Steampunk Designs

Some of my earliest costume work was inspired by the Steampunk community. This DIY-centric art movement is what led me to creating wearable art pieces for the first time and brought me out of my shell as a young creator.

Steampunk can be summarized as “sci-fi from the perspective of the Victorians”. There are endless ways to interpret this prompt, many of which combine vintage fashion silhouettes with outlandish, fantastical, or modern elements. During my stint in the Steampunk fashion community, I learned to create full looks based on a certain theme, and became incorporated in the costume-building community for the first time. Although it was still early in my development as a designer, these finished projects still hold a sense of nostalgia for me.

Steampunk Birdwatcher

This costume was created in early 2013 and debuted at All-Con, where it was awarded First Place Steampunk in the costume contest.

I chose an unusually vibrant color for the jacket, which is constructed from bright green synthetic dupioni. The style is a Butterick jacket pattern with small modifications. It is fully lined with handmade pleated trim made from sheer ribbon.

The hat is what brought this design to life. I wanted to re-imagine the iconic steampunk top hat as something with implied functionality: a birdcage. The bird swing does move back and forth within the hat while walking. The little bird itself is decked out with mechanical parts to suit the style.

The costume also includes a handmade pleather harness and pair of spats.

Photos by Curios Photography.

Steampunk Pirate

The focal point of this design is, of course, the massive ship hat. This ship itself is upcycled from a lamp I found at a thrift store. I covered the hat in lace “waves”, much of which was custom air-brushed to resemble water. The rest of the outfit was assembled from pre-made pieces, inspired by the nautical theme.

The gun itself was also handmade, upcycled from an old Wii U plastic gun, fitted with LEDs and redecorated.

Lauren Moore joined me as “The Kraken”, her own original design. Photos by Nick Glover.

Steampunk Western

My earliest documented costume and photoshoot. This costume was pieced together from thrifted items, some of which were heavily altered. This was the project that set me down the path I’m on today.

Photos by Curios Photography.