Guide to steampunk: part 2 - ladies clothing

When putting together a costume (either steampunk or cosplay) I always find it really helpful to split it up into little bits to make it easier to make and organise.

I also make sure I find lots of photos from the internet to draw inspiration from and to use as references:

 

 

 

All credit to the photographers/models.

 

So, looking at the photos above, lets split the basic steampunk ladies outfit down into its different parts and deal with them separately.

 

Firstly, the skirt. As you can see above, there are lots of different varieties of vintage/steampunk skirts out there! A general ebay search for vintage or victorian clothing is a good place to start. There is a lot of custom made steampunk clothing out there (especially on ebay), however this is quite expensive and best avoided if on a budget.

 

Ebay searching generally requires a good amount of luck, and I was extremely lucky in finding this awesome skirt:

 

The skirt is about mid calf length and made of two layers - a satiny underskirt and black lace overskirt. The lace is shorter giving it a lovely Victorian look to it!

 

Obviously if you were wearing an aviator/pirate/engineer themed outfit you might prefer to wear trousers (as I did for my first steampunk outfit). Mine were dark brown leather (and remarkably cheap for their quality), but any sort of dark coloured trousers would do. Its important to go for materials and styles which fit the steampunk theme.

 

 

 

Next, the top! Normally this consists of two parts - a blouse or shirt and then a corset. The corset is the most difficult, in my opinion, as they can be quite expensive and its hard to find one on ebay that is suitably steampunky. Nevertheless, they can be found if you're lucky! Underbust corset/belt type things are usually the cheapest and easiest to find.

 

I didnt want to wear my corset for the ball as its a bit too gothic. This lead to a dilemma, as my white ruffle blouse really could do with something on top of it to get the layering right...

 

My current solution is to use a black studded waistcoat, which I bought a while ago at Matalan but have never really put into a steampunk outfit before. The only problem with this is I may get too warm at the ball and have to take it off, so I may need a belt or something as a back up plan.

 

 

The blouse is relatively simple, as they can be found quite cheaply and easily both on the internet and in shops. If you prefer, a normal white/black/brown shirt will do over one with ruffles.

 

Shoes! I'm wearing my long black heeled boots as they look suitably steampunky. Anything leather looking is good, especially with buckles.

 

Heres a picture of my finished costume!

 

 





So now I have all my clothing sorted... but what about accessories? (goggles, jewellery, gloves, etc) Well, I'll be blogging about that later on, after I've covered mens clothing.

 

Also, I feel I should point out that steampunk, as with all fashions, comes in many different forms and styles. The guide above is a basic outline for a sort of standard steampunk costume, but a simple google search will reveal so many different variations on the theme!

 

 

Sorry for the bad picture quality, but this was one of my favourite costumes from Goth Weekend last year - a dress with a clockwork key sticking out of the back. The only limit is really your imagination!  

 

I hope you found that helpful... feel free to ask me any questions!

Becky x

 

 

The bat cardiovascular system!

My physiology homework:
'Find a recent paper (last 5 years) related to the function of the cardiovascular system, avoiding reviews; that you will present to the group next week'

In order to make this slightly more interesting, I'm blogging about my topic.

You may recall last time I blogged I mentioned my EPQ on bat wings... well, as part of that EPQ I wrote a very brief summary of adaptations in the bat cardiovascular system for powered flight. I didnt really understand much of it at the time, and as it only made up a few small paragraphs in the report I didnt include much detail. After posting the blog a few days ago I reread my EPQ, leading to my decision now to try to improve my knowledge on this topic.

So.... my findings for my EPQ were basically that: the bats heart is very large relative to its body size, with smaller cardiac muscle fibres than for other mammals. This allows more fibres to be compacted into a smaller volume. The venous system (veins) is also different from other mammals as if acts as a storage reservoir for blood, and contains special shunts to help control blood flow. The storage reservoir could have a function in heat regulation during flight or hibernation.

My research paper is entitled 'Application of local heat induces capillary recruitment in the Pallid bat wing'.

If the dilation of the arteries is inhibited by a blockade of a protein called NO synthase, the blood flow through the wing still increases when heat is applied. The aims of the study were to see if this is due to the capillaries.

Bats were trained to remain resting in a box while the heat was applied, and various pieces of equipment were used to take measurements.
There were three main experiments carried out, and each one was tested both with and without the pharmacological blockade.

1. The first aimed to measure the response of the arterioles to local heat, by finding out the blood vessel diameter and the red blood cell velocities
The results from this experiment confirmed the previously known results by showing that the blockade prevented any dilation through the arterioles. The blood flow in the wing, however, continued to increase despite this.

2. The second measured capillary perfusion (ie how many capillaries were in use). With heating, the number of capillaries in use increased, and this was unaffected by the blockade.

3. The final one measured the activity of structures called precapillary sphincters (which basically open and close to allow blood through the capillary or not). Similarly to experiment 2, the sphincters stayed open for longer and were unaffected by the blockade.

The results showed that capillary recruitment is induced by local heat, and this is independant of the blockade of the substances. The mechanisms through which this acts are currently unknown, but the results suggest some interesting potential causes.

The techniques have been suggested to be of some use to humans, with possible uses for diagnosis of diabetes and kidney failure.

All credit to the authors of the paper: Widmer RJ, Stewart RH, Young MF, Laurinec JE, Laine GA, Quick CM. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17332157 

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky x