The Innocent's Progress: A Foray into Steampunk Erotica

Greetings good folks.  Before we venture any further, I must point out that the subject matter of today's salon is a review of adult-oriented, hence, reader discretion is advised, and you may wish to move along to another post.  I shall give you a moment while I review my notes.

And now we can commence.  Feel free to have a cup of tea, or a sniff of something stronger, if you wish.  My automated valet can bring you something.  

My voyage through steampunk literature has recently brought me to The Innocent's Progress, by Peter Tupper, published in electronic format.  This is a collection of 6 short stories set in an alternate world of the author's devising.  This is no common set of erotic tales with minimal plot and excesses of sexual content, nor is it overdone steampunk riddled with gears and parasols; this is intellectual fiction, subtly written and focusing more on the people and the stories.  Several characters are interwoven through the tales, slowly drawing back the curtains around this Victorian-flavoured world.

The best part of this work, for me, is the slow reveal of this unique world, story by story.  Readers are first introduced to the Commedia, a form of theatre in which archetypes are performed on the stage, and privately performed offstage, for the pleasure of the audience.  One quickly realizes that dichomoties are rife in this world, as in Victorian England.  Performance and sexuality are blended and blurred in the Half-world of the actors, yet it is clearly unacceptable for them to stray, in any way, from the limited range of traditional archetypes.  Sexuality is quite acceptible within the Commedia, yet the Decency Board strives to remove the threat of pornography from society, to protect women and the lower classes. There are allusions to historical figures and works throughout the tales, which enhances the reading experience.  Peter Tupper even thoughtfully includes an Afterword, in which he gives background information and historical references for each tale.

My favourite story is "Delicate Work", where the reader is taken deep into the Honeycomb, an "Institution for the Reclamation of Wayward Women".  The Honeycomb is the Victorian workhouse writ very large and very dark.  In true Victorian fashion, this is where wayward women (those who do not live within the rigid and narrow boundaries defined by society) are "helped" by permanently hiding them out of sight.  The Honeycomb is seen through the eyes of Tangwen, one of the Tinker Girl inmates employed in producing technology for the world outside.  "Delicate Work" shows us the dirty, dystopian, dark side, which is all too often neglected in much of steampunk fiction.

There is one tale in the collection, "The Impurity", which differs from the others.  "The Impurity" is an imaginative retelling of the Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde story, into which the author breathes new life.  I don't want to reveal the details here, but suffice to say, it is refreshing.

I recommend the reader look beyond the cover of Innnocent's Progress.  Peter Tupper takes the reader into a familiar yet foreign world, which is richly textured and multifaceted - part Victorian, part steampunk, part intellectual foray, part erotica.  If you wish to acquire this book yourself, the various forms and manner of procuring it can be found at Peter Tupper's site for Innocent's Progress.

Summer Hiatus Is at an End

To my horror I have realized that a month and a half have passed since my last entry.  This is what comes of it being summer, and life impeding the amount of time I can commit to online!  However, more posts will start shortly.  

One of the contributing factors to me lacking time to post (in addition to spending time outside in the sunshine, and getting to have an actual week of vacation in Halifax), is that I have started up a couple of local steampunk events, which have taken some effort in planning and organizing.

Along with getting a Facebook-based steampunk-event-bulletin-board group up and running, to share and spread word of steampunk and related events to locals (Vancouverites for Steampunk), I also have started up a Steampunk Craft Meetup (2 events so far, in July and early September) which I'm hoping will run regularly) and commenced a Steampunk Book Club (Vancouver Steam Librarium and Consortium - first meet booked for October).

Collage of creations crafted by various attendees at the First Steampunk Craft Meet

For local Vancouverites interested, I shall embed the Vancouverites for Steampunk Google calendar here:  

And, of course, I have a busy full-time job.  So it's been busy.  However, I'll be getting back into the swing of regular posts shortly!

Cheers all,

The Steam Wench

Inspiration and Resource: 1000 Steampunk Creations by Joey Marsocci

For any of you good folks who want to embark in the maker side of steampunk things, but are pehaps having a hard time finding inspiration, this is the book for you.

As a result of my love of books and my inability to stay away from Amazon.ca, this little gem arrived in my post fairly recently.  Compiled by Dr. Grymm (Joey Marsocci), 1000 Steampunk Creations contains, well, precisely that: 1000 lucious colour photos of a mind-boggling variety of steampunk contraptions, clothes, jewelry, home decor, gadgets, accessories, artwork and scuptures, created by numerous steampunk artists and artisans.  

This book has done but I've been floundering to do for myself:  I have 1080 steampunk inspiration photos on my memory stick (categorized into 28 folders) which I have downloaded over the last couple of years.  I had even printed out a bunch of faves and partly assembled a Steampunk Scrapbook (with the idea of using it to bring to events as a "this is steampunk" book).  

I have pored over this book many times since it arrived - I can't get enough of perusing the smooth glossy pages and dreaming of the many awesome things portrayed within.  

This book has proven to be the perfect addition to my stack of stuff to bring to the local steampunk Craft Meets I have started holding (first one last week!), as it gives new folks and old-hands something to paw through while trying to figure out what to make (or, in the case of the new, a graphic illustration of what steampunk can be).

In my opinion, 1000 Steampunk Creations belongs in every dedicated Steampunk's walnut and brass library.  As do many of the items pictured therein.

Quick and Dirty: Quirky Thrifted Jacket Quirked even Further!

Hello folks!

At long last, I'm back and have the freedom to post!  Work has settled down into it's usual routine, and remain at it's usual pace until mid-September, when it ramps up for a bit.  Today is another "Quick and Dirty" post.  My goal, with these Quick and Dirty sections, is to demonstrate how useful it is to go thrifting - you find unique pieces for inexpensive and sometimes downrightdirt-cheap prices, and with just a little bit of thought, you can modify them for a steampunk outfit.  The trick is to learn to see the potential in garments, even if, sometimes (not in this case) they are spectacularly ugly.  My hope is that by demonstrating what I have done, if this isn't something you aren't used to doing, you can learn to see that potential lurking out there in your local thrift stores!  Also, I want to reiterate, that many of these projects require minimal sewing skills.

So, today, I want to show you a very quick and dirty modification of a very funky little jacket I was able to find at a thrift store.

Part of what attracted me to this quirky little piece (other than the fact it fit!) was the use of gold-coloured zipper as trim along the collar edge, and the sleeve pocket and bright green ribbon detailing, and the dangle-ties on the front pockets.

This piece had a tangerine and green ribbon tie (shown below hanging on the hanger) at an impossible spot to close it, for the female form (across the fullest part of the bust), so the very first thing I did, even before I took photos, was remove the tie and replace it with a fancy hook and eye closure in a much better location, under the bust.

 

And the big thing to really change up this jacket was to jazz it up with a nice, Victorian tassel trim.  I decided this should go around the collar (ensuring it still showed off the glitzy, punky, zipper trim) and at the sleeves, covering the seam where the cuffs attach.   I just used my sewing machine to attach the fringe trim to the collar (with a bit of handstitching at the ends) and sleeves.

I also ensured the trim ended just inside the jacket, so it was clean-edged and tidy when closed.

The tassel trim really changed the look of the jacket.

And with the addition of a winged trilobite pin on the collar (touch of Girl Genius - I admit I'm a fangirl), voila, the jacket is done and ready to wear as one of my steampunk pieces.

Comments?  Questions?  Suggestions?  Please feel free to leave them here!  And remember, if you want to start any steampunk or steampunk costuming discussions, please feel free to do so on the Steam Wench Salon's Facebook Page, where there is a place for discussions.

Work and All Those Other Things that Interfere with Life

Greetings, all.  My apologies for the lack of posts here lately, alas, things such as work and other aspects of life have interfered with my available time to post (including a very recent and intensely-time-consuming attempt to sew new garb for a medieval event, which has failed miserably and left me appallingly disappointed).

I will be back and posting soon!

Regards,

The Steam Wench

Decorating Hats: Not Just for Milliners Anymore -Part 2

As mentioned in my previous post, I lack the money to buy all the lovely expensive hats I see for sale in the steampunk world (I have splurged on one), and I lack the millinery skills and equipment to make lovely hats from scratch.  Therefore, I have made it my goal to make hats using cheap costume hats as bases (where I can find ones that are cheap yet not hideous), and using found and thrifted hats.  The previous post shows what I did with a cheap costume base; today's post is on what I did with a lucky find of a dressage hat at a thrift store.

I have a pricey dressage hat I treated myself to years ago, which I don't want to alter.  Imagine my delight in finding the virtually identical hat at a thrift store, for less than1/4 of the price of a new hat. 

It's a lovely felted hat, with a grosgrain ribbon around the crown and a decorative grosgrain bow on one side.  The crown is slightly dented on the top, which suits me just fine.

To decorate the dressage hat, I browsed through my stash of ribbons, beads, accent pieces, etcetera.

Ultimately, I went for the bronze coloured wide satin ribbon (to the left of the above left photo) to cover the unexciting grosgrain, and that I would make a bow out of it to cover the grosgrain bow.  The bow is not tied, it's an artificial decorative bow made by making a loop of ribbon, which I sewed shut, and then pinched in the centre with a strip of ribbon folded in half and tacked in place with thread.

I used the copper chain (above right photo) to lay over the base of the crown (partly as it helped keep the ribbon nicely flat).  The bow alone seemed plain (sorry, no photo of it at this stage, I wasn't thinking), so I decided to use the brass rose (from the above right photo) to decorate the bow.

Since the centre of the rose was plain and showed a small hole, I selected a burgundy pearl bead, which I slipped into the centre of the brass rose, securing it with metal-friendly glue (Gorilla glue). To carry this colour a little, I decided to use a sheer rusty/burgundy glittery ribbon to place below the rose and above the bow, for a little flash of colour.  The original idea was to use an elaborate rosette of the ribbon, as shown below here.

However, this was easier said than done, and when I tried to tack together the ribbon for this rosette, it all went cattywhumpus.  Every time I tried.  So, after several botched unsuccessful attempts, I opted for an easier decorative effect with the pretty but temperamental ribbon.  (Keep in mind, I have no training in this, have never made rosettes from ribbon, or anything!)  I also decided the simpler accent suited better, as it emphasized the bow, rather than hid it, which the complicated rosette seemed to.

And voila, the completed hat.  I do not yet have a photo of me wearing this hat - I didn't get a chance to wear it at my last convention (tho I wore my other 3 hats!).  I hope to remedy this soon.  Perhaps I need to make the right outfit to complement the hat!

From an angle, no flash

Side on, with flash

These two posts are here to show that you don't need to have millinery skills to trick out a hat.  What you do need is patience in finding the right inexpensive hat to decorate - keep an eye out in thrift and consignment stores, and in costume shops (especially in the month or two leading up to Halloween, when shops bring in extra supplies they may not carry the rest of the year).  And when it comes to inexpensive hats, if you see something you like, buy more than one!  I bought 2 of the one I used in the previous post, and good thing, because I haven't seen it since.  I am hoping it reappears for Halloween this year.

Decorating Hats: Not Just for Milliners Anymore - Part 1

I have been envious of all the lovely ladies' hats I see out there in the steampunk world, and that I see in all the old Victorian catalogues and photographs.  However, I don't have the money to spend on purchasing a plethora of hats, nor the funds and time to embark on learning hat-making, which is far more career than hobby - needing hatblocks, felts, and a skillset requiring training and time to learn.  So I determined to decorate existing hats - either thrifted hats or decent costume hats.  My job is made harder by the fact that many inexpensive hats sold for costuming are unspeakably cheap-looking (I'm thinking of those minihats that look like they're made out of paper).

I have decorated the one hat, as shown in an earlier post, but I wanted to show here what I was able to do with 2 entirely different hats, one a cheap costume hat and one a quality hat found at a second-hand store.

Hat Number One - Cheap Costume Hat to Smart 

I started with this $13 costume hat from Dressew in Vancouver.

And this assortment of ribbons etc.

I played with a few ideas.

I ultimately decided on using the brown ruffle from the infamous blouse which has provided me with trim for a bustle, a parasol, and now this hat, and a cheap dollar store hair elastic that had a flounce of sheer ribbons trimmed with rhinestones on the ribbon tips, and a ribbon rosette in the middle.

I sewed a stitch down the middle of the brown ruffle and pulled it to gather it a bit more, and then sewed the two ends together so it would fit over the hat.  For the hair elastic, I cut the elastic part, knotted it right against the rosette, and then sealed it with hotglue.  I then hotglued the rosette and dangly bits to the brown ribbon.  I then set the ribbon on the hat, and then worked to figure out which accent piece to put on the centre front. 

The keyhole and key seemed the obvious decision, and with its nice black-copper finish, blended nicely with the ribbon. I attached the key with a few links of copper chain, and then firmly sewed the keyhole to the ribbon.

 

And voila, the hat is done.

 And here is the hat, worn with two different outfits:

Thanks everyone!

Next article will be on Hat # 2, which I made the same evening as this hat.