Steampunk Crossover

[Redbirdinmo]

I love any type of costuming, and I would rather see any garb than none. So yes I am guilty, I usually do one day renaissance and one day steampunk. To me they have just as much place as wizards and fairies. You didn't really see them at the renaissance courts either, but they seem to be fully accepted.  I live in extreme southeast missouri, I have very little opportunity to go to any other event except the faires I travel to, so I am going to take advantage of it and get in as much garb in whatever style I love as I can. To tell the truth, mundanes bother me more than any garb that I might see. As far as vendors, I see so many shops that are not related in any way to renaissance, or just make the barest effort to fit in, that to me a steampunk shop is an advantage. I want new faires in areas where we don't have them, I want the current ones to stick around and I want them to grow. If that means branching out a bit to steampunk then I don't mind a bit.  It's all creativity and fun to me.

[Epona]

I think it's totally fine for patrons to be wearing steam punk. In fact, at Bristol, when I go steam punk (airship mechanic), a lot of the cast has fun asking questions and asking me about my time travel adventures. I've gotten lots of compliments for my outfit too.
What bugs me is when SP becomes "slap on the gears" and it loses its functionality, as I feel functionality is the basis of steampunk.

I'd rather see someone having fun SP than not being able to dress up because they don't have ren garb.

Now if the cast or shop owners were 'punked out, that would most certainly bother me, and i think it would lose the whole vibe of the ren setting ren faire would lose its point.

[Ser Niall]

My wife and I were having this discussion after attending faire this year.  While neither of us mind steampunk as a genre, seeing it take over our faire has diminished our interest in it.  There were quite a few steampunk costumes the day we went, and some vendors have even started to stock a lot of steampunk related items.  I don't mind having a few oddball items here and there, but when you go to a leather shop hoping to find something to accent your renaissance costume, but find nothing but gears it's a little frustrating.  I don't want to get specific, but I went to a certain vendor looking for a piece to go with a future costume I'm making, and was hard pressed to find anything that wasn't steampunk or victorian.  Our primary costuming fun comes from renaissance festivals, and we'd rather look and be inspired by medieval clothing.  There are other events, like comic-cons or steampunk only gatherings, where people can wear that garb.

The wizards, elves, fairies, etc have more of a place than steampunk since these costumes are based off of actual myths from the period, or fantasy/dungeons and dragons material which itself is based off of medieval myths.

I don't want to sound snobbish, but we have the most fun at a festival when we can be immersed in the time period.

[Sir Michael Geare]

I've seen patrons going to Renaissance Faires dressed in Western, SteamPunk, Star Trek/Wars, Fantasy and beyond.  Beyond being I'm not exactly what time period love child they came from.  I agree that Vendors need to make money and so must offer wares that appeal to the customers.  The current trend being Steampunk.  I love the Steampunk look and I agree that at a Renaissance Faires the wares should be more in the background and not so much in the foreground.  I don't really care much for the Steampunk specific booths at faires, it is a renaissance event after all.

With that being said, I think the Steampunk Crossover is really out of hand when it comes to Victorian events such as Dickens Fair.  This is where steampunk has really ruined the whole atmosphere and event in IMHO.  I have even seen Steampunk at western events as well.  Being that it is such a popular theme, why don't they have more events specifically for it and leave the Renaissance/Victorian events alone.

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

My wife and I were having this discussion after attending faire this year.  While neither of us mind steampunk as a genre, seeing it take over our faire has diminished our interest in it.  There were quite a few steampunk costumes the day we went, and some vendors have even started to stock a lot of steampunk related items.  I don't mind having a few oddball items here and there, but when you go to a leather shop hoping to find something to accent your renaissance costume, but find nothing but gears it's a little frustrating.  I don't want to get specific, but I went to a certain vendor looking for a piece to go with a future costume I'm making, and was hard pressed to find anything that wasn't steampunk or victorian.  Our primary costuming fun comes from renaissance festivals, and we'd rather look and be inspired by medieval clothing.  There are other events, like comic-cons or steampunk only gatherings, where people can wear that garb.

The wizards, elves, fairies, etc have more of a place than steampunk since these costumes are based off of actual myths from the period, or fantasy/dungeons and dragons material which itself is based off of medieval myths.

I don't want to sound snobbish, but we have the most fun at a festival when we can be immersed in the time period.

What he said............is what Steve and I say.

[Lady Nicolette]

Lady Renee, Sir Michael & Ser Niall:  I couldn't agree more.  I think the steampunk look is intriguing, but it belongs more properly in it's own places...with
it's popularity, surely there might be more specific venues that will spring up to support it, look what's happened with the various Cons for other interests.
On the side of having been a merchant, the best thing that can be done is to support the artisans and merchants who are crafting in the Renaissance or
Medieval eras as much as you can...and of course keep supporting the Faires by attending, become involved more if you can, to keep the Faires alive with
their original intent intact.  And I'm not saying that you have to be historically accurate if you are bothering to wear garb, just that if you are able to come up with a relatively good Steampunk look, you probably can be creative enough to come up with something remotely period.

[DonaCatalina]

Lady Renee, et alia;
There are events specifically for steampunk stuff.
But these people don't see it as ruining someone's Renaissance experience
as much as they see it as getting more use out of something they spent some money on.

[Lady Nicolette]

I can see that point...Any kind of garb is a financial investment.  I just do miss the days when it was essentially Renaissance/Medieval garb around the Faire.

[Rowan MacD]

Lady Renee, et alia;
There are events specifically for steampunk stuff.
But these people don't see it as ruining someone's Renaissance experience
as much as they see it as getting more use out of something they spent some money on.

I would love to wear my ren gear for Christmas walkabouts here during the Dickens festivals, but since the 'era' is Victorian...I will not, and do not, intrude on their ambiance. 
    My garb would not fit in, and even though I spend a lot of money attempting to look Elizabethan; there is a time and place for it.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

For those unhappy with Doctor Who cosplay at "Renaissance themed" events; the Doctor is a time traveller. Technically he fits in with any time period, be it Elizabethan England or Pre-Revolutionary France or Pompeii on Volcano Day, despite whatever distinctively obscure fashion sense he may display. A time traveller is no more outlandish in an already heavily fictionalised setting than fairies, trolls, wizards, or genuinely benevolent monarchs. I don't care for the fairies, trolls, or wizards, but I don't kick up a fuss about it. They paid their admission price same as me. Might as well make it a party, eh?

Speaking in my own defense, I have loads more fun showing up at Ren faires as the Doctor than I ever did as a pirate. And I probably had more fun that I should have as a pirate. The regular folk get a kick out of having their picture taken with me, and the cast generally enjoy having the last of the Time Lords drop in for a visit. The court at MNRF are particularly welcoming and friendly in that regard. Love Hank and Liz, they're a smashing couple. BARF and TNRF, the faires I attend most regularly, also have me feel right at home. And my companions! Oh, how they do make my hearts glad.

Yes, there are other events I could go to, but they don't fit into my already very full schedule. So if you find my presence at faire distressing... I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. You're gonna have to get used to it. 

[Lady Nicolette]

Just to clarify, a time traveler character is a time traveler and thus makes sense.  Just as, (even though perhaps there are a LOT more fae creatures than likely walked the streets within the era), they also were part of the mythos of the time and thus, make sense.
Perhaps if Steampunk folks have time traveling in their repertoire, they make more sense than I realize (and indeed they may, with all of the cogs and gears and such). 
I still miss the days of most people showing up in garb and most people making an effort to fit the period...but you are right, Jack, in that fun is the primary purpose of Faire and has been since the very first one.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

The Steampunks I've encountered seem divided into two camps: airship pirates and time travellers (or some odd mixture of both). The ones at BARF got a kick out of being chewed out by the Doctor for their amateurish time travelling antics and the damage they were doing to the space-time continuum. 

[Lady Nicolette]

I stand corrected, then...Thanks!

[Rowan MacD]

  I am hoping to get a Tardis for our little faire so that the Dr(s)-there are 9-10 versions in the Dr Who club- feel more at home. 
  After reading some of the above:  I am going to suggest that the local SP group see about about putting together a Jules Verne Time Machine;  that would really help with linking the 'scene' with the renaissance era. 
     An area could be provided featuring the time machine and the various 'travelers' could have a place to gather and get pics.
  The photo ops alone would be worth it!


Edit: Most faires have a central signpost. Perhaps a 'Time Travelers' picket could be added-pointing the way to the Tardis and Tim Machine area.
   That way the patrons would have an idea where the oddly dressed folk were coming from, and they would have a time/place there.

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Renee's statement:  I do not like Steampunk at faire (don't like Trekkies, Dr Who - sorry, Jack - animal and/or furry covered heads, paws, etc).

I don't like to look at it.  That's my opinion.  However, I would never, ever, in a million years tell anyone they are wrong to wear it, shouldn't wear it, are wrecking my day, and all that other nasty stuff......

Everyone pays their money to get in, they can wear whatever they want to enjoy themselves.  I can not look at it if it bothers me.  And that's what I do - on Bristol's steampunk weekend, we don't go.  The rest of the time, it's big enough that you can usually pass most of the day not running into them if you make an effort.

However, the point has already been made - I don't wear my garb to sports events (and our football team is The Pirates!) or to the mall shopping, and I've spent buckets of money on it.  I am with Nickie, I remember the "olden days," 25-30 years ago, when everything was Medieval/Renaissance, and you truly had the "feel" of the era.  That's what I miss most, I think.