Asia Major

[squirrelmadness]

Recently there has been some wonderful interest in the Far East. Asia is an fantastic subject for discussions on steampunk. Like much of the world, it was a "latecomer" to steam age industrialization, but this is not to say that it was wholly backward in terms of technology. Asia was responsible for the development of numerous pre-steam

Comments

[squirrelmadness]

Do you recall the book's name or author? It sounds like a wonderful resource.

[mintymuffins]

"I for one would love to see some of those gowns reproduced by someone using brocade silk."

I'm going to bed now, but tomorrow I'll dig up a few pictures and make a post.

[squirrelmadness]

Wonderful. Brocade is a lovely fabric, and in my opinion it never makes its way into suits and gowns as often as it should.

The Victorians loved their colors, and in a steampunk world there would doubtless be automated sewing machines capable of mass-producing brocade in unimaginable quantities. Perhaps even the lower classes could afford simpler, cheaper qualities and patterns. That would be an interesting look to see: a working class person in "working class brocade."

[mintymuffins]

What a charming idea. I can see "working class brocade" in all sorts of garish paisleys. Lower class girls would wear "cheapside weave" or something of the sort to irritate their betters, in the way Regency maids would wear white muslin dresses.

[shinigamu]

The Dowager Empress(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/The_Portrait_of_the_Qing_Dynasty_Cixi_Imperial_Dowager_Empress_of_China_in_the_1900s.PNG)

Already makes a fantastic steampunk villain, I mean, look at those claws!

[faerydragonet]

Aaah! But, the reason for those claws are not so, as they has gnarly nails underneath.

[squirrelmadness]

That's quite an apt observation there. In life she was a very apt political maneuverer as well. She manipulated the child emperor in order to maintain her power (control which lasted until her death), destroyed many of the ministers who opposed her interference in politics, and she limited China's abilities to modernize due to her extensive power and highly traditionalist mindset.

And interesting bit of steampunk speculation might deal with a China working to adopt advanced technology, plagued by the hostile efforts of the Empress Dowager who has perhaps been politically marginalized but who nevertheless maintains a great deal of influence.

[anomiagrey]

Squirrelmadness, I was just thinking about that! As a Chinese Major, I've always wondered about wha would have happened if China would have adopted more advance technology, say, at the height of the Opium Wars. With the different direction Chinese technology and industrial design took from its Western counterparts, Chinese steampunk would certainly be viasually stunning (*feels her knees turn to jelly at the thought of dragon-headed steam valves*). Unfortunately I don't know much about late Qing thinking, as it's the ideological aspect that interests me most.

[sarcasm_hime]

I've seen some of those Japanese illustrations before and been very tempted. I think a bustled gown in kimono silk (please, nobody use Chinese brocade; kimono are almost never brocade except for the heavy bridal over-robes) could be really cool and unusual. Not sure what would make them steampunk per se, rather than just interesting historical costumes, but worth thinking about.

I'm currently mulling over a steamy bellydance outfit, but need to come up with a good concept rather than just randomly throwing stuff together. Orientalism was in full force (turbans were quite the rage as ladies' headgear a couple of times in the 1800s), so there's something to work with there, just haven't solidified it yet. Not sure if I want to be a Middle-Easterner who's been influenced by the West, or vice-versa.

[ankoku_jin]

You're quite correct that brocade was not historically used for daily-wear kimono, but there's no reason why a costumer might not use it for a western-style dress as the OP suggests, particularly given the chinoiserie fads of Victorian times.

[sarcasm_hime]

That's a fair point; even today Westerners often confuse Asian countries (I've seen too many Chinese brocade kimono, hence my overreaction) but back then the interpretations would be quite loose, to say the least.

[squirrelmadness]

The point that I was trying to make is that, following the example of those images which depict Victorian clothes in Japanese silks, it would be very interesting to see non-Western materials used to create European clothing (given the advanced trade and technology available to a steampunk setting, I see no reason why high London or Paris fashion couldn't incorporate Asian fabrics, for example). As a lover of brocade myself, I personally would like to see that done using brocade silk.