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How People In 1893 Imagined We’d Dress Today

As it turns out, fashion did move in waves over the 20th Century, but not quite in the way W. Cade Gall imagined / W. Cade Gall

The ideas are based on the principle that fashion had moved in ‘waves’ over the 19th Century, and would do so in the 20th.

As the end of the year approaches, experts and pundits start rolling out their predictions for next year, and the year to come.

But seeing into the future is a bit more challenging than these predictions make it seem — as the fascinating images below demonstrate.

These fantastic visions of what fashion would look like in the future were published by W. Cade Gall in The Strand Magazine in 1893.

The ideas, which were recently featured in The Public Domain Review, are based on the principle that fashion had moved in “waves” over the 19th Century, and would do so in the 20th.

As it turns out, fashion did move in waves over the 20th Century, but not quite in the way Gall imagined.

Here is what people were wearing at the time the article was published, in 1893:

W. Cade Gall

As the decades progress, however, these fashions become more and more frilly and comical, seemingly channeling medieval court jesters and the Wizard of Oz.

Here’s what Gall envisioned for the 1900s and 1910s:

W. Cade Gall

And the 1920s:

W. Cade Gall

The 1930s:

W. Cade Gall

The 1950s:

W. Cade Gall

The 1960s:

W. Cade Gall

The 1980s:

W. Cade Gall