The 1920s were the age of the flapper, and women everywhere were eschewing the corset, raising their hemlines, and cutting their hair short. The only things accurate about the 1893 speculation is that yes, they loved their feathers and high heels. I have no idea why she’s carrying a sword. Was dueling supposed to come back into fashion? Did we need to carry swords to stave off the alien plant monsters?

The 1940s were actually the antithesis of the Strand’s speculations. Dior’s New Look revolutionized women’s wear, and sleek, tailored suits or dresses with wide shoulders or patterned shirt dresses accessorized with dainty hats and gloves ruled the runways. Shoes were simple and practical, since most of the world was recovering from war.

The 1960s meant mod, miniskirts and Mondrian. In 1893, the ’60s apparently meant puffy pants and sombreros. Let’s assume that Mexico is now the dominant world power, and dueling is still in. I can’t even say it’s kind of accurate since none of these dudes are wearing cape (capelets were in style in the ’60s). Although that first guy does kind of look like he’s wearing a car coat.

This is…less far fetched than many of the others. The  New Romantics (like good ol’ Bowie here) style of dressing was still going strong, and ruffles and baroque fashion were definitely part of the subculture. I feel like they would have been super down with that massive bow tie.

The mid-90′s were all about minimalism. It was the age of the little black dress, Calvin Klein, and spaghetti straps. Sky high heels were a must. It was definitely not the age of the Queen of Hearts as muse, or the voluminous man-dress. And those shoes are definitely a no.

I think it’s super interesting to see where they thought fashion was going to go, and how the myriad of important social, historical and technological developments that they couldn’t have anticipated really influenced fashion. I think it also shows how much of an impact women’s rights had on fashion as well, because in 1893 it was simply inconceivable that a woman would want to or even be able to show as much skin and as much of her shape as we do now.

Read the full Strand article and see all the decade of fashion here.

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