puppetmaker: (Captain Harlock)
puppetmaker ([personal profile] puppetmaker) wrote2007-12-06 08:13 am

The Steampunk Revolution

When I was a kid one of the movie on TV that I looked forward to when it showed on the Wonderful World of Disney was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I loved the way it looked among other things. When I was a teenager I finally read Sherlock Holmes (yeah, I started late on that one) and when Mystery started showing the Jeremy Brett version, I fell in love with the look of the piece. This weird mix of Victorian and mechanical has always been of great fascination to me. It was only in the last couple of years that I have a name for it and it is called Steampunk.

The funny thing is that all of the sudden Steampunk has become popular in geek magazines, in cos-play, and even mainstream fashion. It is probably one of the fasting growing sub-genres in fandom right now. Which makes me both happy and inspired. I like the look of the clothing. I owned clothing that would be considered Steampunk before it was popular to wear such clothing in public. In fact a couple of friends gave me a nifty stocking cap so I would stop wearing my aviator headgear in the cold weather. Hey, the fleece kept my ears very warm.

Ariel's fashion interests are going a different direction. She has discovered through her anime magazines the Japanese Lolita fashions especially Pirate Lolita and Pretty Lolita. There is a lot of lace and petticoats in those outfits. And it is very popular in her age group. More conventions are having Lolita tea parties and the like so those into Lolita fashion can show off the dresses they have gotten. Lolitas get together and have outings as groups to things they enjoy. This form of Japanese is creeping into mainstream fashion as well.

The strange thing is that in my head I can fuse the two into Steampunk Lolita very easily. These would be clothes for Ariel rather than me. I don't wear dresses. Ariel told me that she can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she has seen me wear a dress or skirt. I may have to sketch this out.

I am grateful that others share my love for the look of 20,000 Leagues.

[identity profile] lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com 2007-12-06 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the concept of Steampunk Lolita. I've favored Steampunk for a while, actually, long before I knew what to call it. My husband first introduced me to the phrase. He pointed out the airships in The Golden Compass as being Steampunk. We also like the comic Girl Genius: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

[identity profile] puppetmaker40.livejournal.com 2007-12-06 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I have loved Girl Genius since pretty close to its inception when I was talking to Phil and Kaja about upcoming work they were working at some convention we were all at and when I saw it in the order book, I strongly encouraged my local comic book store to support it.