Steampunk and its growing following

[Taffy Saltwater]

It's a cute little offshoot of a well established subculture, but it does not have the legs to stand on its own, that is where it ends for most people that are not part of some steampunk larp group.

There are club nights and cons available for folks to express steampunkiness, I would prefer people do it there.

Prefer away.

[Rani Zemirah]

There aren't any of those things in the OKC area, so Faire is all I've got, since I can't afford to travel to cons and such.  I don't ever complain about anything anyone chooses to wear to Faire, and if someone doesn't like what I'm wearing, then I expect them to also complain about the Medieval garb (unless they're at a Medievel Festival, and then they can complain about the Elizabethans), the Native Americans, the Vikings, the Fairies, the Goths, the wookies and every other anachronist in attendance...  

I would prefer that people not try to ruin my fun with their snarkiness...

[Bonny Pearl]

One of the great things I love about TRF is that all are welcome.  Heck after all it is like recess for grown ups. 

[Becky10]

I am still on the fence if snarkiness was intended or just a side effect of brevity but i like to assume that what people say comes across harsher through text than in person as it often does.

  I do really like steam punk and appreciate others outfits (hell they've inspired me to make one!) but I have to agree with him that it will unfortunately never gets legs of its own as goth and punk movement (maybe we can see a similar thing to Bats day at Disney?!).
I am, what i guess you would call a "ren faire purist" and prefer to see renaissance period garb at faire but i think this is because there are so many cons and clubs and other locations near here for people to attend and it always seems the ones who are the ones who go and buy a cheapo costume pre-made but try to get as much attention as possible. If you have a well made costume and you aren't show boating, go for it, but if you are wearing an outfit from Halloween club causing crowds cause you're randomly posing in the street then i am going to get annoyed. But what can I say, its southern California, land of the fake. 
BUT I do understand why people at other faire wear non-period garb because not every location is blessed with such a large amount of locations to show off their handiwork.

And that is my two cents.


** Edit for clarification**

I am a limited purist  Barbarians, vikings, fairies are a-okay for me, teeny boppers dressed as anime characters or wearing outfits from leg avenue and WoW elf things are not my cup of tea and are usually the ones hamming it up for attention the way they act is what gets me more than what they wear usually.

[crashbot]

No, I was not being snarky. My wedding was neo Victorian/steampunk and I think it can be pretty cool. I just think the part that developed around a particular subculture belongs in clubs that have steampunk events and the larpers already have cons and events they can attend.

I am not saying what is or is not appropriate for people to be wearing anywhere and I am far from being a purist, all my garb is Viking period.

Just my opinion.

[Rani Zemirah]

Well, until some of those cons and clubs show up here... I'll be wearing my SP at Faire, when I'm in the mood, anyway. 

There have, actually, been quite a few people right here on R/F who have been incredibly snarky, going as far as saying it was "completely ruining their faire experience", so please forgive my auto-defense mode...    I'm very big on freedom of expression...

Not sure how elves from WoW might differ from other elves, but even they need to have a place to come out and play, and the Pink Fairy Stormtrooper I saw last year looked like s/he was having a blast (although I'm sure whoever it was, was roasting in there)! 

[Bonny Pearl]

so, who has some steampunky goodness pics to post? 

[Rani Zemirah]

Oh, no doubt!  I could use a good shot of inspiration right about now!!!  I've been so preoccupied with our move that I haven't done a thing in ages, but at least now I know where all my SP stuff is again, and all my garb in general, which is actually pretty amazing... for me, anyway!    Since I managed to get rid of a huge amount of stuff I've been holding onto for far too many years during this move, I now have a closet that I can hang all my garb in, and I'm very excited to get started on that!   

[Becky10]

You see some WoW elves are not the smartest people and might do something dumb like throw a painted tennis ball and yell "fireball negative ten damage", (..?,i am not a gamer). This happened the year faire gave WoW players a discount a pirate standing next to two noble women. Thats the kind of people i mean, not just people in costume.Like I said how you act is more important to what you wear. If you're there to have a good time and hanging out thats one thing, if you are just trying to find a crowd for attention then blah.

If you let something like that ruin your faire experience then you are just wound too tight, even with fireball of death dude there was a moment of "...really?!" then back to having fun, after all thats what faire is for fun, right?!

Now back onto topic, i really need to head to JoAnns and Micheal's (possibly ipso facto if its till open). I went to good will and savers and found nothing even remotely useable but did manage to loose my ray-bans there, d'oh! Anyone know a good place to get brass googles for cheap or how to make them? I am spending alot more on this than i thought i would, and yet, i have no buyers remorse! 

[Taffy Saltwater]

No recent pictures, but I'll try to get a pic of tomorrow's garb, which be will rather SP Loli - it's too hot to wear full Victoriana, but a short skirt & petticoat - that I'll do.

[Rani Zemirah]

Depends on your idea of cheap, Becky.  I got mine from the Steampunk Emporium, and they are just your basic pair of actual brass goggles, with none of the cool leather or anything, and I paid $20 for them.  They're the oval shaped ones, and not the round, and I had to scrape off the black paint (they were vintage unused military issue) but I like them, and one of these days I'll punk them up (when, y'know, I get around to it... )

[Becky10]

Woo that was just what i was looking for! I prefer the oval shaped ones. I love that they show you how it looks without the paint. I am going to swing by a military surplus store and see if he has anything good. I can see where all my money is going to go ...

[Rani Zemirah]

Yeah... it's really easy to catch the bug once you've seen how a few others have done things!  Back in the early pages of this thread there are some links to a couple of SP fashion shows that are incredibly amazing!  The creativity is completely off the charts!!! Careful though... it's hard to stop the flow of ideas once they start!    LOL

[crashbot]

Here you go, wild west, victorian, steamish. There was plenty of brass and leather, theblack and white sepia kind of makes it look cooler though. 

[Rani Zemirah]

Very nice!  Looks like it was an amazing day, and how fun to include something you both enjoy so much into such an important occasion!  I think theme weddings have it all over the traditional sort, and it makes them so very much more memorable than the ones that are just like everyone else's!  Bravo!!!  Love to see more, if you don't mind sharing...