Existentialist Consumerism

[_fustian]

Current Music: TISM -- Garbage

Back in 2007, when I first noticed Hummer advertising in this country, I was incensed. I contemplated launching a "Scratch a Hummer" campaign (or at the very least a scathing LJ entry!) Now it seems GM are likely to dump Hummer. So that's good. (Speaking of junk the Americans send us, apparently the whole US FTA

Comments

[strangedave]

A friend of mine, Skot, has recently returned to Perth from London after several years, and returns filled with enormous steampunk enthusiasm. Discussion groups and musical endeavours are mooted, and many idiosyncratic projects are being planned. I shall let you know more soon.

I would have been interested to hear your opinions on some of the discussions at the Wastelands II steampunk con late last year. I found a lot more to talk about than I thought I would.

I would have been particularly interested to hear your response to my panel length rant about how steampunk needs to put effort into saving itself from being dominated by fetishisation of the oppressors of the colonial era. The majority reaction seemed to be discomfort that I was 'harshing their squee'.

[_fustian]

many idiosyncratic projects are being planned. I shall let you know more soon.

Coolness.

I would have been interested to hear your opinions on some of the discussions at the Wastelands II steampunk con late last year.

Wish I'd been able to make it.

steampunk needs to put effort into saving itself from being dominated by fetishisation of the oppressors of the colonial era.

I doubt there's much danger of that.

I'm currently working on a "Steampunk Manifesto" post for the ALTV blog. I'd be interested in your feedback, perhaps pre-publication.

[strangedave]

My point is that the majority of steampunk costuming is about adopting the clothing of the upper classes of colonial era powers (with a nod to the fiction read by etc...). Nice Edwardian suits and all that. Some relevant discussion linked to hereI realise people are doing some interesting things in the steampunk etc area, and you probably know what is out there far better than I, but it does seem that Victorian/Edwardian upper class dress is quite dominant, and the specific costume of the colonial powers (pith helmets, military dress, etc) getting a fair showing as well. No one sets out to fetishize colonial oppression, they just set out to enjoy nice clothes, Boys Own Adventure, and reviving the fiction of the era -- but that all naturally rather tends to put rich white folk from the nice countries into the starring roles (rich white men, for the most part). It may be just me banging on about the limited nature of what I've seen, and perhaps you've seen people pushing beyond that paradigm at Euchronia etc. But it is a bit of a

[_fustian]

steampunk costuming is about adopting the clothing of the upper classes of colonial era powers

Yes, it is; fashion is always about adopting and recontextualising elements of existing styles. Steampunk is fundamentally and perhaps necessarily an assemblage art, and it happens to use the fashion of the 19th Century as a major found element-at least in part to signify its other foci. And let's face it: the most aesthetically stimulating European fashion from that period was exclusive to the wealthy. (Having said that, Sophie's Suffragette costume manages to draw firmly on middle class fashion to great effect.)

I'll have to look to Bakunin and Emma Goldman, or perhaps my fascination with Victorian era occultism, for inspiration.

Crowleyesque robes and comic-effect headpieces would be perfectly at home in any Steampunk setting, imo. :)

[strangedave]

Steampunk is fundamentally and perhaps necessarily an assemblage art, and it happens to use the fashion of the 19th Century as a major found element-at least in part to signify its other foci. And let's face it: the most aesthetically stimulating European fashion from that period was exclusive to the wealthyWell, I agree with the first quoted sentence completely, but I notice that somehow 'European' has slipped in there in the second sentence. We can create our dream of an alternate past however we like -- but I find the common steampunk attitude of creating a past in which the European colonial powers were even more dominant than they were historically, a dream of a steam powered glorious Thousand Year Empire (that gets to crush the martians as well as the Africans), to be a bit distasteful, and I think one in which other cultures, and dissenters, are more, not less, prominent is more to my taste. And I'll note that, while the clothes of the wealthy have plenty to offer, it needn't be exclusively so. For example, the very well known

[_fustian]

I notice that somehow 'European' has slipped in there in the second sentence.

That's because it's what we know best, from the Culture. I don't think it's anything essential to the form, but if you're costuming up and nobody gets the references, it all becomes a little squid-in-mouth.

I find the [...] dream of a steam powered glorious Thousand Year Empire (that gets to crush the martians as well as the Africans), to be a bit distasteful

Hmm... I don't see a lot of that "dream" in what I consider Steampunk. It's seems a bit of a straw man to me.

the very well known costumes of anachronaut are an example of how Edwardian suits can be combined with other influences to produce something more inspiring and unique. Sure; and Kit's look is one of the primary lenses through which others see the subculture. What you seem to be railing against, then, is "authenticity" in costuming, which to me is a non-issue. Steampunk is about juxtaposing elements from a number of periods or fashions; if you're going for purely Victorian or Edwardian, you'