"Lady Gaga" has been named the top fashion buzzword of 2009 by the Global Language Monitor, a group that tracks trends in language usage worldwide, while "Michelle Obama" plunged from second place in 2008 to number 15 last year. The words are tracked "in print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere, now including social media" and their ranking is based on an algorithm. So what are we supposed to learn from Gaga's rise to the top?
"The relationship between Stefani Germanotta, the girl from Yonkers, and haute couture may not be intuitively obvious, until you realize that Stefani would soon grow into one Lady Gaga," explained director and fashion correspondent of the Global Language Monitor Millie L. Payack. "The fact remains that the world of fashion has been duly impacted by her in ways some subtle and some rather profound."
Here's the full list and explanations from the Global Language Monitor:
1. Lady Gaga -- Enigmatic performance artist has had outsized impact on the world of fashion.
2. Leggins 2.0 - Flourishing from Milano to Main Street, leggings are now differentiated as jeggings (jeans + leggings) and meggings (male leggings), and the like.
3. No pants - Hot pants for the 21st Century; not much pant (see Lady GaGa).
4. Off-shoulder - One shoulder and Off-the-shoulder asymmetrics are now combined with cutouts, draping, or heritage stylings.
5. Chandeliers -- Earrings, that is.
6. Boyfriend (the jacket, jeans etc) - It's getting to be like an Audrey Hepburn movie out there with boyfriend jackets, jeans and the like.
7. Peek-a-boo - Peek-a-boo fashion is back once again; this time as cutouts.
8. Camos - Camouflage is back, this time with an Urban Jungle vibe.
9. Hippie-luxe - Haute Hippies? That's the Hippie Luxe movement inspired by the 40th anniversary of that classic New York Daily News headline: "600,000 Hippies Mired in Mud".
10. Armadillos - Shaped like a lobster, made of Python, and called Armadillos -- the highly controversial sculpted shoe designs of Alexander McQueen.
11. Mixed prints - Mixing various print in sometimes surprising ways: florals, tropicals, geometrics, polka dots, psychedelics, modernism-inspired, even plaids.
12. Embellishments - Delicate, all, including ruffles, transparency and tulle.
13. Ethical fashion - Echoes of PETA here. No furs, no armadillos, no leather.
14. Fashion 2.0 - Incorporating streaming techniques that bring designer showcases and shows to the buyers and consumers in real time.
15. MObama - OK, so she wears 'mom' jeans, but everyone seems to notice, after all Michelle is The Mobama.