steampunk rant

[twinklebat]

With Anachrocon happening in town this weekend I think this is an appropriate time to have such a discussion. I don't think I have discussed such things with most people terribly thoroughly except katielovespink , who understands how I feel.

A comic to get us going:

Comments

[morganwolf]

It's frustrating to see people do steampunk badly, because when it's done well I love it so much, but the compromise is that the community tends to be pretty open-minded and accepting. The fact that there is so much room for interpretation is appealing to me, but then we already knew I don't like being told what to do or how to do it. XD

[twinklebat]

Yeah, there is great potential in the idea of it! It's just definitely not always carried out to its full potential. Personally I think if you were to put together such an ensemble a steampunk baker would suit you. You could research Victorian baked goods and have a steam powered mixer! ~_^

[asatira]

I agree with a lot of things you say, especially about how people should have a reason to have the gears and goggles. There's a reason I made my take on Red Riding Hood a courier; yeah she does veer into adventurer area, it's a pretty reasonable one. I think mine is pretty tame in regards to taking advantage of the steampunk aesthetics like gears. While I probably could have had a more period vest, I will always be pleased with the compliment I had about my riding skirt/pants. I want to keep the character in mind when I do a revamp of the design, and not become a cliche. When people put work and thought into it, it really shows.

[orcapotter]

I think that costuming, most notably cosplay, in general, suffers from the same issues. In this case, steampunk is getting the rip, but it happens across all interests and fandoms, IMHO. Things get popular, and you have everyone and their grandmother doing it, and like a photocopy the quality just gets worse. People will do it for the sake of saying "I have a costume and it's based on this!" My issue with any costume is if you actually put effort into it. Throwing on a wig does not make you a character or you in costume. I love the steampunk genre and am actually writing a steampunk-inspired novel; I also have a costume based on a character I've written. Any gears on the costume are simply for decorative purposes--they come across clearly that way, but they're subtle. No goggles, for there's no reason for my character to have them. But the mindset that if you wear old-looking brown clothing with a pair of goggles, you're instantly steampunk has gotten old. Same for the mindset of wearing a bedsheet and a wig, or pajamas and

[theindianocean]

all of this is soooo true. It's just painful to see some of the stuff people crap out. It reminds me of the roll yourself in glitter and beads and you have an Amano costume fad a few years back. I dabbled a bit in a few steampunk costumes, but the more I worked on them, the more I came to realize that I was really just excited about the neo-victorian/alternate history concept involved, and could really care less about all the mechanical stuff. I like seeing the non-adventurer ones too, especially the more formal(?) victorian wear, like fancy gowns and such (totally with you on the corset thing...unless you're trying to be tawdry, it just makes no sense!). Also, colors other than brown are nice! ooo, and I'd love to see more soldiers, but again, I'm just really interested in that sort of thing anyway....steampunk or no! Have fun!