Victorian Steampunk Dress
This was my first time at a steampunk convention. They recently changed their schedule so that it no longer is on the same weekend as a larger nearby convention, so this is the first year I didn't have to choose between the 2.
This con had an older audience, and very few people under 30. It also had a different feel than the regular anime convention. Smaller, cleaner, more polite, more artful.
Their merchants sold clothing accessories that didn’t quite look Victorian, but more fantasy-ish, it could’ve been easily sold at the renaissance faire. Ruffled overskirts, wide belts with pockets, big flower headbands, leather armor bits for shoulders, ect. Also, I think the merchandise was all at a higher price point than the usual convention, which makes sense since the audience is older and has more money to spend on accoutrements, like top hat clocks and light-up gear brooches.
My steampunk dress, green and red with gold trim. Lots of the older ladies loved the back of my dress. I never considered it, but apparently, no one mass produces bustled gowns, so most of the attendees don’t even try to do it. Most of the older ladies there wore straight suit dresses, so they looked a bit like Mary Poppins.
See my Victorian Lady page for a brief history of the American Victorian Era. Victorian Era 1837 to 1901, a lot of stuff happened in American during that time: Abraham Lincoln. Mark Twain. The Civil War. Union and Confederacy. California Gold Rush 1849. Civil Rights Act of 1866. Thomas Edison. Susan B Anthony. American Wild West.
Steampunk of course is very different, it’s the fantasy fashion of what clothing would look like IF steam power was predominately used during that time period, and everything was clockwork engineered [instead of digital]. Retro-futuristic, it's a subgenre of science fiction fantasy, that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. SO, Hats and Goggles for all.
I made this dress out of another dress. This outfit started out as a 90s prom dresses. I realize that it doesn’t look like it now, but at one point this dress was very 90s. I have pictures. It was a drop waistline dress with a big flower at the hip, graduated skirt, and an off shoulder with a gathered wrap neckline. It also came with a svelte little jacket that didn’t quite fit on top of the gathered wrap neckline.
- I went out and bought the exact same fabric in red, and made it a 2 layer skirt. Hemmed up the green top layer, and gathered it in the back to create a bustle. Then I cut the dress in half at the waist, so it’s just a skirt, and added some gold trim to the jacket. I used the scraps of fabric to make a little hair cap, then added few details, and voila, we have a classy Victorian gown.
The accessories make it steampunk style: a small heart backpack with gears in it, goggles, an antique case purse, gold pocket watch.
I intended to have it done by Christmas 2017, but it didn’t actually get completed until early-January 2018. And then the rainy season prevented me from wearing it out until spring.
See the Workshop page. I also made a very similar dress in Blue/Purple.
Pictures were taken at ClockworkAlchemy2018. and again ClockworkAlchemy2023.
This con had an older audience, and very few people under 30. It also had a different feel than the regular anime convention. Smaller, cleaner, more polite, more artful.
Their merchants sold clothing accessories that didn’t quite look Victorian, but more fantasy-ish, it could’ve been easily sold at the renaissance faire. Ruffled overskirts, wide belts with pockets, big flower headbands, leather armor bits for shoulders, ect. Also, I think the merchandise was all at a higher price point than the usual convention, which makes sense since the audience is older and has more money to spend on accoutrements, like top hat clocks and light-up gear brooches.
My steampunk dress, green and red with gold trim. Lots of the older ladies loved the back of my dress. I never considered it, but apparently, no one mass produces bustled gowns, so most of the attendees don’t even try to do it. Most of the older ladies there wore straight suit dresses, so they looked a bit like Mary Poppins.
See my Victorian Lady page for a brief history of the American Victorian Era. Victorian Era 1837 to 1901, a lot of stuff happened in American during that time: Abraham Lincoln. Mark Twain. The Civil War. Union and Confederacy. California Gold Rush 1849. Civil Rights Act of 1866. Thomas Edison. Susan B Anthony. American Wild West.
Steampunk of course is very different, it’s the fantasy fashion of what clothing would look like IF steam power was predominately used during that time period, and everything was clockwork engineered [instead of digital]. Retro-futuristic, it's a subgenre of science fiction fantasy, that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. SO, Hats and Goggles for all.
I made this dress out of another dress. This outfit started out as a 90s prom dresses. I realize that it doesn’t look like it now, but at one point this dress was very 90s. I have pictures. It was a drop waistline dress with a big flower at the hip, graduated skirt, and an off shoulder with a gathered wrap neckline. It also came with a svelte little jacket that didn’t quite fit on top of the gathered wrap neckline.
- I went out and bought the exact same fabric in red, and made it a 2 layer skirt. Hemmed up the green top layer, and gathered it in the back to create a bustle. Then I cut the dress in half at the waist, so it’s just a skirt, and added some gold trim to the jacket. I used the scraps of fabric to make a little hair cap, then added few details, and voila, we have a classy Victorian gown.
The accessories make it steampunk style: a small heart backpack with gears in it, goggles, an antique case purse, gold pocket watch.
I intended to have it done by Christmas 2017, but it didn’t actually get completed until early-January 2018. And then the rainy season prevented me from wearing it out until spring.
See the Workshop page. I also made a very similar dress in Blue/Purple.
Pictures were taken at ClockworkAlchemy2018. and again ClockworkAlchemy2023.
All photos are copyrighted.
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