It’s a new year, our beloved Earth has taken another trip around the glorious Sun, and thus we have stepped into the future. Now that it’s 2014, we’re less than 50 years away from living the Jetson-predicted life—i.e. flying cars, robot maids, homes that look (unfortunately or not) very similar to the Space Needle—and just about 200 years away from exploring the Final Frontier with the help of Captain Kirk. Hopefully within the next century we’ll all be wearing outfits similar to those of Zenon and Nebula, so beautifully exemplified in the classic Disney Channel Original Movie.

But before we get too carried away wishing for our eventual high-tech wardrobes, perhaps we should reflect upon the items we’re supposed to be wearing these days, at least according to our ancestors. To the futurists of 1939, our clothing should be nothing less than practical: able to transition from day to night, through layering, sure, but also through nifty electric belts that adapt to climatic changes. Men should be equipped with phones, radios, and have enough compartments to leave room for “candy for cuties.” Say what?? But the real prediction winner: “Yet another designer goes so far as to believe that skirts will disappear entirely.” Yeah, not so much.

Though the sartorial suppositions are delivered with a rather snarky Mid-Atlantic English accent (oh, wouldn’t it just be lovely if those came back in fashion?), they aren’t too far off about many of the styles we see and wear today. Case in point: cantilevered heels, sexy mesh, and the extraordinarily less sexy zip-off bottoms. Just think of them trying to wrap their minds around Google Glass.