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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 8:53 pm
I have have been toying with ideas for a steampunk persona and costume to go with it, and so far I have come up with...very little, because although I am a moderately skilled seamstress, I am often lacking in the creativity department, especially when it comes to clothes. Especially especially when it comes to clothes for myself. That's because while I absolutely adore bustle skirts and lace, and my head tends to be full of them, my gender issues preclude my wearing them without very. Very. Good reason. Because wearing dresses sometimes makes me want to kill people. Other times it makes me feel pretty, but usually it's the killing thing. Anyway, with that in mind, I request any aid, encouragement, or mindless blather this distressingly catatonic guild has to offer. I have three possibilities in mind: Highwayman: A touch unoriginal, and really completely inspired by this collection of pictures and a story I once heard (which I believe to be true) about a female highwayman who was brought to trial and aquitted because she strategically flashed her ankle to the jury. My enthusiasm for the idea mostly rests on the opportunity to carry a sword. I like swords. Poisoner/Assassin/Torturer: This idea arose from some steampunk gas masks I saw a while ago, and the random urge to come up with steampunk versions of the Diablo Assassin class weapons, with mechanical modifications rather than magical reasons for imbuing them with poison or electrical damage. (Some inspiration also comes from a character from the excessively good book Scar Night, which I would recommend if the sequels weren't so damn disappointing.) I have actually succeeded in creating a passable pattern for a half-mask out of paper, one day hopefully to be rendered in leather. Also, I love the idea of carrying around Vials of Mysterious Substances and some Mysterious and Highly Suspect Devices. I also have some friends working on Victorian lady-type costumes, and it would be great fun for me to present myself to them as an Unscrupulous Person for Hire. Every lady needs one. Occultist: This one vies with the Poisoner in opportunities for incredible accessorization, but also in the what-the-heck-would-one-wear department. It would certainly involve some Lovcraftian influences, perhaps a pocket-sized Necronomicon or Unsprachlicher Kulten, an Elder Sign, pentagrams and some astrological paraphenalia. But my only clothing idea is that it should have a hood. Fezzes Hoods are cool. Side Project: Something to Wear to the Orchestra People wear strange things to the orchestra (I'd say the opera, but I've never actually been to one), and one day I'd like to out-strange them with some neo-Victorianna. For this I think I could stand to wear a dress. My dilemma is how to make a Victorian skirt that isn't so poofy it's a nuisence to the people next to me ^^;; If you read all that, good for you. Feel free to post some mindless blather just to say you did. If you couldn't tell, I revel in blather.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 11:48 am
That pistol is one burly pepperbox.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:18 pm
But fezzes are so cool
I really like the ideas you have come up with, I think this is a great opportunity for a creative tidlewave. Or a gale. Or something of the sort, don't ask me, I'm no good with descriptive words and that sort of blubber. Blubber? Blabber. I don't care anymore.
ANYWAYS.
and bowties. Bowties are awesome too
I like the idea of the highway(wo)man, and I especially like the picture you picked to go with that, BUT. BUT BUT BUT.
The iea of an occultist, it's different and interesting, and I just want to see something like that. As an artist, I can't even comprehend the amazing costuming that could be made with this idea. It's positively mind-altering and vision-blowing. I'm thinking purples and golds for that, with subtle hints of blue.
I like the idea of a poisoner, but I an not sure how to form a character around that. Perhaps a biologist or a chemist, with a murderous dark side.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 2:45 pm
@Kurisu: Such burly. Such pepperbox. One can scarcely comprehend the manly sneezes it makes us to undergo.
@Tailen: I could really be satisfied with a slight zephyr, at this point. And a fez. (I should come up with an excuse for a steampunk character to wear a fez. And omigawd have you watched Torchwood? Because I just finished the second series and the original Torchwood Institute was so incredibly steampunk and awesome. And evil. Also evil. <333)
Purple and golds, with subtle hints of blue. Got it. -making a list- But what would one wear?!? -rages at an uncomunicative muse- Come to think of it, I never really had any sort of clear picture in my head for the occultist - I'm not even sure if I want it to be a full-fledged cultist or just a researcher. An occult researcher would be easier to keep within the steampunk domain, but cultists are oh-so-much-fun.
My idea for the poisoner's character comes mostly from that book I mentioned - and now I realize his exposition didn't make much sense. He was just sort of billed as the imperial (or royal, or church; I forget who he actually worked for) poisoner, with no reasoning given as to why the heck the empire actually needed a poisoner. But *I* think *all* self-respecting empires need a poisoner/assassin/torturer, though it wouldn't be such of an official post. Like I said, I'd be an Unscrupulous Person for Hire, a mercinary to fight in battles of industrial espionage, politics, inquisitions, the affairs of spurned lovers, what have you. I'm starting to like this idea more as I talk about it, but I still. Don't. Know. What. To. Wear >.<
Though perhaps I just like it because I want to print calling cards that say "Emily Sturman, Uncrupulous Person for Hire." Or something like that. I need a better first name. But it still has to start with E, because I found an antique silver business card holder with my initials on it, of which I am very proud.
But I'm still agonizing about how to make an outfit that isn't a dress that looks appropriately Victorian enough >.< Or should I just bite it and wear one? But what kind of torturer wears a dress? Or do all the best torturers wear dresses, and I just didn't know it? It would be interesting, to say the least...
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 2:52 pm
I've been personally experimenting with combining steampunk with Voodoo and other "backwoods" occult influences the idea I currently have to build from is morbid gentry apothecary meets primative shaman.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:08 pm
Akonite I've been personally experimenting with combining steampunk with Voodoo and other "backwoods" occult influences the idea I currently have to build from is morbid gentry apothecary meets primative shaman. Very nice. I was toying with an idea somewhat like that while I was reading Heart of Darkness, for some reason (on a side note, I have never loved an assigned text as much as I loved that book). I've always liked "Victorian England + places Victorian England colonized" steampunk, but I'd never seen any with an African influence. Of course, most of us, myself include, aren't black enough to pull something like that off... I also like the idea of Druidic steampunk, though I might have gotten that idea from watching Hellboy II... And that makes me wonder if anybody has thought to combine native American shamanism with a steamwestern style... Aiiee!! Now I've just got a bunch of really epic ideas chasing each other around my skull and STILL NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR! Power to the morbid gentry! -fist pump-
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:32 pm
Master Ulthar Akonite I've been personally experimenting with combining steampunk with Voodoo and other "backwoods" occult influences the idea I currently have to build from is morbid gentry apothecary meets primative shaman. Very nice. I was toying with an idea somewhat like that while I was reading Heart of Darkness, for some reason (on a side note, I have never loved an assigned text as much as I loved that book). I've always liked "Victorian England + places Victorian England colonized" steampunk, but I'd never seen any with an African influence. Of course, most of us, myself include, aren't black enough to pull something like that off... I also like the idea of Druidic steampunk, though I might have gotten that idea from watching Hellboy II... And that makes me wonder if anybody has thought to combine native American shamanism with a steamwestern style... Aiiee!! Now I've just got a bunch of really epic ideas chasing each other around my skull and STILL NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR! Power to the morbid gentry! -fist pump- If you've got money to put towards it you're likely to beat me to the punch assembling those costumes. I plan to spend about $100 at necromance.com on skulls and feather pads (also a good spot to buy bugs for the steampunk taxidermy)
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 3:54 pm
Hah, you'll beat me. I'm cheap. Though I do happen to have, lessee, at last count...three unidentified leg bones, two human-sized vertibrae, a large pile of feathers of various kinds, a fox tail, a rabbit pelt died to look like zebra (don't ask; it's from a Renn Faire when I was twelve), and the skull of some large water rodent, possibly a muskrat.
I might be able to do something with that.
Though I'm still almost set on the poisoner/assassin/torturer.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 4:31 pm
Another post just to say that perhaps I should wear a dress, even though they sometimes make me want to kill people, because that would probably be in character.
But then I fall upon the dilemma of designing a skirt that doesn't make it seem unlikely that I would jump on somebody with a poisoned dagger and a set of thumbscrews and demand they tell me all they know about the German empire's designs on India, or Lady Harrowgrave's designs on the Duke of Westphalia, or some such thing. I have never cared for badass warrioresses in irrational clothes and high heels. It has to be practical. So that means: no bustle. Yet it also must look presentable in high society, while designed to lurk in the inky shadows behind high society. (As I suspected, google imaging "evil fighting skirt" was not particularly helpful.)
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 8:12 pm
Master Ulthar Another post just to say that perhaps I should wear a dress, even though they sometimes make me want to kill people, because that would probably be in character. But then I fall upon the dilemma of designing a skirt that doesn't make it seem unlikely that I would jump on somebody with a poisoned dagger and a set of thumbscrews and demand they tell me all they know about the German empire's designs on India, or Lady Harrowgrave's designs on the Duke of Westphalia, or some such thing. I have never cared for badass warrioresses in irrational clothes and high heels. It has to be practical. So that means: no bustle. Yet it also must look presentable in high society, while designed to lurk in the inky shadows behind high society. (As I suspected, google imaging "evil fighting skirt" was not particularly helpful.) This is where the concept of the battle corset and slitted skirts come in handy. Instead of a cushioned bustle have a wire cage design you can hide weapons and containers in or strapped to (I was contemplating building..or having someone else build...something similar with water and a drinking tube running up under my bodice for Arizona conventions) thigh holsters, panel skirts, tactical corsets, and dangerous hair accessories... the lady assassin's friend
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 11:02 pm
Akonite Master Ulthar Another post just to say that perhaps I should wear a dress, even though they sometimes make me want to kill people, because that would probably be in character. But then I fall upon the dilemma of designing a skirt that doesn't make it seem unlikely that I would jump on somebody with a poisoned dagger and a set of thumbscrews and demand they tell me all they know about the German empire's designs on India, or Lady Harrowgrave's designs on the Duke of Westphalia, or some such thing. I have never cared for badass warrioresses in irrational clothes and high heels. It has to be practical. So that means: no bustle. Yet it also must look presentable in high society, while designed to lurk in the inky shadows behind high society. (As I suspected, google imaging "evil fighting skirt" was not particularly helpful.) This is where the concept of the battle corset and slitted skirts come in handy. Instead of a cushioned bustle have a wire cage design you can hide weapons and containers in or strapped to (I was contemplating building..or having someone else build...something similar with water and a drinking tube running up under my bodice for Arizona conventions) thigh holsters, panel skirts, tactical corsets, and dangerous hair accessories... the lady assassin's friend Tactical corset! -googles- O.O How the heck did I not know that "tactical corset" was a real thing?!? This completely revolutionizes my view of the world! Combined with those articulated digigrade stilts that I also found completely unexpectedly, the world is now a beautiful and awesome place! I can now face my impending AP Music Theory test with...no. It's not quite that beautiful. Slitted skirt. I like that. Probably still won't have a bustle, wire and full of weapons or no - I like the idea of hiding stuff under bustles, but I don't think I can take the additional rotational inertia (sorry - too much physics of late). Though you're water idea is brilliant. Sort of like a Camelbak for your butt... My hair may be too short to support any dangerous accessories, but I'll try XD By the way, your avatar is gorgeous.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:29 pm
if i may be of assistance i love the Highwaywoman idea, and with the not-fond-of-dresses thing is the perfect chance to go for a more masculine outfit. as for ideas... - how about getting some neon-green plastic piping (the cheap see-through green stuff that looks glowy) and making some sort of wiring/cables coming out of your shoulder into your arm, etc? - you could include a design ive been working on if you liked, a half-waistcoat ive been making (shameless self promotion i know). its simple enough to make but looks original, and you can show whatever you like beneath the belted half (patterned shirt, "bionics", torso-mounted holster, neon-green-piping, etc) also, with the three-pointed highwaymans hat, put a feather in it. cos feathers are cool.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:11 pm
Master Ulthar Akonite Master Ulthar Another post just to say that perhaps I should wear a dress, even though they sometimes make me want to kill people, because that would probably be in character. But then I fall upon the dilemma of designing a skirt that doesn't make it seem unlikely that I would jump on somebody with a poisoned dagger and a set of thumbscrews and demand they tell me all they know about the German empire's designs on India, or Lady Harrowgrave's designs on the Duke of Westphalia, or some such thing. I have never cared for badass warrioresses in irrational clothes and high heels. It has to be practical. So that means: no bustle. Yet it also must look presentable in high society, while designed to lurk in the inky shadows behind high society. (As I suspected, google imaging "evil fighting skirt" was not particularly helpful.) This is where the concept of the battle corset and slitted skirts come in handy. Instead of a cushioned bustle have a wire cage design you can hide weapons and containers in or strapped to (I was contemplating building..or having someone else build...something similar with water and a drinking tube running up under my bodice for Arizona conventions) thigh holsters, panel skirts, tactical corsets, and dangerous hair accessories... the lady assassin's friend Tactical corset! -googles- O.O How the heck did I not know that "tactical corset" was a real thing?!? This completely revolutionizes my view of the world! Combined with those articulated digigrade stilts that I also found completely unexpectedly, the world is now a beautiful and awesome place! I can now face my impending AP Music Theory test with...no. It's not quite that beautiful. Slitted skirt. I like that. Probably still won't have a bustle, wire and full of weapons or no - I like the idea of hiding stuff under bustles, but I don't think I can take the additional rotational inertia (sorry - too much physics of late). Though you're water idea is brilliant. Sort of like a Camelbak for your butt... My hair may be too short to support any dangerous accessories, but I'll try XD By the way, your avatar is gorgeous. Thank you, I have avatar ADD here and on IMVU my outfits change at least once per visit. Yes the tactical corset isn't a myth and I think that's awfully cheap for bullet proof lingerie.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:06 pm
fire - link if i may be of assistance i love the Highwaywoman idea, and with the not-fond-of-dresses thing is the perfect chance to go for a more masculine outfit. as for ideas... - how about getting some neon-green plastic piping (the cheap see-through green stuff that looks glowy) and making some sort of wiring/cables coming out of your shoulder into your arm, etc? - you could include a design ive been working on if you liked, a half-waistcoat ive been making (shameless self promotion i know). its simple enough to make but looks original, and you can show whatever you like beneath the belted half (patterned shirt, "bionics", torso-mounted holster, neon-green-piping, etc) also, with the three-pointed highwaymans hat, put a feather in it. cos feathers are cool. Hey, you're the one I told to use more rivets! Tis good to see thee on these shores again! (Anyone who knows what I quoted will recieve much love.) Aiiee, I love the crazy cyborg arm stuff...but I am soooo terribly incompetent...yargh! Maybe it is time to try. Maybe...do you have any idea how people make/where they get that neon green tubing? Even if I didn't use it for an arm, that stuff would be exceedingly good to have on hand... Hmm...you have opened my mind to not only half-waistcoats but asymetrical things in general...hmm...I must ponder... Oh, there will be feathers indeed. Feathers are necessary. (And I have three gorgeous red-tailed hawk feathers and nothing to do with them.)
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 4:36 pm
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