The Steampunk Conundrum
Posted By Kathleen David on December 9, 2011
Yes, I know the title sounds like something an episode of the Big Bang Theory would be named but there it is
I can honestly say I was steampunk before there was a word for it. I had an aviator’s cap that I wore sometimes with goggles and sometimes without. It offended the fashion sense of some of my friends that they bought me a replacement hat.
I loved the work of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. The look of the Nautilus in the Disney film was my ideal look for my home, either that or Sherlock Holmes’ drawing room. The Victorian kind of look with a science fiction overlay was so in my wheelhouse from the time I was young. I played RPG (role playing games) with serious steampunk vibes.
Some years later (ok Many years later), I ran across the term Steampunk and was surprised to find others who liked the aesthetic that I have loved most of my life.
Shortly after that I saw my first Steampunk costume at a convention and it has exploded since then in all sorts of forms of media.
Now I am finding books on steampunk jewelry in Barnes and Nobel which tells me that this has pretty much gone mainstream. I see journals with steampunk themes and the real telling factor is that there are now Steampunk(ish) patterned fabric in my local fabric store.
I have also seen a lot of things labeled steampunk that just seemed to be people cashing in on the phrase Steampunk. I even got into a rather spirited argument about this turn at LunaCon with someone who apparently doesn’t think much of me now and had let others know it.
Today I was steered to a video that sums up my current problem with a small part of the Steampunk and what I think Steampunk is at the core of it.
Just Glue Some Gears on it (and call it Steampunk)
Steampunk is my design aesthetic. Given an unlimited budget and a serious size house, I would so have a steampunk theme to my house. But it would be practical use of the aesthetic rather than just slapping some gears on it.
I am grateful that someone finally came up with a word to describe something I have loved since I was a child.
lol, I love it! I just went to an event called GeekFest, which, admittedly was organized by the Seattle Browncoats, but 90% of the vendors were steampunk. Oh yes, and then there was the steampunk santa which was a guy in a standard Santa suit but with a pair of goggles and a flying helmet.