Preliminary Latin steampunk ideas
I've been following the conversations about the Eurocentrism in most mainstream (so to speak) steampunk, and I decided I wanted to try something I've been tossing around since someone drew the connection between Miyazaki and steampunk: Latin American steampunk. This is distinct from "a Latin American person dressing in European Victorian clothing and slapping on a pair of goggles"; the idea would be to apply the steampunk aesthetic to 19th century or traditional clothing, technology, etc. of Latin American countries.
In practice, this ends up translating to Mexican steampunk because I can find more information about Mexican folklore, 19th century clothing, technology, and supernatural belief systems than I can about Argentine or Paraguayan populations around the same time. I suspect they wouldn't look terribly different, since Spain and Spanish culture (including religion) were a heavy influence on the whole area. I'm a little annoyed since the South American side of my heritage usually ends up getting the short end of the stick any time Latin culture comes up in my life, but maybe I can make that a long-term project for a different outfit. For now, Mexican.
There are a few big archetypes floating around in steampunk: (mad) scientist, usually with goggles and lab coats; explorer, usually with pith helmet, goggles, and blunderbuss; explorer of the occult, usually with some Lovecraft elements like cephalopods (with or without the eat-the-world attitude). Explorer is obviously not a terribly good idea; there's something very dark and colonial/imperialist about it, which is not so fun from the perspective of the people who've been living in those "new lands" and aren't keen on new people bringing in their slavery and smallpox. Scientist would be awesome but I haven't found much information on 19th century Mexican technology. I know steam trains existed; the huge populations of Mexicans in the Midwest are mostly descendants of Mexicans who followed the steam trains north. Beyond that, I haven't found much info.
I rather like the idea of "explorer of the occult", since Mexican culture is pretty cozy with the supernatural, from what I've seen. I need to do some more research into curanderismo to see how I can work it into the costume. Voodoo might also play a part, depending on how much contact Mexico had with southern US and the Carribean islands. There's even a healthy selection of mystical creatures to choose from, between chupacabras, La Llorona, and Aztec/Mayan/Toltec beasties; Lovecraft is fun and all but it's very New England-centric.
I could totally see a 19th century Slayer-type figure fighting off chupacabras and quetzals with a steam-powered stake jackhammer from "From Dusk Till Dawn" and a big shiny fuck-off machete.
(Fun fact: there's an Aztec god of lakes and fishermen, called Amimitl. He even has flippers on his hands. I can totally see "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" being set in a Mexican port town.)
So, on to the fun part: clothes. And I admit I'm going to steal shamelessly from both Frida Kahlo and ballet folklórico here:
The master herself
China Poblana from central (?) Mexico
That picture of china poblana clothing is very simplified. The ones from ballet folklórico tend to be just a bit more elaborate:
Yeah, not really feeling that; it's very impractical when you're fighting off giant feathered snakes or chupacabras. (I guess you could blind them by spinning near a source of light. I recall something like that happening at the end of "From Dusk Till Dawn"; the vampires were killed by sunlight reflecting off a spinning disco ball.) But the basic idea is still good: white blouse that shows some shoulder/cleavage, with some embroidery or embellishment; long full skirt in a bright color, also with embroidery or embellishment; plain sash in some complementary color; rebozo; bloomers or underskirt; braids with flowers or other adornment. I also remember a cameo choker being a component of our Veracruz costumes; cameos are easy to steampunk.
The embellishments are going to be the fun part. Mexican clothing tends to have flowers or geometric patterns as their embroidered or beaded designs. The blouse is probably going to have a lot of small, detailed designs (probably gears or warding signs, haven't decided yet) around the collar and bust. Maybe I could sew gears directly onto it? The skirt will have a larger pattern, a bit like a poodle skirt but with gears and such instead of a dog.
As far as hair goes, I still have my base braid from ballet folklórico that I can wear, since the anniversary haircut ended up taking off more than I'd intended. Flowers are the traditional adornment, but those aren't nearly cool enough. Unless they're steampunk flowers, of course.
Actually, most mainstream steampunk fascinators and adornments will work for this. The only exception is feathers; they aren't as sacred as they are in North American Indian culture, but they were still a big deal, enough that featherworkers got their own patron god in the Aztec pantheon. I'd prefer to stay away from them if I can avoid it. Plus, feathers around the kittenz are a recipe for disaster. Dia De Los Muertos skulls, on the other hand, would be a neat touch. I think you can make them pretty easily with sculpey.
Rebozo and sash are straightforward. They're probably going to be a solid color and unadorned so that they don't clash with the blouse or the skirt. I'm probably going to want as much of the weaponry to be attached to the sash.
On to the weaponry: Robert Rodriguez is turning into a big influence on this section. The centerpiece would probably be a steam-powered version of the jackhammer stake I linked to above. I want a machete, too. Machetes aren't steam-powered and probably never will be, but I figure if Echo Bazaar can have big fuck-off swords in Fallen London, I can have a big fuck-off machete in Fallen Oaxaca or whatever. More on this once I work my way through the Beyond Victoriana linkspam on native technology and speculative fiction thereof. I know the traditional weaponry of Argentine gauchos was things like whips and bolas. Those are also completely unpowered.
I would be completely in love with this idea, if biological weaponry were a steampunk thing:
The person who made it intended it to be a ray gun, but the biohazard symbol makes it look like it could be Montezuma's Revenge on crack.
I've got a decent start, enough that I can start putting together the base items (blouse, skirt, sash, jackhammer stake, rebozo, fascinators, etc.) My bloomers need a wash; I think the last time they saw the light of day was for the last ballet folklórico concert. Areas that need more research:
- Latin American weaponry of the 19th century, and how I can add steam-powered elements to unpowered things like whips and machetes
- Mexican belief systems of the 19th century beyond Catholicism or Aztec mythology; also, which parts would be appropriate to incorporate into the costume and which parts would be flat-out offensive to include (like feathers or sombreros)
- Other motifs and steampunk symbology to embellish the clothing with. Gears and clockwork are nice but somewhat cliché; if I can find some other symbols that would be nice.
In practice, this ends up translating to Mexican steampunk because I can find more information about Mexican folklore, 19th century clothing, technology, and supernatural belief systems than I can about Argentine or Paraguayan populations around the same time. I suspect they wouldn't look terribly different, since Spain and Spanish culture (including religion) were a heavy influence on the whole area. I'm a little annoyed since the South American side of my heritage usually ends up getting the short end of the stick any time Latin culture comes up in my life, but maybe I can make that a long-term project for a different outfit. For now, Mexican.
There are a few big archetypes floating around in steampunk: (mad) scientist, usually with goggles and lab coats; explorer, usually with pith helmet, goggles, and blunderbuss; explorer of the occult, usually with some Lovecraft elements like cephalopods (with or without the eat-the-world attitude). Explorer is obviously not a terribly good idea; there's something very dark and colonial/imperialist about it, which is not so fun from the perspective of the people who've been living in those "new lands" and aren't keen on new people bringing in their slavery and smallpox. Scientist would be awesome but I haven't found much information on 19th century Mexican technology. I know steam trains existed; the huge populations of Mexicans in the Midwest are mostly descendants of Mexicans who followed the steam trains north. Beyond that, I haven't found much info.
I rather like the idea of "explorer of the occult", since Mexican culture is pretty cozy with the supernatural, from what I've seen. I need to do some more research into curanderismo to see how I can work it into the costume. Voodoo might also play a part, depending on how much contact Mexico had with southern US and the Carribean islands. There's even a healthy selection of mystical creatures to choose from, between chupacabras, La Llorona, and Aztec/Mayan/Toltec beasties; Lovecraft is fun and all but it's very New England-centric.
I could totally see a 19th century Slayer-type figure fighting off chupacabras and quetzals with a steam-powered stake jackhammer from "From Dusk Till Dawn" and a big shiny fuck-off machete.
(Fun fact: there's an Aztec god of lakes and fishermen, called Amimitl. He even has flippers on his hands. I can totally see "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" being set in a Mexican port town.)
So, on to the fun part: clothes. And I admit I'm going to steal shamelessly from both Frida Kahlo and ballet folklórico here:
The master herself
China Poblana from central (?) Mexico
That picture of china poblana clothing is very simplified. The ones from ballet folklórico tend to be just a bit more elaborate:
Yeah, not really feeling that; it's very impractical when you're fighting off giant feathered snakes or chupacabras. (I guess you could blind them by spinning near a source of light. I recall something like that happening at the end of "From Dusk Till Dawn"; the vampires were killed by sunlight reflecting off a spinning disco ball.) But the basic idea is still good: white blouse that shows some shoulder/cleavage, with some embroidery or embellishment; long full skirt in a bright color, also with embroidery or embellishment; plain sash in some complementary color; rebozo; bloomers or underskirt; braids with flowers or other adornment. I also remember a cameo choker being a component of our Veracruz costumes; cameos are easy to steampunk.
The embellishments are going to be the fun part. Mexican clothing tends to have flowers or geometric patterns as their embroidered or beaded designs. The blouse is probably going to have a lot of small, detailed designs (probably gears or warding signs, haven't decided yet) around the collar and bust. Maybe I could sew gears directly onto it? The skirt will have a larger pattern, a bit like a poodle skirt but with gears and such instead of a dog.
As far as hair goes, I still have my base braid from ballet folklórico that I can wear, since the anniversary haircut ended up taking off more than I'd intended. Flowers are the traditional adornment, but those aren't nearly cool enough. Unless they're steampunk flowers, of course.
Actually, most mainstream steampunk fascinators and adornments will work for this. The only exception is feathers; they aren't as sacred as they are in North American Indian culture, but they were still a big deal, enough that featherworkers got their own patron god in the Aztec pantheon. I'd prefer to stay away from them if I can avoid it. Plus, feathers around the kittenz are a recipe for disaster. Dia De Los Muertos skulls, on the other hand, would be a neat touch. I think you can make them pretty easily with sculpey.
Rebozo and sash are straightforward. They're probably going to be a solid color and unadorned so that they don't clash with the blouse or the skirt. I'm probably going to want as much of the weaponry to be attached to the sash.
On to the weaponry: Robert Rodriguez is turning into a big influence on this section. The centerpiece would probably be a steam-powered version of the jackhammer stake I linked to above. I want a machete, too. Machetes aren't steam-powered and probably never will be, but I figure if Echo Bazaar can have big fuck-off swords in Fallen London, I can have a big fuck-off machete in Fallen Oaxaca or whatever. More on this once I work my way through the Beyond Victoriana linkspam on native technology and speculative fiction thereof. I know the traditional weaponry of Argentine gauchos was things like whips and bolas. Those are also completely unpowered.
I would be completely in love with this idea, if biological weaponry were a steampunk thing:
The person who made it intended it to be a ray gun, but the biohazard symbol makes it look like it could be Montezuma's Revenge on crack.
I've got a decent start, enough that I can start putting together the base items (blouse, skirt, sash, jackhammer stake, rebozo, fascinators, etc.) My bloomers need a wash; I think the last time they saw the light of day was for the last ballet folklórico concert. Areas that need more research:
- Latin American weaponry of the 19th century, and how I can add steam-powered elements to unpowered things like whips and machetes
- Mexican belief systems of the 19th century beyond Catholicism or Aztec mythology; also, which parts would be appropriate to incorporate into the costume and which parts would be flat-out offensive to include (like feathers or sombreros)
- Other motifs and steampunk symbology to embellish the clothing with. Gears and clockwork are nice but somewhat cliché; if I can find some other symbols that would be nice.