Normcore

Examples of normcore clothing.

Normcore is a unisex fashion trend characterized by unpretentious, average-looking clothing. "Normcore" is a portmanteau of the words "normal" and "hardcore". The word first appeared in webcomic Templar, Arizona before 2009[1] and was later employed by K-Hole, a trend forecasting group,[2][3][4][5] in an October 2013 report called "Youth Mode: A Report on Freedom".[6][7]

As used by K-Hole, "normcore" referred to an attitude, not a particular code of dress. It was intended to mean "finding liberation in being nothing special."[8] However, a piece in New York magazine that began popularizing the term in February 2014[6] conflated it with "Acting Basic", another K-Hole concept which involved dressing neutrally to avoid standing out. It was this sense of "normcore" which gained popular usage.[8]

The word was named runner-up for neologism of the year by the Oxford University Press in 2014.[6]

Normcore fashion

Normcore wearers are people who do not wish to distinguish themselves from others by their clothing.[9] This is not to mean that they are unfashionable people who wear whatever comes to hand, but that they consciously choose clothes that are undistinguished – except, frequently, for a highly visible label to impart prestige. The "normcore" trend has been interpreted as a reaction to fashion oversaturation resulting from ever faster-changing fashion trends.[10]

Normcore clothes include everyday items of casual wear such as t-shirts, hoodies, short-sleeved shirts, jeans and chino pants, but not items such as neckties or blouses. These clothes are worn by men and women alike, making normcore a unisex style.[10]

Clothes that meet the "normcore" description are mainly sold by large fashion and retail chains such as The Gap,[11] Jack & Jones, Superdry, and Esprit. They are generally cheaply produced in East Asian countries. Many other retailers such as Marc O'Polo, Woolrich, Desigual, Closed and Scotch & Soda produce normcore-like clothes combined with individual design ideas.[10]

References

  1. Friedman, Nancy (March 2\3, 2014). "Word of the Week: normcore", Fritinancy. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  2. Williams, Alex (April 2, 2014). "The New Normal", New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  3. Duncan, Fiona (February 26, 2014). "Normcore: Fashion for Those Who Realize They’re One in 7 Billion", New York. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  4. Cochrane, Lauren (February 27, 2014). "Normcore: The Next Big Fashion Movement?", The Guardian. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  5. Frank, Thomas (April 27, 2014). "Hipsters, They're Just Like Us! "Normcore," Sarah Palin, and the GOP's Big Red State Lie", Salon. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Benson, Richard (17 December 2014). "Normcore: how a spoof marketing term grew into a fashion phenomenon". Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  7. Tschorn, Adam (May 18, 2014). "Normcore Is (or Is It?) a Fashion Trend (or Non-Trend or Anti-Trend)", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Gorton, Thomas. "Everyone's getting normcore wrong, say its inventors". Dazed. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  9. Ferrier, Morwenna (June 21, 2014). "The End of the Hipster: How Flat Caps and Beards Stopped Being So Cool". The Guardian. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 van Rooijen, Jeroen (May 30, 2014). "Trendthema "Normcore": Die Mittelpracht". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  11. Franzen, Carl. "Watch David Fincher's normcore ads for The Gap". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 6 September 2014.

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