North American and European favorites Frenchy and the Punk are taking the steampunk world by storm with their high-spirited old-world tunes and classy, antique-flavored shows. Since we like them so much, we’ll just let them tell you about themselves: “Fusing foot-stompin’ bohemian cabaret folk, world music, French chanson and `80′s punk with vaudeville charm, steampunk flair and pixie spirit, the [...]
Again we are grateful to blog Beyond Victoriana for generously allowing us to use this post by P. Djeli Clark of the The Disgruntled Haradrim, a follow-up to his previous article. Here again he dreams big about the possibilities of an alternate timeline and what that might mean for a dieselpunk cosplay world. After my last posting on Anti-Fascist dieselpunk and the [...]
Steampunk and burlesque intersect in more ways than one: showmanship, DIY culture, artsy aesthetic, and audience appeal. Young Hayley Jane knows this better than anyone, and has been working for years to combine her musical and artistic skills into a fearsomely energetic one-woman act that rolls singing, dancing, guitar- and ukulele-playing, and stripping into one crazy show. “My father and [...]
The museum of London Docklands is celebrating Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee in true steampunk style with shows of burlesque, Victorian-style hip hop, illusionists, and steampunk craft workshops. What’s a Diamond Jubilee, you ask? The Diamond Jubilee is a celebratory anniversary of a monarch serving 60 years on a throne. Traditionally, the Diamond Jubilee celebrated 75 years, but when Queen [...]
We recently came across a blog, Beyond Victoriana, which like guest blogger Joseph Robert Lewis does an excellent job of examining some of the more peripheral aspects of steampunk and attendant genre dieselpunk. This post, written by P. Djeli Clark from The Disgruntled Haradrim, is a bit historically dense at the beginning, but makes a fascinating point regarding the ethics of [...]
All you potential writers out there – and we know there’s a greater than average number of you in the steampunk community – probably know what we mean when we say that the publication of a first novel is a pretty big deal. But what if it’s your eighth and final book? How exciting is that? To clarify, so that [...]
As we’ve said before, the difference between a blah and a bangin’ steampunk outfit is often in the details. Cufflinks are an excellent example, for though they are small, they constitute proof positive that a gentleman (or cufflink-wearing lady) has the sort of taste we’d expect of anyone hailing from the very proper Victorian age. So what makes a good [...]
Everyone loves a short film, and if that short film should happen to feature alien monsters and a studly British officer – even if he is a little bloodthirsty – then so much the better. Who knew, in fact, that rolling every science fiction and steampunk trope up into one steaming ball of pseudo-political extraterrestrial goodness could be so gratifying? [...]
Compared to our last feature on steampunk Alice in Wonderland, this one seems a bit darker, with a bit more crazy emanating from the excellently dressed White Rabbit. Note the mismatched eyes and giant clock in place of the wristwatch. Alice is still beautiful, though, with a larger than usual hat and a serious application of gears. (Then again, it is [...]
Don’t get me wrong, I love shiny goggles, fantastical airships, and steam-powered prosthetics as much as the next person, but for me, the best thing about Steampunk as a genre is its capacity for revolutionary optimism. Whether you like the gaslamp, Neo-Victorian, or Wild West styling that is common to Steampunk books and movies, the key thing about this genre [...]
The first rule of cosplay is you don’t talk about cosplay. Just kidding. You can talk about cosplay. Okay, so you’re going to your first convention this year and thinking … what the heck do I wear? Don’t worry – it’s not as complicated as it may seem from the outside. Really the root of cosplay is a good idea, [...]
Big fishbowl helmets are part of steampunk the way ice cream is part of Americana or axles are part of cars. Necessary, almost. Luckily for us, there are people out there genuinely dedicated to finding ways to avoid the eternal vacuum of space and gallivant about on the surfaces of airless planets. This helmet seems especially suited to a Victorian-age [...]
If George R. R. Martin created a video game franchise, it would probably look a lot like The Elder Scrolls: an intricately imagined world with history, mythology, culture, characters, and creatures in spades, so complicated that no one really knows how to keep track of it. The open world role-playing game is, in fact, in-depth to the point that no [...]
At one time or another, we’ve all wanted to remodel our kitchens. If we haven’t done it yet, it’s probably because we haven’t seen anything quite as sweet as this one. I mean, really. Not only is that stove the coolest thing we’ve ever seen – note the upside-down tub forming the hood – but the British-inspired accents everywhere are [...]
Blamed for the death of an empress to whom you were fiercely loyal, imprisoned, visited by dark spirits and gifted with supernatural abilities to complement your boundless rage – what would you do? Become an unstoppable assassin, of course! Granted, the storyline of Dishonored isn’t the most original, but when is revenge ever original? Rather, it is gameplay itself that [...]
Eric Larson deals with uncommon problems. An example, you say? How about a foot-and-a-half-tall robot, a major player in this year’s steampunk convention, whose treads keep getting stuck in the darn carpet? “I’m like ‘scratch it, people, we’re going with tires,’” Larson laughed, explaining that the robot’s role as moon mission scout, while intended to be humorous, still involves its [...]
Who doesn’t want to see Sherlock Holmes take on Captain Nemo? Let us rephrase: what steampunk fan in their right mind doesn’t want to see Sherlock Holmes take on Captain Nemo? Answer: everybody. Or wait … nobody. Either way, Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus delivers, an interactive e-book that will feature narrative, device designs, and animated scenes for the [...]
Not a day passes me by without serving up a healthy dose of disappointment, and today was no exception. Today, in fact, may have been worse, since for a few glorious weeks I’d been thinking it was going to be the best day of my life. The day all other days wished they could be. The day my Goliathon finally [...]