What is Steampunk?
four well-dressed steampunks
Steampunk is not, really, a style of punk (although lots of punks and former punks like it). The term “steampunk” was modeled on the word “cyberpunk”. They both share a mix of science fiction elements with things that weren’t (at the time the word was made) associated with SF. But whereas cyberpunk mixed classic SF (far future) with gritty, punk, dystopian visions of the near future, steampunk goes one step further (or one step further back), and mixes classic SF elements with…the past.
Huh? Future plus past? How is that different from the present?
Welcome to an archaic version of the future, something akin to what H.G.Wells or Jules Verne might have imagined the 21st century to look like, or maybe more like what Edgar Allen Poe might have imagined if he had spent more time writing science fiction. Looked at another way, steampunk is what happens if you take the coolest parts of the 19th and early 20th century (no later than the Great War), and added them to the best parts of the 21st century that we were promised and never got. Or at least, not yet.
So, what would that look like?
Look around you for a moment, and think about how much of what you see is either (1) powered by electricity, or (2) plastic. What would it look like if you replaced the electricity with gas, steam, and clockwork; and replaced the plastic with rubber, copper, canvas, and wood? Here’s a hint: it wouldn’t look like your world any more. It would be a strange mix of familiar and exotic. It would be pretty close to steampunk.
Ok, I Know What It Is Now, But I Have to Go to This Party, and It’s Steampunk, and I Don’t Know What to Do. Can You Help Me Out?
Maybe. The one thing about steampunk that IS punk, is the DIY aesthetic. You can buy steampunk clothes, perhaps at Secret Oktober! But it’s better if you throw your own spin onto it. Victorian or Edwardian is a good base to start with (remember that it could be Old West instead of English), then add something (relatively) modern to it. So, after you’ve picked up your corset or duster, tiny Victorian hat or pith helmet or tophat, take a trip to the hardware store. Brass, copper, or gold is worth looking at, and seeing if you can work with it. Then, hit the military surplus store. Rubber, canvas, leather or glass might work. Remember, though, no plastic! Plastic is the enemy. If you must, at least cover it with metallic paint.
Is That A Rule? That Woman in the top picture has some sort of weird plastic pneumatic tubing on her hand, and that looks pretty cool.
Ok, so there are no absolute rules, here (I guess that part is punk too). But unless it’s something that would look at home on the set of the movie “City of Lost Children” or the pages of the comic book “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, give it a pass and reach for the brass/ canvas/ wood/ leather/ copper/ rope/ my-god-something-besides-plastic. Leave behind, for the night, the way the 21st century actually turned out, and give a thought to how it could have (should have? could?).
Steampunk at Secret Oktober
