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]

Numisi writes:

...I write to you to represent the Italian Steampunk community. We have worked hard for a year to make this community emerge, trying to make people know what Steampunk is also in Italy . . .we know that there are a lot of Italian Steampunks out there, but only a few know we exist, so, we need a hand by someone known like you to reunite all of them.

Our url is http://steampunk.forumcommunity.net, and the name of the website is Laboratory of Time. We'd be glad if you read something of our website, and if you have problems with the language, simply ask for everything you want to know: everyone there speaks English, so you would be soon answered!

Best regards,

Numisi Nebulosa

The spread of Steampunk throughout the worlds is both amazing and wonderfully exciting to me! I can't wait to see the mods that are sure to come out of  Italy in the near future. Everyone brings a bit of their own aesthetic and culture to this genre and with Italy's history of artistic expression, fashion, and design; the results are sure to be something special!

A very nice documentary about the Steampunk exhibition at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science.

This exhibition was curated by Art Donovan who you will recall did a similar gallery show in the Hamptons last year.

[Via Make:Blog]

Over at Birds Before the Storm Margaret Killjoy tells a disturbing tale of police response to demonstrations at the G20 in Pittsburgh.  One of the people arrested is SteamPunk Magazine author Professor Calamity and he is being held on felony charges for 'tweeting' police movements during the protests.  To be honest I have not been following the protests closely, but on the face of it these charges seem ridiculous and the polices response scarily overblown.

New 10/21: Updates on Professor Calamity and Tortuga House

New 11/3: All charges against the pittsburgh twitterers have been dropped!

[Thank goodness! - Jake.]

Noted Archivist Seeks Steampunks to Index:

World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer's The Steampunk Bible, published by Abrams Image, will provide a comprehensive and lavish overview of all aspects of Steampunk, in text and pictures. Research for this momentous and globe-spanning project includes the compilation of a comprehensive Archive of, and Index to, everything and everyone Steampunk and Steampunk-Related. This Archive will be made public online, and you also might be contacted about appearing in the book.

If you would like a website or blog link, book or brick-and-mortar establishment, to be considered for the archive, please send the relevant information to: Master Archivist S.J. Chambers (steampunkbible at gmail.com) or to The Steampunk Bible, c/o Jeff VanderMeer, POB 4248, Tallahassee, FL 32315 USA. Make sure to include a short paragraph describing your submission and your complete contact information. Although the Master Archivist's extensive list of ongoing clockwork projects makes it impossible to guarantee a reply, you may be sure she will give each missive intense scrutiny. As part of a Larger Study, please consider including Your Personal Definition of Steampunk with your email message or snail mail parcel.

Rest assured, the Master Archivist and her minions are also out in the World, actively seeking Steampunks for the greater glory of the Archive.

(Victoriana Invention poster by John Coulthart)

I had the great privilege of meeting Whisper Merlot and many of the Penny Dreadfuls when we shot the Make:TV Steampunk piece a year ago this past July.  These folks truly are living the life.  Tor has a great interview with Whisper up on their site now.

In addition to talking about living full-time aboard the S.S. Icarus (an actual vessel mind you, but alas, not an airship) and travelling New England spreading the Steampunk gospel, Whisper discusses The 2010 Steampunk World's Fair:

The Steampunk World’s Fair is going to be held at the Radisson of Piscataway, NJ on May 14th-16th, 2010. It will be three glorious days, a never-ending steampunk party!

Professor Elemental, whom people will know from his pith-hop video “Cup of Brown Joy”, is making his debut United States appearance for the event. He is coming over from the UK and is a wonderful and hilarious guy. We also have Black Tape for a Blue Girl, a dark cabaret group; Madame Ximon, a dancer and head of steampunk gaming event TempleCon; Thomas S. Brown, the artist for New England steam-goth webcomic “Hopeless, Maine”; Opera singer Katie Kat; Veronique Chevalier, coming in from California to sing and amuse us. And of course lit-master G.D. Falksen. Isabella Drive, the steampunk rock band, is working us into their busy schedule, too.

I think I may just have to go! I wonder if they'd let me park the bus in the parking lot?

Click through for Cup of Brown Joy - not to be missed!

The Steampunk exhibition at the Oxford Museum of the History of Science opened yesterday!

Art Donovan writes:

I promise you that the art in this show is nothing like you have ever seen! Not to be "booster-ish" or anything, but I've had to wire my jaw closed after seeing the artist's works in the completed installation.

Dr. Bennett and his Museum Staff have presented an exhibition that is truly unique, culturally significant and absolutely unrivaled. (The private opening party tonight was astounding). Location: Broad Street, Oxford.

WIRED also has a nice slideshow with images of the artwork on display!