The growing popularity of Steampunk has led to a subculture of adults seeking to adopt this lifestyle. Steampunk is a retrofuturist aesthetic inspired by Victorian fiction and technology, influencing contemporary fashion, home decor, music, and design. This community embraces values of self-expression, creativity, and a love for craftsmanship. Steampunk has been percolating since the 1980s and has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring individuals to embrace its unique spirit.
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that features retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century steam-powered machinery. It is known for its inclusivity and creativity, welcoming individuals from all walks of life who share a passion for adventure and exploration.
Some fans of the genre adopt a steampunk aesthetic through fashion, home decor, music, and film. A steampunk house is a dwelling designed to reflect the aesthetic and technology of the Victorian era. Steampunk represents a subculture that reimagined the history of the Industrial Revolution during Victorian era England. Steampunk doesn’t follow the rules and defies expectations, and these ideals can be applied to living a steampunk lifestyle.
Like the early locomotive, steampunk builds grass-root networks of like-minded individuals who are critical thinkers with a bit more pluck than electricity. Steampunk is a reimagining of Victorian speculative fiction, where steam, not electricity, is at the forefront of technological advancement.
📹 What is Steampunk? Fiction to Subculture | Explained for the Curious
Steampunks answer this question all the time. Steampunk is a fiction genre and a subculture with its own fashion, music, and …
Why do steampunks wear goggles?
In the steampunk world, safety goggles are essential for protecting eyes from various dangers, such as steam spurts, wind, low temperatures, and dangerous substances. These goggles are part of the steampunk uniform and are popular for their cool appearance. However, they are not suitable for many occasions, such as photoshoots, weddings, or conventions. Similar issues apply to most steampunk clothing and accessories, such as corsets and Victorian skirts. To offer ocular security to your steamsona, browse available models and choose the appropriate fit for your needs.
Is steampunk just an aesthetic?
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. It is often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American frontier, where steam power remains mainstream, or in a fantasy world that employs steam power. Steampunk features anachronistic technologies and retrofuturistic inventions, distinguishing it from Neo-Victorianism.
It is rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Examples of steampunk include fictional machines like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers like Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Steampunk may also incorporate elements from other genres, making it often a hybrid genre. As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts while addressing real-world social issues. The first known appearance of steampunk was in 1987, but it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created since the 1950s or earlier.
What is the modern version of steampunk?
Dieselpunk is a retrofuturistic subgenre of science fiction that blends the aesthetics of diesel-based technology from the interwar period to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities. It was coined in 2001 by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing game Children of the Sun. The term has since been applied to various fields, including visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering. The “-punk” suffix represents the genre’s counterculture nature, opposing contemporary aesthetics.
The term also refers to the tongue-in-cheek term “steampunk”, which focuses on science fiction based on industrial steam power and is often set within the Victorian era. Author Scott Westerfeld argues that his novel Leviathan qualifies as steampunk despite depicting diesel engines in the technology. The term “dieselpunk” is a derivative of the science fiction subgenre cyberpunk, representing the time period from World War I until the 1950s when diesel-based locomotion was the main technological focus of Western culture.
Why do people like steampunk?
Steampunk is a popular genre due to its blend of historical settings and science fiction, offering a nostalgic look at the past and speculative twists of the future. It encourages readers to dream of different worlds and possibilities, pushing the boundaries of imagination while remaining anchored in a recognizable reality. Steampunk is more than just a literary subgenre of science fiction; it’s a vibrant and imaginative world that captivates with its unique blend of historical and futuristic elements.
Its detailed world-building, adventurous plots, and thought-provoking themes make it a favorite among readers and writers. As the genre continues to evolve, it promises to inspire readers and writers for years to come.
What is modern steampunk?
Steampunk is a literary and artistic movement that draws upon elements of the Victorian era, including historical context, fashion, modern technology, and fantastical fiction. Its aesthetic and narrative style evokes the science fiction adventures of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.
Is steampunk goth?
Goths and steampunks have distinct aesthetics, with goths embracing the taboo and seeing beauty in darkness, while steampunks focus on creativity and DIY mentality. Goths are fascinated by Victorian mourning fashion popularized by Queen Victoria after her husband’s death, while steampunks embrace the spirit of the Industrial Revolution and celebrate human intellect through their DIY mentality.
Music is another recognizable aspect of both goth and steampunk scenes. Goth subculture has its roots in Gothic rock, which emerged from post-punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Other music genres, such as industrial, EBM, and gothic metal, are also associated with goth. However, there is no unified genre of music identifiable as “steampunk”, with music ranging from folk rock to dark cabaret to synth-pop.
The relationship between music and the subculture is quite different, with both groups having a lot in common. Goths and steampunks are generally intellectual communities, with both being well-read and highly educated. This shared trait is attributed to the fact that both subcultures draw significant inspiration from literature.
In summary, goths and steampunks share a strong connection in terms of fashion, music, and intellectual community. While goths and steampunks have distinct aesthetics, they share common ground in their intellectual pursuits.
Could steampunk have been real?
While the feasibility of steam-powered aircraft, thermal airships, and steam-powered walking machines is not in question, they fail to reach the same level of impressiveness as depicted in steampunk fiction. Conversely, steamships, steam tanks, and other ground vehicles are more realistic in terms of their historical development and practical applications.
Do phones exist in steampunk?
Steampunk fashion combines modern styles with Victorian influences, such as bustles, corsets, gowns, petticoats, suits with waistcoats, coats, top hats, bowler hats, tailcoats, spats, and military-inspired garments. Steampunk-influenced outfits are often adorned with technological and period accessories like timepieces, parasols, flying goggles, and ray guns. Modern accessories like cell phones or music players can be incorporated into steampunk outfits, giving them the appearance of Victorian-era objects. Post-apocalyptic elements, such as gas masks, ragged clothing, and tribal motifs, can also be included.
Founded in 2005 by Kate Lambert, “Kato”, “Steampunk Couture” is the first steampunk clothing company that combines Victorian and post-apocalyptic influences. IBM predicted that “steampunk” would be a major trend in the retail industry in 2013, based on over a half million public posts on message boards, blogs, social media sites, and news sources. High fashion lines like Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Chanel, and Christian Dior have already introduced steampunk styles to the fashion runways.
In 2012, America’s Next Top Model tackled steampunk fashion in a 2012 episode where models competed in a steampunk-themed photo shoot, posing in front of a steam train while holding a live owl.
Is steampunk realistic?
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. It is often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American frontier, where steam power remains mainstream, or in a fantasy world that employs steam power. Steampunk features anachronistic technologies and retrofuturistic inventions, distinguishing it from Neo-Victorianism.
It is rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Examples of steampunk include fictional machines like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, steam cannons, lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers like Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Steampunk may also incorporate elements from other genres, making it often a hybrid genre. As a form of speculative fiction, it explores alternative futures or pasts while addressing real-world social issues. The first known appearance of steampunk was in 1987, but it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created since the 1950s or earlier.
What is the steampunk lifestyle?
Steampunk is a subculture that reimagines the history of the Industrial Revolution during Victorian era England, focusing on an alternative future that combines the Wild West and steam powered science fiction. The subculture takes place in an alternate reality during a Victorian era that never ended, developing into a new form of modernity called “retrofuture” and combining the adventurous, gun-slinging character of the American Wild West.
Originally developed in the 1900s as part of science fiction literature, steampunk distinguishes itself from computer-loving cyberpunks by focusing on clockwork mechanisms and nineteenth-century machinery and style. The reverence for past history within the subculture focuses on a universe where the power of steam was never eclipsed by petroleum energy, resulting in an entirely alternative future to the one we experience today.
Steampunk has become a global phenomenon due to its openness and welcoming nature, attracting a large variety of participants with diverse backgrounds. The increase in ideas about steampunk makes it an even more vibrant and full-bodied subculture. The subculture’s appreciation is not limited to any age, race, gender, or class, ensuring a large variety of participants with diverse backgrounds.
Does steampunk era exist?
Steampunk, a genre of literature that emerged in the 1970s, combines Victorian-era fashion and technology with modern elements. It is a sub-genre of science fiction, with characters dressed in Victorian England but living in a modern world with computers and cars powered by cogs, gears, and steam. Inspired by Victorian writers like Charlotte Bronte and Oscar Wilde, steampunk writers also drew inspiration from 19th-century “dime novels” about romance and adventure.
Today, steampunk encompasses movies, television shows, video games, art, fashion, and music, with many fans viewing it as a worldview that combines Victorian optimism with modern creativity and self-reliance. Steampunk has gained popularity in various forms, including movies, television shows, video games, art, fashion, and music.
📹 Victorian Era Couple Live Like It’s The 19th Century | Extraordinary People | New York Post
On this episode of Extraordinary People, a quirky couple is obsessed with the Victorian era. Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman wear …
the ending is SO important. with any aesthetic, it’s so crucial that the initial (usually historical) roots are acknowledged for what they were. but it shouldn’t keep us from loving and indulging in the art, fashion, and/or lifestyle. we need to be aware and then transform it into something better. take what we enjoy about it and use it to inspire good in the areas it once was incapable of doing. amazing article!!!
Excellent! you’ve covered what I’m alway trying to explain to the public, that Steampunk is not merely Victorian re-enactment with a science fiction twist, It’s more of the individual Steampunks vision of some point in an alternate future based on technology of the latter half of the 19th century. The point being that throughout human history (save for noted exceptions) technology advanced at a slow enough rate that humanity could expect the next generation would live as they lived, not foreseeing a big difference in the way the world was. In the 19th century however innovation an invention began to snowball and the civilized world had to reckon with the knowledge that life would be very different possibly within their own lifetime. Each one of us who takes that realization to heart becomes creator of a potential future based on a Victorian dream of possibility.
I guess I’ve always liked steampunk and maybe cyberpunk but never knew what they’re called. I’ve always described the aesthetic as “Victorian, or maybe gothic, or maybe a little bit of Edwardian and it has a lot of machines and colors in it” lol. I just like how imaginative it is and like you said, we can create anything we want in the steampunk world because it’s not historical to begin with. I may not be brave enough to dress in this aesthetic (and honestly I’m okay with that fact), but I like making miniatures and simple mechanics and build something in this aesthetic.
I think the “Steampunk” aesthetic pre-existed the genre (as described) by at least twenty years. Lovers of gauges, dials and pipes were using them whimsically in an artful way perhaps even before the literature caught on to the notion that people were transfixed by technology that they did not necessarily understand – and the more complicated the better. I can recall examples in the late 60’s.
Sorry, but adding the word “punk” to something doesn’t make it cool. It’s just a bunch of sad people dressing up like a Jules Verne novel. It ain’t cool, it’s stupid. And the word “cosplay” is laughable. It’s just adults wearing costumes. Calling it “cosplay” doesn’t make it cool. Sorry to break it to you people. You are trying too hard.
One of the last community theatre productions that I took part in introduced me to two new things. We were putting on the G & S musical “Ruddigore”. The costumer wanted to fashion the wardrobe based on steam punk. So, those of us who had never heard of it had to be brought up to speed. The choreographer offered the tenants of the paleo diet to the women in the chorus who wanted to lose weight. So, I took a handout just to learn what it was all about.
If you find yourself wanting to be able to repair your devices, you should stand with Louis Rossmann. Dude has been fighting for Right To Repair bills for years. It’s the first step in getting things worth having. Second step: Availability of phones that have an easily unlockable bootloader and standardized CPU platform to be able to put a Linux distro on it, such as Ubuntu for Phone.
That picture at 8:06 is extremely interesting and says something about why I personally like Steampunk, it’s as if that might be how poor rural English folk felt moving into the city and working in the factories for the first time, we know due to our broader scope of history that stuff like that didn’t exists, but to the lower classes or rural people back then seeing something like that would be akin to seeing a train, or a car, or a factory machine for the first time, who knows what else the rich are having them cook up. So it’s also almost an exclusive society feel to as well. I first heard of Steampunk when looking at images of Steampunk versions of Spider-Man, and then found versions of many other heroes. It’s an interesting connect because Super-Heroes by themselves posses a lot of the same secret society and exclusive aestitics due to the Secret Identities and Super-hero society tropes, so I like how nicely they line up. There’s a really nice scene from the Anime Demon Slayer that happens in the last episode of Season 1. The protagonist and his allies encounter a train for the first time and the protagonist and one of his allies mistake it for a spirit of some kind, while the other just looks at them in shook that they have no idea what a train is. I feel that is what recently regrew my interest in Steampunk and how it interacts with traditional fantasy ie. The Dwemer from The Elder Scrolls, and Eastern Fantasy ie. The Naruto Movies and how they hint at outside industrialization.
I am slowly becoming more and more steampunk, and the aesthetic is awesome. I work at a used furniture store so I have been regularly replacing the newer pieces in my house with victorian era ones. Walking into my library I have a set of beautiful semi rusted gates, 2 antique lamps, and the whole room screams of another time. I even have a variety of plants in there that the victorians would have loved. Its lovely to have things that are made and fixed and to find new creative ways to use them, like the extremely rickety blanket rack that I am using wood from an old mill (that was being torn out) to make into a table. For me its more than just the style, I see the sustainability and the reuseability of the items. The trash to treasure aspect is very much in the steampunk culture as is salvaging things and fixing things. I love it
Have been reading a bit more about this lately, especially on the literature side of things. What stikes me the most is how authors like HG Wells and Jules Verne are considerd “steampunk” authors, the eariest of them even. Is this not wrong? After all, their real world was the world of steam, and not the retro-futuristic one that we enjoy reading or perusal. To them, machines like the Nautilus were in the future. It would be like Science FIction in a few hundred years, looking back to now at Arthur C. Clarke, and calling “2001: A Space Odyssey” an “Atomic Punk” story, yet to us in our present time, it is a brilliant, yet ordinary, Scifi possibility of our future. Just like the Nautilus in Verne’s time.
I saw photos of steampunks (without knowing what they were) at an American con, back in the early 2000s, and wished that we had that here (UK). I had no idea that Weekend at the Asylum had been happening here, in Lincoln, until a couple we met at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath said they lived in Lincoln too. It was from them that we learned all about steampunk, and we have been steampunks since about 2011/12.
I got into Steampunk some years ago and haven’t of late done much in it due to initial building of my Off Grid Lifestyle…I wore my version of Steampunk for Halloween and I find it quite energizeing and comfortable…this time I wore a Top Hat…loads of fun and the Fantasy of it truely does inspire works of art as well as functional inventions reflecting the true Spirit of Steampunk…Wood, Brass, and Textiles Blended together to produce not only a Subgenre, but Truely a Strong Subculture throughout the world…I’m 65 and enjoy this world…it makes what we perceive to be reality a bit more bearable…lol…
Its interesting you bring up steampunk as seeing history in a way that glorifies things like oppression of people based on things like racial background. There is a steampunk story that came out last year called ‘pimp my airship’ I’m not too familiar with it but I know the author is a black man who wanted to write a story combining afrofuturism with steampunk for a similar reason. I believe he said something to the effect of steampunk feeling like erasing black people for glorifying a time period where they were oppressed
I’ve always been into Punk. My 17 year old introduced me to SteamPunk. Now I can’t get enough! Love love love everything about it! Steampunk has also brought me to Similar Folk bands. Lucy by This Way to the Egress is very close to AliceBand’s “home” and other songs, though the latter isn’t quite labeled “Steampunk”. Love it all! More please!
Got to the 7:21 mark, and had to quit perusal. I am sick and tired of modern people holding themselves above their ancestors as being somehow superior because they didn’t match the present ways of thinking, and doing things. That kind of thinking is not fair to them. And it is far too self aggrandizing to us. I wonder, sometimes, what the people of 100 years from now will think of our present day actions, and thoughts. Will they think us enlightened? Or will they compare us to THEIR standards and find us to be lacking in moral fiber?
The reason I love steampunk so much is because it’s the perfect blend between medieval fantasy and the modern age. During the time of this aesthetic, people were still using swords and horses in war, yet also rifles and bombing aircraft. People were still living in the mindset of chivalry in warfare and things like music and culture were thriving. I also like the particular style of fashion in this time. It feels simple yet very decorative, almost like a modern version of fantasy.
In steampunk what draws me in is that you can see the gears turning. Sure a sci-fi flying machine is cool, but a device that you wind up, it turns some gears, makes some click-clack sounds, expels a bit of gas and then lifts off buzzing and shaking, now that’s just absolutely charming to witness You can thank that new show Arcane for bringing me here. I just love the aesthetic of the undercity and the technology there. It know it probably doesn’t count as steampunk and is a bit more closer to sci-fi or just fantasy, but still it has that click-clack feeling to it.
Great article. Very well explained. As a kid I would spend hours looking at the art work for Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the World and it was only years later did I realise it was Steampunk. Also 20,000 Leagues and other Jules Verne inspired films. Good stuff. Steampunk is a deep rabbit hole….Also, let’s not forget Rush’s last album Clockwork Angels is Steampunk inspired. Rip Neil Peart.
I only discovered the name “steampunk” yesterday, when I visited an art store and picked up a book called “How To Draw Steampunk”. I looked at the cover and the illustrations inside and remembered where I’d seen ones similar to them before: in Heavy Metal Magazine. And then I realised that the short-lived HBO series, “The Nevers” was also heavily influenced by Steampunk imagery and themes, as it was set in the Victorian age and there was a lot of technology displayed in the scenes. My curiosity has been piqued, so I think I’ll be returning to that store and picking up that instructional book and doing some research. Greetings from Trinidad and Tobago.
Wonderful article and explanation of the term Steampunk. I’m always looking at vintage items on eBay that are often described as steampunk. I confess that it’s meaning has been elusive until perusal this entertaining article. My interest in vintage items converges with steampunk aesthetic. Thank you for the enrichment, my place in the world feels a little bit more complete.
I was drawn to steampunk as a child, reading Jules Verne. For decades now I read or listen to H.G. Wells, George McDonald, Arthur Conan Doyle, and revel in their language. They are all far less misogynist than one expects. Actually, except maybe for Doyle, I’d consider them Equalists. But I really do think, that the analysis and examination of the consolation one finds in a time of undisputed WASP patriarchy is an important part of being Steampunk. And of building a more equalistic future. And wasn’t Wild Wild West just TERRIBLE?!? What a waste of a huge budget, a great spider and really nice production design.
What the term “steam punk” does is simply give a name to a genre that existed long before the coined term existed or any of us were born—beginning with the very 19th century authors who in essence created it with their often prophetic views of the future from their first hand observations of the Industrial Revolution (i.e. Mary Shelly, Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells)…and continuing into the 20th century with films and works like Metropolis, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers, to the modern era with the ORIGINAL “The Wild, Wild West” TV series, the campy sci-fi Western I am currently enjoying bingeing on DVD.
I have to admit I’m not a steampunk but I love the costumes, the design and individuality and the mechanics of some of the machines I have seen in TV programs. I have never been to a steampunk festival or fayre as there has never been one advertised near where I live in the UK, a thing I would like to see in real life rather than on the screen.
I was interested until 8:30 when all that is woke got unnecessarily inserted into the conversation. How tedious. Why can’t we all enjoy the genre today for what it is without the laborious, one-sided DEI re-write of the past without an accurate account of how societies evolve. To judge the past by today’s standards is unreasonable.
I am quite old. I remember the early days of the personal computes: Apple )(, TRS-80, Atari 800. Each with unique properties. I remember the verbal fights and put downs between the camps. Fun times. Today, you basically have Intel with Windows or MacOS, and a few Linux distros which are simple variations on a theme. No passion, just utility. The only possible exception being gaming GPUs, but that is fading too.
It is interesting though that a lot of Steampunk does take place in very similar worlds to our own. A good example would be “Bioshock Infinite.” Aside from a floating city and the widespread use of sun machine guns, Infinite still does address the racism and sexism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Or there’s the game “80 Days,” a PC story telling title, that also addresses similar societal and even historical events, just with Steampunk aesthetics and technology
Hadn’t thought about the anonymity of our items preventing us from “falling in love” with them… Phones, cars, computers, just buy the next one, it’s not any more exciting, but at least it’s new! Can’t lay claim to steampunk-ery, but I like old engineering, and fixing stuff. Brass is prettier than plastic! 🙂
Steampunk, it’s a style now, which embellishes technology, but what it was, what it is, is the beginning of invention, the mechanical sciences if you will, steming from DaVinci, Nostradamus, sir Isaac Newton, Tesla, and Thomas Edison, to pirates, post atomic era, and the roaring 20’s, to WW1 and WW2 the Germans were very steampunk. And even the classic rock band Pink Floyd. And not mention the Anime Cartoon called Steampunk. Scraps of old invention into new invention. We celebrate invention with steampunk.
This is cool!!!!!! I didn’t know all this beyond the obvious gear tech aesthetic, lol I didn’t know the depth and the wisdom behind it, the core of satire and criticism is beautifully twined with a real vision, one of hope and idealism and personal empowerment…I could go on, I really like the ideas behind this way more than I imagined I would, and it even opened my eyes up to things I hadn’t seen or considered before. Great article btw, without your storytelling I wouldn’t be here in the first place… 🤲 such a cool community!!!!!!!!
I love steampunk but let’s face it, it’s just overgrown children raiding the dressing up box but with more money and time to indulge themselves. It all comes from Jules Verne and H.G.Wells, two great Anglo-French visionaries, but I think you might have mentioned the profound and seminal influence of Georges Melies, and, if only in passing, the humorous contribution of W. Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg. You’re very modern and inclusive, quite rightly so, but are still hopelessly American-centric.
I am a fan of one specific type of steampunk. At this time it hasn’t it’s own name, but i call it Paperpunk. It centered about office and bureocracy themes. Vacuum tubes for delivering documents, overcomplicated mechanical calculators and typewriters. Colossal towers of ministries and other government organisations, that inside looks like impressive perplexing mazes with stairways, that can change the direction and doors, that can squash you to the wall, when you trying to open it. Story is usualy Kafkaesque. Characters in the atmosphere of total bureocratic absurd are starting to get mad. Story usyally ends with dead of the heroes or the collapse of government. Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” for example. I’m so exciting about this type of steampunk, so i even started to writing a book about it. “A paper nightmare”. Austronaut land on the unknown planet for researching it, but locals confiscate his spaceship and now he must walk throught all 12 ministries to collect some documents. And also he accidentally runs into varous political conspiracies and mafial wars, that somehow connected each by other and trying to use austronauts for their purposes.
My opinion of Steampunk’s draw is not a wish for the past, but a desire to have the same level of technology coupled with a personality. Every piece of Steampunk “Tech” that I’ve seen at SciFi conventions is uniquely individual, and so were the costumes worn. I believe that it’s a desire for Individuality amongst impersonal technology. the Steampunkers that I’ve met all love the idea of mods in games, and in life. The desire to be ‘different’, while not having to sacrifice what draws the current generation together (and i’s not just one generation, either). I love the outlook, and i wish everyone had that much desire to accomplish more things.
Hi always loved steampunk since I became aware of it. Sure the past had oppression and exploitation but it had a lot of other things we’ve shed in today’s world in the name of progress. To borrow a little from Family Guy, I miss the good old fashioned values upon which we used to rely. And of course the bland cookie cutterness of current consumer technology.
Oh puke. Everybody is so scared about what others think of them. Stop feeling the need to explain how you’re not bad people because you like certain time periods. Punks don’t guilt speech. Punks are too busy being punk to care. They shrug at such moronic critique. Let critics stew. Be problematic. Be punk.
While not really new to me, my interest peaks a bit more everytime i run into “it” as I’m out and about. Recently I have been internet-ing various steam-y goodies, and who should I run across? Why this guy of course. And he/you has provided a very interesting primer on the steam-ier side of life. Very well done! Informative and also visually intertaining. “With a capital MY to whom it may”, as another once said.
I learned architecture and design history in uni. The late 19th century is literally one of the most colourful periods in human history. For architecture, there are endless revivalisms and eclecticism with ornaments and inspirations, drawing from classicism and different cultures, following by the magic art nouveau (the most steampunk style i would say), aesthetiscm, arts and crafts, successionism, art deco…. The most colourful days. After “ornaments is crime,” now everywhere is the same with the same boring homogeneous design called modernism.
I dearly wish that Steampunk had been a thing when I was younger I’m now, I kove the dapper appearances and costumes of the men and the sometimes very sensual ones of the women, I think that I would have been good dressed in that type of costume, ( I’ m 6ft4ins tall abd have the build to carry it off, ah well I can but dream!!
Steampunk feels like the epitome of “we must remember the past or we are doomed to repeat it” with futuristic philosophy- recognizing how we’re going down a bad path and wishing for a better humanity. I’ve heard that steampunk is optimistic, and I like the idea that it inspires people to find their comfort in the old and not the new, because the new actively harms us. Steampunks, like all punks, seem to be very caring people, and I hope that kind philosophy can draw more people into the culture.
Im not a steam punker, per say…. but I do love the imaginative creations of peoples ability to craft things that look like they come from the era. I love the philosophical views that our creations are art, and meant for enjoyment and longevity. It is very true that things of our own era, are rather….. bland. Meant to look alike, blend in and in a few years, be silently thrown to the side as garbage. There are other era type things i am really intrigued by. Once serving this country, you get a real feel for ceude.. but effective tools, weapons, devices. Dumbed down with 0 holds… simply designed to be tough, simple, effective. I have a love for mechanical things that havent been over engineered. Simple pistons pumping small explosion to create work for the smallest and largest of tasks… where i get a little annoyed is with the computer technology controlling, often seen as over controlling things that have stood the test of time. Our nation as well as many others accrost the flobe have been conditioned to press forward, forgetting the beauty in invention. Like you said in your vidio it is most defanantly transformed our lives from shock and aww inspired relics… to what makes them more profits. You know there’s an old book somewhere that talks about money being the root of all evil. And how that evil will blind us to the will of man. Seems so in this case. Money use to represent gold!! A paper bill that you can hold in your hand, and now but just a number traveling through thin wire, and electrical circutry tracked by they “highest sitters” in society.
Most people now are under the impression that, if you glue a gear to something, that makes it steampunk. It’d be good if these idiots would read the stories in the genre that started the whole thing, but it won’t fix poor thinking skills. Because of this idiocy, I wince when I see/hear something described as “steampunk”, because most of it isn’t remotely steampunk.
When I figure out this damn time machine and it will stop carring me to 2327. I’m getting a couple of steampunkers to ride with me for the past and we are going to alter a couple things. They say all time is now but I believe a steampunk past will lead the way into a Synthwave future. Cuz eventually everything will evolve to the point of being unrecognizable. And I am working on some steampunk music right now if you’d like to hear it let me know and you can be the judge of it
Steampunk is hardly fantasy to me. As someone from California, the Wild West is our glory days we use for rose-tinted lenses. Within my context, steampunk seems realistically applicable within that context in my opinion if you dropped a bunch of scientific minds in the region. Heck, look at what happened in real world in California with technology. I love the idea of using as much grit and strength as possible, while having the child like imagination to dream, and to have science make that dream come true.
This is my first stumble into actively looking for an introduction about steampunk that has been captruing my attention over a sometime as an artist. Thank you for the great exposition. Yes steampunk is full of character, immagination, art innovation, romanticism and nostalgia and machines that we can fall in love with that almost feel alive rather than the soulless inscrutable tasteless slabs that we have!! Thank you for pointing this out.
This steampunk stuff is something new to my thinking! I have been creating similar type of are but had no idea there was “a name for it” Steampunk creations only seems to appeal to a few. Those that have viewed my work are truly intrigued. Seems as though just stare and point. I like to ask them what do they see? Interesting how each person sees something different, and thats why I create such. Now I know what to call my work! When someone paints a flower…….all see a flower, when Steampunk is created all seems to see something different!
Steampunk to me is just a label to give people permission to dress as they please – it’s kind of sad, but in our forced casual society if you wear anything smart or different you will be challenged, ridiculed and even physically attacked, but add a clock or mechanical touch and your left alone because it’s steampunk. I’m grateful to the steampunk movement as though I’m not part of it, society have calmed down a lot in regards to my Victorian attire
Greetings. My name is Alex… but the Steampunk community refers to me as Lord Lorenzini Venom ;). I have been in Steampunk for about four years, and I’ve never looked back since starting. I would highly recommend Steampunk as a hobby to those who are fascinated by the idea of standing out from the crowd 🙂
OMCAG! (OhMyCogs&Goggles!!!) Well done and splendidly concise. I admit to often enthusiastically STEAMROLLING the new and curious, although often charmingly and also winningly, It’s hard to pressurize the passion I feel even after almost a decade of community involvement, creation, and hosting a Monthly Steampunk Dinner (only on hiatus due to Global Pandemic). We practice Parasol Duelling and TeaScouts know Tea Duelling and we’ve had famous guests and Balls and local creators have gathered to vend, demonstrate, and panel at major local Conventions. Virgo Vermeil:Steampunk Stylist on FB, Canada.
Steampunk creates a world in which technology is at the limit of comprehensibility by the lay audience. Everything that happens can be understood as a manifestation of mechanical technology that anyone can aspire to not only understand but to repair and maintain. It makes it easier to suspend disbelief.
I have this notion that in the steampunk world everyone is a craftsman in whatever they do, a musician, a prostitute, a photographer, a mechanic. Airship pilots and chefs, steam rail engineers and gardeners, they are all equally valued as artisans. Egos are a liability. Each artist enjoys the talents of their fellow artists.
Very well presented….I have never heard of steampunk until a flea market we like to go to is having a steampunk show this coming weekend, so the wife and I said “Why not go”….we are both 60 years old and curious to this, so I decided to look it up. Now I really want to go after perusal this article.
My first awareness of steampunk was as a building style in Minecraft! As funny as that is, I really like the aesthetic of it and really wanna build some modern machines for my room but with steampunk design, all the moving parts, the copper and brass, the gears and wheels, the pipes and so on I think it is just beautiful but it is soo hard to find good inspirations in pictures for that, and I’m not an artist, I am “a science guy” so I’m not that creative in designing some things that aren’t “useful” and don’t fit another thing than just to be there… Nice article, thanks a lot
I love how they seem so kind about it. Some people who try and live in the past like to remind people who enjoy living in the modern era how ignorant they are to the way things were before, but this couple just wants to live their dreams and don’t seem to concern themselves with the way others live their life. I like that.
Does pretending to be a Victorian woman include having a bright red nose?. What do they do when they get sick? Do they accept modern medical treatments or use Victorian methods? They should also do only Victorian hygiene, including when she is menstruating, and no deodorants, and wearing the same outfit all week without washing. Does she do the laundry the Victorian way? Do they have a flushing toilet, or use chamber pots and an outdoor hole in the ground inside a shed?
Fair play to them. I remember trying on a genuine 1880s walking suit in the most beautiful mauve colour in a vintage shop in Dublin years ago. It fit me perfectly, and everyone in the shop commented on how elegant it looked. I felt so comfortable in it, that my mother literally had to talk me out of buying it since I was planning to walk around town wearing it, regardless of what year it is. I honestly regret that decision now. If it were today, I would have bought the thing regardless of what people think . If your soul alligns with something, there’s a reason. Just go with it
Did anyone see that hilarious episode of the Big Bang Theory when the gang decided to let Sheldon Cooper’s girlfriend (Amy Farrah Fowler) plan ‘Game Night’? So she chose a game from around this era, the game consisted of her friends seated around a table trying to blow a ball of yard to the person sitting across from them. This seems almost as engaging.
I think this is wonderful. They clearly are aware of reality (no mental health issues there- at least not from the time period/what we can see) but they actively choose a different lifestyle that appeals to them. They are not hurting anyone. Most of us hide under masks to fit in these days because it’s scary to be seen as ”different”. Some people may see them as the ”costumed people”, but they are in fact, the authentic people. True to themselves and not wearing an invisible mask. Props to them both!
Actually, the 1800s are among my two favourite periods, the other is the 50s and 60s. Perhaps because of the slowness of life, you took time to est, converse with others and so on. Okay, it was hard work, I know. there’s a certain degree of elegance to clothing and so on. Sherlock Holmes was created in the late 1800s.
“A time characterised by optimism” Meanwhile, my ancestors were living in overcrowded slums dying of TB and working jobs that barely paid enough to support their families. But okay. They’re living the life of middle to upper class victorians. Which is fine, but not an accurate picture of victorian life for the majority of victorians. A romanticised version of life, maybe.
In case you ever read it or you’d have an idea: How do you find a partner with special interests? I’m in a special situation and am searching for someone in the same situation but have no idea where to start looking. It’s crazy that you found each other and I am so happy for you from the bottom of my heart. But I have no idea how to make this happen for me and it’s about to ruin m life forever.