AS NINA GARCIA would say on Project Runway: “It’s modern!” “I haven’t seen it before!” “It’s editorial!” “It’s fashion-forward!” (It’s amazing what a small vocabulary those judges have. I’m addicted to the show anyway.) Well, here, in a newsreel on YouTube (search for “Clothing of the Future – Clothing in the Year 2000”), is what designers of the 1930s thought women would be wearing at the dawn of the 21st century. Industrial materials were big (glass; aluminum); so were built-ins (an electric belt for temperature control; a hat with a light).
 
Actually, some of these outfits look like failed designs from one of those weird-materials challenges on Project Runway—the kind where the competitors have to make something chic out of corn husks or dog leashes.
 
“Modern” is a distinctly relative concept. Heidi, Nina, Michael: Take note.