Libby Bulloff

The Steampunk Bible is out! I helped connect Jeff and S.J. with people doing cool things in the movement and I wrote what I hope is the definitive candy tin etching how-to for this book. Our fashion editor Libby Bulloff also contirbuted articles and LOTS of shiny photography, including the best photo ever take of yours truly. 

The Steampunk Bible is the first compendium about the movement, tracing its roots in the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells through its most recent expression in movies such as Sherlock Holmes. Its adherents celebrate the inventor as an artist and hero, re-envisioning and crafting retro technologies including antiquated airships and robots. A burgeoning DIY community has brought a distinctive Victorian-fantasy style to their crafts and art. Steampunk evokes a sense of adventure and discovery, and embraces extinct technologies as a way of talking about the future. This ultimate manual will appeal to aficionados and novices alike as author Jeff VanderMeer takes the reader on a wild ride through the clockwork corridors of Steampunk history.

Get your copy today!

Someone once told me that the first things people look at when they meet you are your shoes and your hands. It's very easy to tell if someone uses their hands to make things as they tend to have callouses, weathered skin, and may have curious stains or broken nails. Shoe choice reads just as clearly--do your shoes match your outfit? Are they stylish and functional? Are they impractical, well-designed, worn out, or coated in dust from the workshop?

I personally love how shoes complete an outfit, and I have a special lust for vintage-influenced footwear, both practical and whimsical. It can be very difficult to acquire antique footwear that fits a modern foot--our predecessors often had shorter, narrower feet--or that hasn't been worn to death. I am fortunate enough to own a pair of 1930s oxfords that fit my slender feet, a set of antique leather roller skates, and some killer scarlet pointy-toed punk boots from back in the day. However, if you're not so lucky as to have a real vintage shoe collection, lots of modern shoes still nod at the past in their design (and fit bigger feet). There is nothing quite like the curve of a Louis heel, mmhmm.

Here's a selection of shoes (ranging from totally casual to super decadent) for the ladies I've found in scouring the interwebs that all have vintage flair. I'll be doing a similar post for you gentleman types, never you fear. :) And hey, not all of these are brown and clunky! Yay! Let's get some SHOES!

As seen this morning via the oddity sandwich that is Google Buzz/riotclitshave:

Model: Ulorin Vex
Photographer: Allan Amato

This is definitely Doin' It Right [TM]. Heck yes.

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Back with another round of street fashion and casual, wearable steampunk! This week's featured soul is writer and critic Jessica Lawson. I stayed at her current residence in San Francisco last week as I toured with The Ghosts Project, and I was pleasantly surprised when she emerged in the following get-up. Jessica is employed as a teacher at the University of Iowa, and her clothing choices prove that one can be professional and fashion forward simultaneously.

We took these images outside Macky Hall on the California College of the Arts campus, Oakland, CA. Thank you to Jessica for posing for me and for letting me borrow her camera. I thought I'd be clever and leave my SLR at home for a change, but it seems I can't escape playing photog, ever. :) Read on for outfit details!

In Jake's post on goth, via the comment thread, Sangori asked a fashion question I'd like to address:

"How do you really, I mean really, incorporate your subculture style into your everyday work life?

Call me a fence-straddler, (I have come to terms with the fact that I am) but I am having real trouble finding a way to incorporate my love of steampunk inspired Victoriana with my work wardrobe in a way that puts off a fully professional image. Being that I have a toddler at home and don't get out much other than to go to work I have to express myself through fashion mostly in a work-appropriate way. While in a creative field, I do spend my nine-to-five in an office environment. I certainly have a found a few choice pieces that do cross between work and steam well enough, and I have a covet/shopping list of a few more (think tall brown boots, tweed skirts and vests, a herringbone newsboy cap and camel coat to brave the cold weather in). However, while I feel confident in my steampunk styled toggs I can't help but worry that my sense of theme dressing comes off as a bit costumey to my employers and colleagues.

Is my worry more a facet of being unwilling to fully commit to the cultural aesthetic of steampunk style, or something more valid that others struggle with?"

Bloody good question. Ok, so, first of all, I don't think having problems finding work-appropriate attire means that one isn't entirely invested in a subculture. It's not a matter of lowering one's standards, per se. Being conscious of how your fashion choices affect both your own disposition as well as the way others perceive you is actually an incredibly mature way of looking at the closet. There is a fine line between being fearless and being foolish with your wardrobe, so I'm pleased that Sangori is questioning this.