At Seycove in grade 9, PLP we’ve been asked to write a blog post about steampunk. First I need to ask the question, what is steampunk? Well, of the top of my head I can’t really think of an exact definition, so I got Google to help me out. “Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.” So there you go! That’s the whole of Steampunk summed up in 1 sentence! Well, not really…

Steampunk has become much more than just this “idea” that people talk and write about; it’s an entire vibrant subculture, with unique fashion, literature, artistic design elements, movies, music, conventions and even worlds fairs. People dress up and hold festivals to celebrate this way of life. Whole towns have even been “steampunked” to make them look like actual villages to showcase this unique culture.

 

 

My question for this blog post is why the Steampunk look is appealing to people and what does steampunk really “look like”? The Steampunk aesthetic has grown a lot in popularity in the last few years. It makes me wonder if steampunk could be the next “goth” look, as the two looks are pretty similar. People dress up and live in steampunk because they want to be different. They don’t want to fit in with the crowds but to stand out, and to be unique and special. I know I couldn’t pull that off, it must take a lot of guts!

The Steampunk look is very unique. I decided to test my artistic skills and attempt to make a Steampunk looking hat. The pictures below show a brief explanation of what I made.

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I wanted to make a Steampunk hat because I thought I could connect parts of the hat to the actual aesthetic. The black top hat represents the Victorian era that contributes a lot of the “retro” look to Steampunk. Men dressed in these hats every day and they were very fashionable. The metal gears and the chain represent the industrial revolution that profoundly changed the way of life for people in the Victorian era. The steampunk look opens up the inside of machines to reveal what’s inside. The timepiece on the front of the hat represents the time I spent working on this blog. This hat captures the blend of gritty industrial objects and retro fashion that are essential to the Steampunk look.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog

sincerely:
Michael