The Future of Fashion, as seen from the 1930s

Nostradamus, schmostradamus. While the 16th century philosopher accurately prophesized many of history’s catastrophic events, there’s no way he could have predicted the kind of sartorial inventions we’re seeing these days. (Slankets? Shants? Terry cloth sweatsuits?)

However, Panthetone Weekly, a ‘30s news show, seemed to have had style-focused crystal ball stashed away in the studio. There’s a Depression-era clip floating around on YouTube (thanks loyal reader KS, for pointing it out to me) that features predictions on what the world would be wearing circa 2000. And what do you know? Every other look is 1) unfortunately uncredited 2)wearable 2) très similar to the Fall ’08 YSL show, which many critics deemed as—you guessed it—futuristic. The clip—and it’s similarity to today’s designs—makes the rising and falling hemline theories seem quaint in comparison to this timeless trend: When the times get tough, the fashion crowd looks towards the future for inspiration.

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