Middle-Eastern Steampunk?

[obscuritan]

Hi all, long-time lurker, first time poster. I've seen a few exellent Asian-inspired SP outfits and styles here, and I was just wondering if anyone knew of anything in a similar vein but either Ottoman or generally Middle Eastern-inspired? Articles, Photos, Weblinks, whatever you may have :)

Comments

[squirrelmadness]

Middle Eastern steampunk is a great subject, and one with a great range of possibilities. During the 19th century, Middle Eastern states like the Ottoman Empire and Persia attempted to modernize with varying degrees of success. Egypt is another good place to start, as its ruler, Muhammad Ali reformed and rebuilt Egypt's military and infrastructure so that it could compete with both the Ottomans and the Europeans in the Mediterranean (unfortunately for Egypt, his successors did not maintain his work). And while Central Asia is certainly distinct from the Middle East, there are certain fascinating cultural and aesthetic links between the two regions. And naturally, the Arab Revolt of the First World War is a fascinating topic as well

[obscuritan]

Thanks for the tips and, indirectly, the article of yours one of the earlier posters linked to :)

[squirrelmadness]

Glad to be of assistance!

[unclrashid]

I don't know if you are just looking for ideas, or sewing patterns. I have a couple web patterns intended for SCA use that would do double-duty as part of a M.E. Steampunk outfit

[flynn_m]

Thanks for asking this! I see so much steampunk bellydance stuff... which isn't interesting to me, and it sort of smothers the non-bellydance Middle Eastern style stuff, which I am interested in -- very much so!

[dragonwoman]

A similar question was asked in the brassgoggles forum a bit ago. Someone posted a Black Eyed Peas video that had a lovely Middle Eastern interpretation of steam punk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7HahVwYpwo

[tarellethiel]

I'm not sure how much this will help you, but in my travels around the interwebs years ago I found this site, festiveattyre.com, and she did a steampunk-inspired zouave outfit. if nothing else, her explanations might give you some ideas of how you can tailor (haha a pun!) your materials, patterns, etc., to create the look you want.

you can find the actual outfit here: http://www.festiveattyre.com/gallery/zouave/index.html

best wishes! you should post some pictures when your outfit is complete. :)

[tarellethiel]

actually.....nevermind. i forgot that that outfit was french. >.

[unclrashid]

But it is a French Victorian take on Algerian costume... that's a pretty good start for one direction you could go.