We're not quite sure when IBM started making proclamations on the future of fashion, but here we have it: the company's "Social Sentiment Index" has declared 2013 the year of steampunk. IBM came to the conclusion by analyzing over half a million posts from various online sources, and says that steampunk — "a sub-genre inspired by the clothing, technology and social mores of Victorian society," in the company's own words — is set to "bubble up and take hold of the retail industry" this year.

Are you steampunk savvy?

According to IBM's analytics, online discourse around steampunk jumped eleven-fold from 2009 to 2012, and since 2010 over two dozen retailers in the US have decided to become "steampunk savvy." 33 percent of talk about steampunk fashion is found on video game websites, and Twitter is apparently the social network of choice for the subculture, with six times as much chatter as found on Facebook. You heard it here first — when you're all tightening your corsets in a few months' time, you can thank the creator of the ThinkPad for the tip.