In the Year Two Thouuuusaaaaaaaannnnnd
May 5, 2016 7:51 AM   Subscribe

In 1939, some American fashion designers got together and designed the clothes (1 minute, 14 seconds) they thought the well-dressed woman (and one man) would be wearing in 2000.
posted by julen (33 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
That bias-cut number with the wraparound zipper is so wonderfully a product of its moment. The rest, ehhhhh...

I never forget my chest telephone when I put on my boiler suit in the morning!
posted by fifthrider at 7:56 AM on May 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


OOOH swish!

(I love how they at least got the thing about the guy being fitted with a phone sort of right.)
posted by rtha at 7:58 AM on May 5, 2016 [16 favorites]


I'm waiting for my personal maid/butler (I'm not picky) to help me unzip/rezip my suit of the future. Which is actually a suit of the recent past.
posted by tommasz at 7:59 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


I love the hair accessories. The fascinators I saw in trendy stores a bit ago have nothing on those.
posted by epanalepsis at 8:03 AM on May 5, 2016


The very first design with its adaptable sleeves made me think, otherwise known as a cardigan? Which led me to wondering if the cardigan had been invented yet. Which led to cardigan history which then pointed towards this website, Cardigan Sweater, which has some history but also some interesting copy like, "A cardigan sweater for women of the plus size can also be a cozy option for a Sunday afternoon--how snuggly to roast in front of a fire in a wool fishermen's cardigan sweater for women!"

Also, the emphasis on temperature in this is just a remainder of how far how technology has come in regards to indoor climate control. Fascinating!
posted by barchan at 8:05 AM on May 5, 2016 [9 favorites]


Take away the headdress and the chest phone, and I would be all about wearing that jumpsuit at the end.

Also, the outfit at 0:27 (introduced with "Yet another designer goes so far as to suggest skirts will disappear entirely") is one that (possibly excepting the weird ankle capes) I wouldn't be surprised at all to see on a well dressed lady in her twenties walking the streets of 2016 Montreal.
posted by 256 at 8:10 AM on May 5, 2016 [5 favorites]


Who are you people, and what are you doing in my wardrobe?
posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 8:17 AM on May 5, 2016


The announcer sounds shocked that skirts would disappear -- they haven't, but they have become purely optional. I don't know about the most formal workplaces, but I haven't had to wear a skirt since leaving Girl Guides. (If I did, it was my own choice).
posted by jb at 8:17 AM on May 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


They got the guy's beard right though, give or take 10 years.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:20 AM on May 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


[+] for the title
posted by Rock Steady at 8:36 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


The mid-atlantic announcer voice! That's such a weird artifact of history, more than any of those outfits.
posted by tavella at 8:57 AM on May 5, 2016 [5 favorites]


wth no, the candy pouch is for me
posted by books for weapons at 9:00 AM on May 5, 2016 [7 favorites]


Bah, they lost me in the first second when they left out a period in "A.D 2000."

/grumpy copyeditor
posted by languagehat at 9:38 AM on May 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


At first it looked like the second girl in the spiral-encrusted gown was texting, and I was like "Yep, checks out."
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:46 AM on May 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


Ten years ago none of this would have been at all out of place at my art school. "Candy pouch for cuties" and all.
posted by cmoj at 9:49 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


Candy for cuties? I'm a cutie! Imma eat my belt candies and be a strong independent snack toting man of the future.
posted by msbutah at 9:54 AM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


The space bride dress was absolutely what lots of brides wore in the mid-80s. Jumpsuit; 70s.

Also those silver shoes with the lady's jumpsuit--I have a pair like that.

So they kind of got it right? The one "futuristic" thing that never really came into style was the Saturn-like rings around your head/hat/dress.

The rest was pure 30s goodness. Pointy shoulders! Bias cut! Hair squished against your head!
posted by emjaybee at 10:02 AM on May 5, 2016 [2 favorites]


"Candy for Cuties" is the name of my next never-to-be-realized band.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 10:42 AM on May 5, 2016 [3 favorites]


That ooh, SWISH dress was perfectly gorgeous! A++, I would swish.
posted by Liesl at 11:57 AM on May 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


If "the well-dressed woman" is Lupita Nyong'o, they're not wrong.
posted by babelfish at 2:07 PM on May 5, 2016 [1 favorite]


OOOOOOOH, SWISH!

(owe you a Coke, rtha)

Some that stuff is just ridiculous. And not what the average 'cutie' would wear anyway.
posted by BlueHorse at 2:57 PM on May 5, 2016


I feel like if you compare this thread to the one for the Met Ball, you'll find a significant amount of overlap.
posted by jacquilynne at 4:15 PM on May 5, 2016 [4 favorites]


I swear this is a repeat, not that I care really, because last time it was, presumably, mentioned I asked if someone could get me a .wav file of that "Oooh Swish!" and some MeFite was kind enough to do so. I've since lost that file, so can some kind person please snatch that out of the audio and post it somewhere? Many thanks, if so.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 4:45 PM on May 5, 2016



Well, fooey. I must have not had the right keywords. I was actually surprised it wasn't already posted, and I searched not only for keywords but for the several different youtube urls for this clip (and the longer ones that add a bunch of other future predictions to this clip)! I'm not surprised I missed one - Pathé newsreel clips get reposted to youtube a lot.

The Pathé newsreel clips are really fabulous (I counted at least 4 different FPPs I could make from clips I found, and that's not including the original FPP idea that landed me on a Pathé reel) and interesting views on 1920s-40s + and beyond. For instance check out these fabulous exercise regimes from the 1940s and 1930s (less than a minute, each).
posted by julen at 6:25 PM on May 5, 2016


Why don't we have clothing that scientifically keeps our atmosphere at the right temperature??
posted by Beti at 8:19 PM on May 5, 2016


Ooh, swish!
posted by books for weapons at 8:56 PM on May 5, 2016 [5 favorites]


Ooh, swish!
posted by books for weapons at 10:56 PM on May 5


Can't thank you enough, kind MeFite!
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 9:02 PM on May 5, 2016


Well, fooey. I must have not had the right keywords. I was actually surprised it wasn't already posted, and I searched not only for keywords but for the several different youtube urls for this clip (and the longer ones that add a bunch of other future predictions to this clip)!
posted by julen at 8:25 PM on May 5


Please don't think I'm complaining. I'm glad you posted it as I'm sure it's new to a lot of MeFites. And, TBH, I can't really say for certain that it was posted on the blue in the past. I'll be the first to admit that my rapidly aging memory is pretty much shot.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 9:06 PM on May 5, 2016


I'm almost positive I've seen this here before, as well, but not positive enough to flag it as a double.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:16 PM on May 5, 2016


> I'm almost positive I've seen this here before, as well, but not positive enough to flag it as a double.

Nobody should ever flag anything as a double unless they can link to the prior post. Memories are notoriously fallible.
posted by languagehat at 9:07 AM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm pretty sure the mods never delete anything as a double unless they find the previous post to link to, so I don't think flagging something that way if you don't find the link yourself is a huge problem, it just prompts the mods to take a look. That said, that is the level of certainty I use for myself, yes.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:18 AM on May 6, 2016


Eh. If you don't care enough to bother to look, don't put the work on the mods.
posted by tavella at 9:54 AM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's here. I remember "candy for cuties" becoming my catchphrase for several days after, just like it has this time.
posted by lastobelus at 1:49 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


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