The Steampunk Conundrum

[puppetmaker]

Yes, I know the title sounds like something an episode of the Big Bang Theory would be named but there it is

I can honestly say I was steampunk before there was a word for it. I had an aviator’s cap that I wore sometimes with goggles and sometimes without. It offended the fashion sense of some of my friends that they bought me a replacement hat.

I loved the work of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. The look of the Nautilus in the Disney film was my ideal look for my home, either that or Sherlock Holmes’ drawing room. The Victorian kind of look with a science fiction overlay was so in my wheelhouse from the time I was young. I played RPG (role playing games) with serious steampunk vibes.

Some years later (ok Many years later), I ran across the term Steampunk and was surprised to find others who liked the aesthetic that I have loved most of my life.

Shortly after that I saw my first Steampunk costume at a convention and it has exploded since then in all sorts of forms of media.

Now I am finding books on steampunk jewelry in Barnes and Nobel which tells me that this has pretty much gone mainstream. I see journals with steampunk themes and the real telling factor is that there are now Steampunk(ish) patterned fabric in my local fabric store.

I have also seen a lot of things labeled steampunk that just seemed to be people cashing in on the phrase Steampunk. I even got into a rather spirited argument about this turn at LunaCon with someone who apparently doesn’t think much of me now and had let others know it.

Today I was steered to a video that sums up my current problem with a small part of the Steampunk and what I think Steampunk is at the core of it.

Just Glue Some Gears on it (and call it Steampunk)

Steampunk is my design aesthetic. Given an unlimited budget and a serious size house, I would so have a steampunk theme to my house. But it would be practical use of the aesthetic rather than just slapping some gears on it.

I am grateful that someone finally came up with a word to describe something I have loved since I was a child.

Comments

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

With all due respect, I think the word you're looking for is aesthetic. Ascetic means something completely different.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Stupid auto correct for some reason did that to me.

*Sigh*

[thecatinthehat.livejournal.com]

I am so over "steampunk". I think it may be bc I've spent a lot of time in the 'scene" and I really hate shoddy work. The random grears, the useless goggles, a lot of it makes me stabby.

I think I may just be a secret Neo-Victorian and not really a steampunk.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I like Neo-Victorian as a term. It describes the clothing without the gears.

I think the kitbashing of Nerfguns as ray guns is the thing that makes me grind my teeth.

edited to replace grin with grind (what is it with me and autocorrect today?)

[thecatinthehat.livejournal.com]

For me it's the barely concealed fact that people went to hot topic and got cheap goth gear. I want quality. I mean, I understand if you're not the best seamstress in the world - those clothes are hard, but at least TRY and also use some real design sense. I used to love Brute Force Leather's work, but they've been mass producing recently and you can tell. It's all awful.

Also, the nerf gun group at Dragon*Con a year ago that did their guns in neons hurt me.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

When I first saw "steampunk" being advertised at Hot Topic I knew that the end was nigh for the movement as it is today.

I had the same feeling in the pit of my stomach when I saw the Hot Topic version of Lolita Fashion, Goth, and Punk.

I remember the Neon Nerfers. Their message was that steampunk didn't have to be dark colors and you could see them coming a mile off.

[thecatinthehat.livejournal.com]

Steampunk doesn't and SHOULDN'T be jut dark colors, the Victorians were into really really garish combinations, but I don't think that would have flown. Sense and taste (and research) should always be used.

[readinggeek451]

Your local fabric store has steampunk-ish fabric? Now I'm jealous.

There's some on eBay right now, but I'm not going that route. Not until I have a better idea of exactly what I want.

JHB's steampunky buttons are *really cool*, though.

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

We're going for a modified steampunk aesthetic in our house, which is a big old Victorian, so it's appropriate. We're trying to do more than just random clock parts stuck on things - our kitchen has these lovely bronze track lights with lots of springs and tubey bits on the joints. The upstairs bathroom has a wooden high-tank toilet, and there's lots of gilded wood trim everywhere. My husband bought a pair of goggles from Restoration Hardware - and discovered that they make better eye protection than modern eye gear because they don't fog up.

[siobhan-1.livejournal.com]

Steampunk aesthetic house...that sounds fabulous!