Steampunk sewing

[blamebrampton]

The festival of knitting is in full swing, but I have a Steampunk party to cobble an outfit together for. It's in a month, and I have the perfect footwear (actually, I have two perfect sets of boots and one ideal set of shoes, I may have a small issue) and a corset and antique watch and chain ... that's it. Four weeks is enough time to pull together a decent outfit, and I have scads of fabric, so I can manage it without spending any extra cash, but I wonder if costuming is enough to give a truly steampunk approach. In short, help!

[Poll #1589017]

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You're quite right, what I need is a character.

Thinking about it, in steampunk land I would have a few options when it came to career. I could be:
* A leading politician, or, countries that still had issues with women and voting, a charming wife or mistress of a leading politician.

* A pamphleteer, keeping the presses free!

* A Lady Explorer, with her own dirigible and team of excellent cartographers, keen on learning new things and not annoying the natives, though occasionally having to lop the head off other explorers who are less culturally sensitive.

* A simple country Lady, with a standing militia of only three or four hundred horse and a few thousand foot soldiers. Shhh! A girl can dream! And they'll be handy for holding back the zombies that always seem to appear in these stories these days.

[ravurian]

You could be an eccentric inventrice, or a clockwork courtesan, or a threadbare thief with a ticking secret. Or you could combine your hobbies and be steampunk witch with a steampimped wand...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

OOH! I like the last one ;-)

Alas, my inventions would all be along the lines of Comfy Saddle With Drinks Cooler, and Stable Ladder For Climbing From One's City Residence Into One's Dirigible.

I would know I should be working on vaccines and aether radios, but my uselessness at biology, chemistry and electrical engineering would show!

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Hey now. This big, mad world needs all kinds of inventions!

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I would have failed to invent penicillin, but been well ahead of my time with soft toilet paper ;-)

[chantefable.livejournal.com]

You would have many, many options, dear. (The most important thing about the outfit is: comfort. A dress is not a choker.)

Oh, have a look:
* A leading politician, or, countries that still had issues with women and voting, a charming wife or mistress of a leading politician: this! (by Alexis Mabille)

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Oh comfort ... I've worn corsets spanning 500 years of fashion, comfort is as nothing to the right silhouette!

And OMG! That is Narcissa Malfoy's frock!

[chantefable.livejournal.com]

It is! Isn't it fabulous?!

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I like all of those characters! And I can definitely see different pieces in my head that would work for each. My favorite is the pamphleteer. ♥

If you need ideas for how things could look you might try here. Or you could do a little digging through steamfashion and see what other people have done recently.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Those are great links! (Foresees hours of timewasting that should be spent sewing!)

Heh! I have a dreadful idea of the sorts of pamphlets I would produce, too ... maybe I will work on that for the local Steampunk World Faire in September ...