According to Wikipedia, Steampunk is a genre which “originated during the 1980s and early 1990s involving a setting where steam power is widely used—whether in an alternate history such as Victorian era Britain or “Wild West”-era United States, or in a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville.”
I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in at World Steam Expo. I was worried that if I did dress up it wouldn’t be authentic enough, or steam enough– but the best part about the Steam community is that there are many, many avenues in which to take yourself and everyone is warm and welcoming and excepting of each other.
I saw groups of people that looked like they waltzed right out of the 1980s, and then I saw people who were so steamed out with fake arms and even wings that it was almost like you were in another world.
I can’t wait to share my glimpse into this community with you. I can only hope I do it justice. And now, without further ado, meet the crew of Aura Dae, the flying steam-powered ship.
7 Comments
Kathryn
24 Jul 2012 at 5:34 amsteampunk is awesome, as are your photos!
Sara
4 Aug 2012 at 4:17 pmThanks so much, I can’t wait to share more from World Steam!
M. F. Melindy
17 Jul 2012 at 9:06 pmThese are wonderful!
I love how steampunk seems to be getting more attention these days. I was so surprised to find that there was a fairly large steampunk community in my city. Though I doubt I will be joining them any time soon, all spare money goes towards gothic lolita clothing 🙂
Sara
17 Jul 2012 at 10:32 pmThank so much! I’m surprised by how much attention steampunk is getting as well, even so much so that when I use the voice option on my iPad it recognizes the word steampunk (wasn’t expecting that!) – and then there was that episode of Castle that mentioned Steampunk too!
I’ll have to look and see if there’s a steam community in Toronto, but I’m sure there is!
Ashley
17 Jul 2012 at 4:26 pmI love it! I love all the details in the costumes. I hope you share more about your time at the World Steam Expo, it sounds like an amazingly fun event!
Sara
17 Jul 2012 at 10:29 pmHi Ashley! Thanks so much! And yes, I definitely plan to share a lot more from my time at World Steam, especially from the costume contest!
Sara
4 Aug 2012 at 4:25 pmMe too! I can’t wait to share the costume contest they had- it was UNREAL some of the detail in these. Just incredible.