I love it! I'm totally doing this look for Halloween. It's very Janelle Monae
On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 8:57 PM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Steampunks: The New > Goth?<http://lalablahblah.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/steampunks-the-new-goth/> > May > 12, 2008 > > <http://lalablahblah.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/steampunks.jpg> > > So maybe im late on this one but just found out about this > trend/movement/identity called Steampunks. They basically look super*Gangs > of New York, *dressing in antique clothes, buying antique objects and for > hardcore Steampunks– they redesign new technology like iPhones (wrapped in > burnished brass) or Mac computers (modify keyboards with old cash register > buttons and such), etc. > > I love the aesthetic and revival of old technology, but these peops claim > they are the “new goth”. Let me tell you something Steampunkers, no one > should ever want to be the new goth! Goth kids suck… if you’re still in > Highschool and think its super OG, roll with it, but the day you graduate > you better burn up your Wednesday Adams’ wardrobe because there’s nothing > more un-original or stylish than turning in your personal identity for some > non-mainstream outfit subscription (pent-up goth anger since 96′). > > Steampunk Moves Between 2 Worlds > Robert Wright for The New York Times > > From left, Deacon Boondini, the Great Gatsby and Giovanni James of the > James Gang share a vision with the designer Alexander McQueen. More Photos > > <http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/07/style/0508-PUNK_index.html> > > - > FACEBOOK<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin#> > - TWITTER > - RECOMMEND > - SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE > THIS<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin> > - > PRINT<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=fashion&pagewanted=print> > > <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=fashion&pagewanted=all> > - > REPRINTS<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin#> > - > SHARE<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin#> > > > <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/fashion&pos=Frame4A&sn2=c740a924/e0616715&sn1=6f0360e9/dedb69d1&camp=foxsearch2010_emailtools_1225559c_nyt5&ad=BlackSwan_120x60_08.18.10&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2Fblackswan> > By RUTH LA > FERLA<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/ruth_la_ferla/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > Published: May 8, 2008 > > “MEET Showtime,” said Giovanni James, a musician, magician and inventor of > sorts, introducing his prized dove, who occupies a spacious cage in Mr. > James’s apartment in Midtown Manhattan. Showtime is integral to Mr. James’s > magic act and to his décor, a sepia-tone universe straight out of the > gaslight era. > Multimedia > [image: Steampunk]Slide > Show<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/07/style/0508-PUNK_index.html> > Steampunk<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/07/style/0508-PUNK_index.html> > Enlarge This > Image<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin> > <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fashion/08PUNK.html?_r=2&ref=fashion&oref=slogin> > Robert Wright for The New York Times > > The structured clothing of the steampunk movement. More Photos > »<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/07/style/0508-PUNK_index.html> > > The lead singer of a neovaudevillian performance troupe called the James > Gang, Mr. James has assembled his universe from oddly assorted props and > castoffs: a gramophone with a crank and velvet turntable, an old wooden > icebox and a wardrobe rack made from brass pipes that were ballet bars in a > previous incarnation. > > Yes, he owns a flat-screen television, but he has modified it with a burlap > frame. He uses an > iPhone<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/iphone/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>, > but it is encased in burnished brass. Even his clothing — an unlikely fusion > of current and neo-Edwardian pieces (polo shirt, gentleman’s waistcoat, > paisley bow tie), not unlike those he plans to sell this summer at his own > Manhattan haberdashery — is an expression of his keenly romantic worldview. > > It is also the vision of steampunk, a subculture that is the aesthetic > expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, > design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of > dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped > protosubmarines. First appearing in the late 1980s and early ’90s, steampunk > has picked up momentum in recent months, making a transition from what used > to be mainly a literary taste to a Web-propagated way of life. > > To some, “steampunk” is a catchall term, a concept in search of a visual > identity. “To me, it’s essentially the intersection of technology and > romance,” said Jake von Slatt, a designer in Boston and the proprietor of > the Steampunk Workshop (steampunkworkshop.com), where he exhibits such > curiosities as a computer furnished with a brass-frame monitor and vintage > typewriter keys. > > That definition is loose enough to accommodate a stew of influences, > including the streamlined retro-futurism of Flash Gordon and Japanese > animation with its goggle-wearing hackers, the postapocalyptic scavenger > style of “Mad Max,” and vaudeville, burlesque and the structured gentility > of the Victorian age. In aggregate, steampunk is a trend that is rapidly > outgrowing niche status. > > “There seems to be this sort of perfect storm of interest in steampunk > right now,” Mr. von Slatt said. “If you go to Google Trends and track the > number of times it is mentioned, the curve is almost algorithmic from a year > and a half ago.” (At this writing, Google cites 1.9 million references.) > > “Part of the reason it seems so popular is the very difficulty of pinning > down what it is,” Mr. von Slatt added. “That’s a marketer’s dream.” > > Devotees of the culture read Jules > Verne<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/v/jules_verne/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > and > H. G. Wells, as well as more recent speculative fiction by William Gibson, > James P. Blaylock and Paul Di Filippo, the author of “The Steampunk > Trilogy,” the historical science fiction novellas that lent the culture its > name. They watch films like “The City of Lost Children” (with costumes > designed by Jean Paul > Gaultier<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/jean_paul_gaultier/index.html?inline=nyt-per>), > “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Brazil,” Terry > Gilliam<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/terry_gilliam/index.html?inline=nyt-per>’s > dystopian fantasy satirizing the modern industrial age; and they listen to > melodeons and Gypsy strings mixed with industrial goth. > > They build lumbering contraptions like the steampunk treehouse, a > rusted-out 40-foot sculpture assembled last year at the Burning Man festival > in Nevada and unveiled last month at the > Coachella<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/coachella_valley_music_and_arts_festival/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> > music > festival in Southern California. They trawl eBay for saw-tooth cogs and > watch parts to dress up their Macs and headsets, then show off their > inventions to kindred spirits on the Web. > > And, in keeping with the make-it-yourself ethos of punk, they assemble > their own fashions, an adventurous pastiche of neo-Victorian, Edwardian and > military style accented with sometimes crudely mechanized accouterments like > brass goggles and wings made from pulleys, harnesses and clockwork pendants, > to say nothing of the odd ray gun dangling at the hip. Steampunk style is > corseted, built on a scaffolding of bustles, crinolines and parasols and > high-arced sleeves not unlike those favored by the movement’s designer > idols: Nicolas > Ghesquiere<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/nicolas_ghesquiere/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > of > Balenciaga, Alexander > McQueen<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/alexander_mcqueen/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > and, > yes, even Ralph > Lauren<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/ralph_lauren/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > . > > Quaint to some eyes, or outright bizarre, steampunk fashion is compelling > all the same. It is that rarity, a phenomenon with the potential to capture > a wider audience, offering a genteel and disciplined alternative to both the > slack look of hip-hop and the menacing spirit of goth. > > The elaborate mourning dresses, waistcoats, hacking jackets and high-button > shoes are goth’s stepchildren, for sure, but the overall look is “not so > much eyeliner and fishnets,” said Evelyn Kriete, who sells advertising space > for magazines like Steampunk, The Willows and Weird Tales, and who manages > Jaborwhalky Productions (jaborwhalky.com), a steampunk Web site. > > Ms. Kriete and her eccentrically outfitted cohort of teachers, designers, > writers and medical students, drew stares last week at a picnic at the > Cloisters in Manhattan, but provoked no shudders or discernible hostility. > > “As a subculture, we are not the spawn of Satan,” Ms. Kriete said. “People > smile when they see us. They want to take our picture.” > > Robert Brown, the lead singer for Abney Park, a goth band that has > reinvented itself as steampunk, echoed her sentiments. “Steampunk is not > dark and spooky,” he said. “It’s elegant and beautiful.” > > Even heroic, if you like. The movement may have a postapocalyptic strain, > but proponents tend to cast themselves as spirited survivors. Molly > Friedrich, an artist and a jewelry designer in Seattle, approaches > steampunk, she said, “from a perspective of 1,000 years into the future, > after society has crumbled but people have chosen to live in Victorian > fashion, wearing scavenged clothes.” In keeping with her vision, Ms. > Friedrich has devised an alternate identity composed of petticoats, old > military storm coats, goggles and aviator caps with an Amelia > Earhart<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/e/amelia_earhart/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > flair. > > She takes her emotional cues from scientists and inventors like Nikola > Tesla, magicians like Harry > Houdini<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/harry_houdini/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > and > soulful spies like Mata Hari, each of whom injected a spirit of enterprise, > intrigue and discovery into their age. Contemporary fictional parallels in > film include the wildly ingenious scientist played by Robert Downey > Jr.<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/robert_jr_downey/index.html?inline=nyt-per> > in > “Iron Man,” who hopes to save the world by retooling himself as a > flame-throwing robot made of unwieldy scrap metal parts. > > If steampunk has a mission, it is, in part, to restore a sense of wonder to > a technology-jaded world. “Today satellite photos make the planet seem so > small,” Mr. Brown lamented. “Where is the adventure it that?” In contrast, > steampunk, with its airships, test tubes and time machines, is, he said, > “sort of a dream , the way we used to daydream. It’s like part of your > childhood’s just bursting forward again.” > > For some of its adherents, steampunk also offers a metaphoric coping > device. “It has an intellectual tie to the artists and artisans dealing with > a world in turmoil at the time of the industrial revolution,” said Crispen > Smith, a Web designer and photographer in Toronto, and a partner in a > steampunk fashion business. > > Now, as in the late 19th century, “we have to find a way to deal with new > ethical quandaries,” Mr. Smith said, alluding to issues like cloning, the > dissemination of information and intellectual property rights on the Web. > > Steampunk style is also an expression of a desire to return to ritual and > formality. “Steampunk has its tea parties and its time-travelers balls,” > said Deborah Castellano, who presides over salonconvention.com, which > organizes neo-Victorian conventions. “It offers an element of glamour that > some of us would otherwise never experience.” > > And an enticing marketing hook. The Bombay Company is selling > steampunk-style brass home accessories, instruments like astrolabes and > sextants. A steampunk fantasy game, Edge of Twilight, will be introduced by > Xbox 360 and PlayStation next year. > > And steampunk fashion, which until now has been a mainstay of craft fairs > and destinations like eBay and Etsy, the online market for handmade clothing > designs and artifacts, is finding its way into the brick and mortar world. > > Gypsymoon.com <http://gypsymoon.com/> has begun offering its cream and > umber petticoats, an Air Pirate ruched tunic and Time Machine bloomers at > boutiques. Abney Park is selling swallowtail tuxedos, antiqued flight > helmets and airship pirate T-shirts, like those it wears on stage, at > abneypark.com and at concerts across the country. > > Mr. James, who performs with his troupe at the Box, the music-hall hideaway > on the Lower East Side, has just leased space for a steampunk shop in > NoLIta. He plans to offer brass Rubik’s cubes, riding boots, > early-20th-century-style motorbikes, handmade leather mailbags and brass or > wooden iPhone cases, all under the label TJG Engineering. > > There will, of course, be a clothing line with vintage and new looks > modeled on Mr. James’s own neo-Edwardian sartorial signature. “I’m so sick > of baggy pants hanging off your bottom,” he said. “This is more refined. It > goes back to a time when people had some dignity. > > “It’s a new day.” > > > -- Get Social and Follow Me: Read my blog at http://BrandsGoSocial.com Join me on Facebook http://facebook.com/mikestreet Follow me on Twitter Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/streetforce1 Join the Harlem NY Community http://www.facebook.com/harlemny
