A few weeks ago, over some fine whiskey, Jake von Slatt asked me if I would be interested in writing for Steampunk Workshop on the topic of fashion trends within the genre. Part of me jumped for joy at another opportunity to collaborate with Jake...and admittedly, a voice in my subconscious whined "What's left to talk about steampunk fashion? It's been at the summit of the internet zeitgeist for years, it's been done to death with a gaggle of goggles and shades of sepia, and it's mainstreamed."

However, these reasons are exactly why I do have a lot of things to say about steam fashion. While it has popularized to the point of being represented at cons and clubs, and while it has appeared this week (albeit unnamed as such) in the New York Times, steampunk has not become highly visible as a common street fashion trend. Or, if it has become a fashion trend, it hasn't yet entirely metamorphosed into a functional, sustainable style. Fashion lasts a season (if that); style is internal, eternal, and transcends time. Sound familiar?

In yesterday's post, Jake quoted the author of the NY Times article, David Colman, saying “There are all kinds of societies that are about dressing up in period costume and then going back to your oversize jeans the next day,” he said. “This is about style as a way of being.” [emphasis Jake's] And this very style is precisely what I intend to talk about in my posts here. I want to talk about a wider vintage influence on modern style, not just bastardized Victoriana. I want to avoid things already labeled with the dreaded s-word or coated in functionless gears. I want to talk about DIY and bespoke, as well as off-the-rack. I want to talk about attainable and affordable garments that can be acquired for a plethora of body types and sizes and genders, not just what's chic for a femme in size 0 with the funds to buy couture. I want to talk about clothing that can be worn to work, not just to parties or LARPs. I want to talk about color, not just brown and cream. And, I want to talk about the notion of accessorizing both yourself and your surroundings in a way that makes you feel like you're living the dream.

Oh, and just to spite Mister Colman, I want to make certain he understands, very clearly, that we are not hipsters.

Who am I to open this discussion? My name is Libby Bulloff, and I'm no fashionista. I'm a photographer in Seattle. I take brightly-colored portraits of wonderful people from a variety of subcultures. I also contribute to Steampunk Magazine, and I have my own project blog called Exoskeleton Cabaret.

Please let me know in the comments if there's a specific subject you'd like to see covered in future posts, or say hello! Thanks to Jake for adding me to the Steampunk Workshop family.

[Photo by Libby Bulloff of Finn von Claret and David S Dowling in Gasworks Park, Seattle.]

Are your ears burning? They should be because the New York Times is talking about you.  David Colman's This just in from the 1890's is a laundry list of Steampunk influence in fashion and style - yet the 's' word is nowhere to be seen!

Not long ago, big brass-buttoned military coats looked a bit extreme. So did high-button, high-lapel vests and slim tweed trousers. And so did guys who tucked said trousers into high, old-fashioned hunting boots. Now these clothes (along with those ever-present beards and mustaches) look like downtown defaults...

I've been seeing more and more examples of creative folks clearly drawing inspiration from Steampunk but shying away from the 's' word.  That's sure to upset some people but I truly have no problem with it.  I draw inspiration from myriads of things and people around me and it would be impossible to site every single thing that touched or influenced me.

As with home design, where curio cases, taxidermy and other stylish clutter of the Victorian era have been taken up by young hipsters, many of today’s popular men’s styles have their roots in the late 19th century.

[Read More for the rest . . .]

While I was out in Seattle I got to know a fellow named Noah Beasley. I've known Noah online for a while and ran into him oh so briefly at Maker Faire, but the moment I stepped into his place I knew that we would hit it off because there was an 80% finished RepRap machine sitting on his work table!

Noah is an industrial designer who has begun to turn his skills to the production of jewelery and art.  One of the really neat things that Noah is pursuing is the use of 3D metal printing for the creation of fine jewelery and he's beginning to offer some of these pieces for sale now on Etsy:

Though these earrings may resemble an xenomorphic sea creature, we can neither confirm nor deny that they were modeled after any organism living, dead, or bearing any blood relation to our board of directors.

This item is made of 3D printed, bronze infused stainless steel, and so has been lovingly crafted by robots. 

[More are now available and I've updated the link above. - Jake]

 
Photo: Essdras M Suarez - Boston Globe Staff

There's a nice piece in the Boston Globe today about Boston's Fashion Week, but what particularly caught my eye was the mention of local designer Elena Sanders who was also mentioned back in May and is participating in a show entitled "The Launch."

From The Boston Fashion Week site:

The Fashion Group International of Boston board has launched a pilot program/event that will result in a presentation during Boston Fashion Week and will feature a selection of 'up & coming' new fashion designers.

Elena's chosen aesthetic is, of course, Steampunk and she discusses it with Christopher Muther of the Boston Globe:

I’m picturing lots of coal-stained faces and dust. How do you work different materials into your pieces without them becoming too much like costumes? Well, sometimes they do become a little bit like costumes. I just experiment with a lot of different materials, and my hands pay dearly for it. They’re always cut up and burned. The first time around I used basic metal. This time around I’m using rivets . . . .

By George I think she gets it! The show is Sunday September 27 at the Boston Center for Adult Education from 3-5 PM and costs $25.

San Francisco artist Nifer Fahrion created this work clothing inspired corset to wear at Burning Man this year. I particularly like the cordless drill holster, the one I have clips to my belt and does nothing but pull my pants down.

From Nifer's site:

For the past year, I've desired to create a garment which blends the femininity and elegance of a corset with the durability and ruggedness of a workbelt. Recently, I shared my idea with the talented seamstress and designer Robynne Winchester of Tulgey Wood Designs. She was instantly excited about the concept and agreed to collaborate to make it a reality.

Full story here!

Here is a nice article in the online 'zine Morbid Outlook on the subject of Steampunk.  Featured are the work and images of many of my friends including the multi-talented Libby Bulloff and local Boston artist David Dowling along with quotes from the always wonderful Steampunk Magazine.

While I always knew that Steampunk would appeal to many in the dark/spooky/goth community, I was quite surprised how much those same people had to offer that was of interest to this normally shabby dressing garage tinkerer!  ;-)

[Left: David Dowling and Kat Cradock in a photo by Libby Bulloff]

A new online magazine VivaLaModa has a nice little write up on Steampunk fashion in their current issue. VivaLaModa is a magazine that focuses on Fashion, handmade goods, and green products, from their website:

VivaLaModa is a bi-monthly magazine created to show the greatest and coolest fashionable and hand made things that we can find. But we don’t want to talk only about fashion or beautiful stuff we find. This magazine will also host articles about green products, toys, decoration, product reviews and many more things.

We want to support indie designers and crafters who make things with their own hands (not to forget we also love vintage!), and give readers information about the handmade world.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF LIBBY BULLOFF
March 1-29, 2009
Today! Thursday, March 5, 6-11 pm
Pioneer Square Art Walk
Utilikilts Flagship Store
620 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98104

Libby Bulloff is the Annie Leibowitz of Steampunk! I've followed her work for some time now and I really love her composition and use of color - there is a calm joyfulness in her images that makes me happy.

Libby writes:

I have a solo art show coming up at the Utilikilts flagship store in Seattle! I will present work from 2007-2009, including new portraits from three studio shoots at Starfish. Prints will be available, as will complimentary snacks (read: custom Naftali chocolates) and dance beats. Please come on out and say hello (and feel free to grope the manskirts whilst you’re at it)!

I’ve also recently booked a small group photography show at Zero Zero (also in Seattle), but this won’t occur until August, which gives me plenty of time to shoot new, brightly-colored work.

Last year at Maker Faire I met so many amazing people! The experience was overwhelming. In fact, on the plane ride back from San Francisco I told the big Aussie sitting next to me that my sniffling was all just due to allergies and not the fact that I was flying at 500 miles per hour away from my new friends!

One of the people I met was an artist named Suzanne Forbes. Suzanne had created a work to be auctioned to benefit the Electronic Frontier Foundation called Defending the Electronic Frontier it was a painting that included representations of some of my work as well as that of Datamancer and others. She and her wonderful painting joined us in the Contraptor's Lounge.

Suzanne is a portrait artist and illustrator living and working in the Bay area.  She will come to your home and paint you and make you look fabulous! She also has a selection of drawings and prints of her work available in her Etsy store.

For more information about her portraiture, click through to her website here.

Ottens writes:

Commemorating the anniversary of the birthday of Jules Verne, the Gatehouse Gazette celebrates “Extraordinary Voyages” this issue!

Read an interview with the extraordinary fashion designer Miss Vecona and learn more about the adventure look from Miss Hilde Heyvaert’s “The Steampunk Wardrobe” column. She also tells you just how to be a good villain, that is, in a review of the book that does. So if you are scheming any evildoing some time soon, be sure not to miss out on it!

This issue also sees the addition of two new contributors to the Gazette staff: Miss Ella Kremper with a review of Hammer Film’s 1958 film Dracula and Mr Marcius Rauchfuß who writes about all of interest to the steampunk enthusiast in the city of Munich. And this edition sees the third and final part of Mr Piecraft’s “History of Dieselpunk.” Read how dieselpunk and punk relate in his concluding installment!

Click here to download Issue #5!