Pondering Steampunk

[kerravonsen]

Last Worldcon I went to, I saw a number of people wearing lovely steampunk costumes. Every now and then I contemplate putting together a steampunk costume of my own. Probably not as Period or conformist as most - I can't really see myself making a Victorian Ladies' walking dress, though I could probably rustle up a skirt, blouse and vest of some

Comments

[muffincostumes]

After reading your entry, I went to the local costume supply store looking for my Melisandre wig and I saw some Steampunk-inspired props. They were their own brand, which was interesting. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as the Steampunk fad is getting pretty popualr. They weren't great quality, but they were pretty fun.

I saw:
-goggles (with green lenses)
-eye patches with a cog on the front
-fake moustaches
-little top hats with various decorations

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, I've actually ordered some goggles online, though I'm not sure if they're good quality or cheap and nasty. The price wasn't cheap, anyway.

But I want to do stuff that looks really good. And I like the crafty challenge of doing at least some of it myself. It's a kind of trade-off; I don't want to make things that look cheap-and-nasty and fake, so where it's much easier to get components that other people have made better, I'll get them, especially if they aren't fake. Hence, my buying a real working clockwork watch-pendant rather than a pendant made out of non-working watch parts.

[muffincostumes]

I can understand that. And honestly, it'll probably be nice for you to have some items that aren't "stock" steam-punk. It seems like so many of the SP costumes I've seen are awfully generic, as if everyone has the same costume or very similar variations on the same model. The world of SP literature is big and getting bigger every day, so surely not every character and creature therein looks identical!

I hope that you'll post pictures as you get your bits and bobs together!

[kerravonsen]

Well, here's another "bit" that I just ordered! A Walnut flashlight. It's a normal flashlight, but instead of having a metal or plastic casing, it has a wood casing, with golden metal bits. Found on a site which specializes in pens, of all things. I'm sure they have no idea how steampunkish that flashlight is, but it's so perfect.
I am going to call it my "Electrochemical Incandescent Illuminator".

[kitkat71483]

Oh. Lovely thought. I enjoy the renaissance fairs myself. Look up an Astrolabe. There are so many different styles of them, I'm sure you could finagle something that looks suitably appropriate and I've always thought they looked extremely rakish hanging from a hip.

[kitkat71483]

Also, you could take some old broken cell phone and mod it up. Cover it with metallic paint except for the glass face. Take out the plastic buttons and make metal ingots in their place. Run wire filligree around the edge

[kerravonsen]

There's a lot of cool ideas there!