What is Steampunk Fashion?

There are clothes with unique ornaments and decorations, such as gears from a mechanical watch or accessories that look like the insides of a clockwork machine... This is called "steampunk fashion."

steampunk Steampunk brown short sleeve jacket

Everyone is fascinated by the original design and elaborate craftsmanship. Such steampunk fashion and the steampunk worldview are one of the fashions and cultures that were born based on the punk movement of the 1980s.

What kind of culture and worldview is steampunk?

What are the characteristics of steampunk fashion? I would like to explain them.

What is steampunk?

Steampunk (or "stipan" for short) is a style that evokes a fictional world set during the 19th century Industrial Revolution, and is a coined word made by combining "steam" (steam engine) and "cyberpunk."

Due to the popularity of light novels and anime about fantasy set in another world, the steampunk worldview has been attracting renewed attention recently.

As the name suggests, steampunk is characterized by a setting in which steam engines are the main source of power, and by the atmosphere of the Victorian era in England.

The image is of the rapid development of steam engines during the Victorian and Edwardian eras in England, the Wild West era in America, and the Meiji and Taisho periods in Japan, a time of modernization and enlightenment, and the romantic atmosphere of the Taisho era. Before the invention of computers and other things, various things were explained through calculations, and although it may seem very analog from a modern perspective, it can also be said to be futuristic, as mechanical technology had developed at an incredible rate and advanced things could be achieved. This is the retro-future worldview of "steampunk."

What is the origin of the term steampunk fashion?

steampunk laced V-neck blouse Steampunk fashion

Steampunk is popular as a classic science fiction worldview, but now it is becoming increasingly popular as a fashion style.

Where does the word steampunk come from?

The steampunk worldview is a hypothetical, sci-fi worldview of the future, in which the power of the steam engine has evolved to become the main source of power.

Or a parallel world of the current world.

In the world of steampunk, the steam engine is the ultimate form of power. It generates electricity and is used to create various scientific tools.

It is a science fiction world, but with a somewhat retro steampunk feel. It is based on a novel written in the 1980s, set in the Victorian era, when the Industrial Revolution occurred and the world took the opportunity to develop at a rapid pace.

The 1980s was the heyday of the punk movement in the UK.

The punk/new wave movement that began in London in the late 1970s saw punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Ramones shock the world.

The punk movement is characterized by lyrics and performances that incorporate an anti-establishment spirit, such as lyrics that express a destructive impulse and break down existing values, attacking the country's royal family, government, major corporations, and the rock scene, but it also established new values ​​through fashion, creating innovative styles. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood created the basic form of punk fashion, with safety pins, spiky hair, ripped clothes, and clothes with zippers.

The relationship between steampunk and punk fashion

Punk fashion was born from music, but it gave rise to a number of other cultures that shared the defiant "punk" mindset.

One of these was "cyberpunk," and a branch of cyberpunk that further branched off into retro-future came to be called "steampunk."

Cyberpunk is a futuristic worldview similar to movies like "Blade Runner" and "Terminator."

Subculture Cyberpunk Goth

Although it is a work that depicts a future world that no one has ever seen before, it is notable for the fact that it has as one of the themes of the protagonist's words and actions, and the work itself, a rebellion against structures, institutions, and systems (so-called punk) and anti-social tendencies.

In the 1980s, when many science fiction writers were writing science fiction novels set in the Victorian era, science fiction writer KW Jeter wrote the following in a letter published in the science fiction magazine Locus in 1987:

Steampunk Metal Gear Vintage Goggle Hat

Personally, I'd love to find a word to describe the kind of weird historical Victorian fantasy we're writing - maybe we could just use a name for the technology appropriate to that era... like steampunk?

Thus, the term steampan was born.

What is the difference between steampunk fashion and lolita fashion?

Steampunk is a science fiction genre with an appealing retro-future feel. This worldview is expressed through fashion, and unlike Lolita fashion, it is a free world.

Although Lolita fashion covers a wide range of genres, there are certain rules to the style, such as not showing too much skin and wearing layered panniers to create volume.

Furthermore, Lolita fashion is based on the stylized beauty of medieval Rococo and Gothic styles, and because it is aimed at ladies, there are rules about not showing skin, such as wearing tights or socks, or sleeveless tops or jumper skirts.

However, steampunk is a very free style of fashion, so you can enjoy customizing your fashion with your own original ideas.

About the characteristics and details of steampunk fashion

• Victorian and Edwardian Influences: Steampunk is based on Victorian and Edwardian fashion from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and takes inspiration from clothing styles and accessories from this era.
• Retro-future: Steampunk has futuristic elements, but it combines them with 19th century technology and design. Retro-future incorporates mechanical technology and industrial products from that period.
• Gears and Cogs Decoration: Clock cogs and gears, steam engine parts, and other ornaments are common. These items are commonly incorporated into clothing, hats, and accessories.
• Leather and Brass: Leather items and brass embellishments are common, as they add texture and weight to steampunk clothing and accessories.
• Lace and ruffles: Victorian influences may include feminine elements such as lace and ruffles.
• Multiple layers and layering: Steampunk clothing is characterised by a layered style, with vests, jackets, corsets and skirts typically worn on top of each other.
• Hats and goggles: Hats are also an essential part of the steampunk look. Popular hats include top hats, stovepipe hats, and aviator hats. Goggles are also often worn on the head as a steampunk accent.

Steampunk and the world of film and animation

Steampunk has had a major impact on movies and novels since ancient times, and many works that make use of the steampunk worldview have also been created in Japanese culture. Representative works include the anime film "Steamboy" directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, and the TV anime "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" broadcast in 2016, which attracted a lot of attention from steampunk fans and non-fans alike.

A recent new trend is to explore why electrochemistry has not developed, or to set the stage in a hypothetical future where the world of chemistry, once developed, has for some reason fallen into obsolete.

It is said that one of the main reasons why the worldview of steampunk has been attracting attention in recent years is the sense of crisis about the future world due to the evolution of AI.

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Think of it like the world of the movie "The Matrix."

A future dominated by AI has arrived, where robots and AI have been destroyed.

AI such as chatGPT is growing at a rate of 10 times per year.

Since AI and robots are used to monitor and control places where electricity runs, humans have chosen to live without electricity, and instead live by mastering analog chemistry, such as steam engines and gears.

The future of steampunk worlds will be driven by the evolution of AI

Initially, steampunk was a genre that simply moved the setting of cyberpunk to the 19th century, but as the dystopian elements of people being under strict control faded away, it established its own unique worldview. That worldview is a future in which steam engines remain the main source of power. Generally, the future that is the subject of science fiction is a future imagined from the present, but steampunk is a future that combines elements of the past, and people are fascinated by the retro-future feel that steampunk has.