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

 

 

Goth Weekend

First up, an apology. I wont be updating my blog very often now until my exams are over. I'm sorry, but I need to get these grades to go to uni :(

Secondly, I realise its a bit late, but heres the pics from Goth Weekend!
 (warning, this post is very picture heavy)

This was an epic cat, such a poser.

My favourite costume that I saw, really awesome and steampunky =D

And now some pictures of my own costume:

Pretty much everything came from ebay - black corset with chains, white Victorian blouse, brown leather trousers, guns and gun holster, the compulsory steampunk goggles.

The jewellery was of course all made by me. In the end I ran out of time due to revision (hate that word, and all it represents), but I still managed to make a new ear cuff:

Silver wire and antique chain, silver wing charm, genuine watch parts and labradorite chip bead. The rainbow colour on the labradorite isnt due to the camera, its a property of the gemstone when the light hits it in a certain way, called labradorescence/the Schiller effect/chatoyancy (I've heard so many terms for it, but everyone agrees that its beautiful...). Labradorite is one of my favourite gemstones, no, it IS my favourite, because of this effect.

What are your favourite gemstones?

The pendant I wore was one I made a while ago, my first piece of steampunk jewellery:

Mexican gonaiatite (primitive ammonite), with watch parts and beads. I improvised with part of another necklace for the collar so that it would work with the high necked ruffles of the blouse. I also wore a necklace with a watch on it, which was a gift.

The weekend was awesome :D The costumes were incredible, the atmosphere was fantastic, I loved looking round the stalls and spent FAR too much money... With my costume being hastily cobbled together and not really handmade (except the jewellery), I never expected to be such a hit with the photographers either. There comes a point where you cant move down Church Street without being heckled for pictures.

This was a really unusual experience for me, but I enjoyed it!

http://www.eganheadleyphotography.com/whitby-girl

My mum got in contact with this photographer to ask for a print, and he's offered to do a photo shoot for my jewellery in the future :D I spent about half an hour bouncing round the house in amazement and joy :D :D :D A modelling session, just wow....

What kind of jewellery do you think I should make for it?

I'm planning on asking a few people if they would like to help me out, and it will all depend on what clothing they have I suppose, for the colour scheme... but opinions would be wonderful :)

Should I go entirely steampunk? Or mix with some of the more standard jewellery?

Anyone got any pieces of my jewellery they especially like?

Hope you're all doing well :)

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

Becky x

Steampunk

So I was planning what I want to do for Goth Weekend, and I bought a load of awesome steampunky stuff =P

First up, the alchemy bottles:

I think these are just so awesome! The ones on the left are vials to put coloured liquid and watch parts in, the rest are little bottles and jars. Some of these are for jewellery making, others are for an alchemy belt pouch thing I'm planning on making for my steampunk outfit for Goth Weekend. The ebay seller put another vial in as a free gift, which was very kind of them.

Also, I dropped by my favourite jewellers and they gave me more watch parts!

Looking on ebay, (which is where most dA jewellery makers recommend you look), everything is so expensive and really popular too, and bidding wars are bad if you really really need the item! So I'd say ask at your local jewellers! They give me all these for free, only downside is I have to take them apart myself, but that’s actually quite fun... ¬¬

<- In progress shot of watch dismantling

I'll be making some more steampunk stuff soon, some to sell and some to wear at Goth Weekend. For the rest of my outfit, the white blouse came the other day, but I'm waiting till the corset and trousers arrive before I take a picture and upload it all. The corset is black and awesome with chains hanging down the front, I really like it =D

I also recently found an awesome steampunk-ish singer called Emilie Autumn (thanks Charlotte =3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNbCA2kb9bA