challenging someone else to do it within 24 hours. If the person declined, they had to make a donation to the site.  ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects that neurons by destroying their structure and/or function. It is because of this challenge that 18.5 million dollars were raised and will be allocated directly toward the advancement of ALS research, according the ALS association.

 

Hipsters – Either you love them or you hate them, or you’re in denial that you are one – hipsters are here to stay. An easy way to spot most hipster guys are by their handlebar mustaches or beards, a pompadour haircut and  tattoos. Most hipster girls wear a black hat that make them look like cute pilgrims and they can usually be spotted in their natural habitat – Wynwood.

One thing is for sure – they mostly have great taste in music and their Spotify playlists consist of artists with less than 400 followers. What’s more hipster than that?

 

Ferguson and police brutality were hot button topics in 2014. Protests and riots blazed in the streets of Missouri with people fired up against police officers use of excessive force against civilians; predominantly African-American men. Beginning with the death of Trayvon Martin which sparked controversy against the Florida “stand-your-ground” law.

The deaths of other black men such as Michael Brown and Eric Garner and Hispanic Israel Hernandez who died after being tasered by Miami Beach Police, have brought forward talks about the use of body cameras on police officers for the protection of everyone involved.

 

Cats have slowly made their epic comeback but it had been a while since we had seen the furry felines become popularized like the Hello Kitty frenzy back in the 90s. Anywhere from t-shirts, socks, gifs and sweaters, they had cats all over them. There is even a trendy character by the name of Grumpy Cat – who has a ridiculously handsome frown and satirical grumpy jokes.

Pretty sure almost every crazy cat-lady out there did a happy dance when they saw how popular cats became. It’s a “boo-yah” and “told-you-so” to anyone that once opposed and just goes to show that these crazy ladies are light-years ahead of all of us.

 

EBOLA is a rare and deadly disease caused by infection with a strain of Ebola virus. The 2014 Ebola epidemic affected multiple countries in West Africa and spread to the United States via travel from people who had returned from visiting countries where the disease had spread.

Thomas Eric Duncan was the first to be diagnosed in America after touring Liberia. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over 8000 people have died from the disease, but first trials of an Ebola vaccine have began.