Best of 2014 : Rise of the Girl Crush • DreaminLace

On Wednesdays, we did more than just wear pink in 2014! This year, just about everyone was sharing their Woman Crush Wednesday each week, saluting admirable females both in celebrity culture and real life. ‘Girl Crush‘ was a term flying every off everyone’s tongue, Twitter & Instagram feed…and why not? Celebrating your fellow ladies is a good thing in my book! Down with the slut-shaming and the girl-on-girl nitpicking that’s been so prevalent in recent history – and UP with embracing and supporting the female kind!

From Beyonce to Lupita Nyong’o, we were all abuzz about women who were getting things done while looking great! Memoirs like #GirlBoss, Amy Poehler’s Yes Please and Lena Dunham’s Not that Kind of Girl ruled the New York Time‘s Bestseller List, proving 2014 to be a year about girl power! And where there are certainly more names we can mention, here are my favorite ladies of 2014:

Blake Lively
Blake Lively killed it on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival AND had a cover of US Vogue in 2014. For most celebs, that would be accomplishment enough! But, no – the Blake train didn’t stop there. Proving she’s more than just a pretty face (not to mention the face of L’Oreal and Gucci), Blake launched her lifestyle site, Preserve, with all sorts of fashion, kitchen and better living inspiration. It was on Preserve where Blake posed proudly with a baby bump, announcing her first pregnancy, and from there things got REALLY interesting! Blake made pregnancy fashion front page news with her every red carpet and sidewalk appearance. Leave it our favorite Gossip Girl to look like a super model while expecting. Blake’s red carpet and street style skyrocketed Blake to supreme Girl Crush status. Congratulations!

Taylor Swift
Pretty much EVERY year has been great for Taylor Swift since she first broke out. But, no one can deny that 2014 has been a truly magical and transformative year for America’s little darling. This year, TSwift shook off her country music label, made a whole bunch of ‘power besties’, cut her hair and didn’t break up with anyone! Her album 1989 blew all sorts of records on the pop charts, she starred in the summer blockbuster The Giver AND she walked Victoria’s Secret’s famous annual fashion show alongside BFF Karlie Kloss. Basically it was a major year for Taylor, who took to heart the old adage: “If you don’t like what people are saying about you change the conversation.” TayTay completely switched off her ‘country girl that’s always in a breakup’ image to become the independent, fashionable and surprisingly fun it-girl she is today. Taylor’s the new best friend no one saw coming!

Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts might not have made waves of tsnuami-proportions like TSwift in 2014, but she DID make waves of her own as one of Hollywood’s brightest starlets. Her role in indie hit Palo Alto earned her a lot of attention, she starred opposite Jessica Lange in two successful seasons of American Horror Story, launched her own line of costume jewelry with BaubleBar, starred in Jimmy Choo AND Elkin ad campaigns, aced the ASL ice bucket challenge, rocked Coachella and read a whole lot of books. Okay, so the ice bucket challenge and Coachella were basically rights of passage for all Hollywood starlets in 2014 – but none brought quite as much pizzazz to the party as Julia Roberts’ niece. Emma was pretty much on my radar (and Tumblr feed) all year and it’s exciting to think about where she’ll go next in 2015.