Saturday, July 7, 2012

Saturday Steam 7/7/12

Natasha sent over a link to the latest Prada men's wear collection, of all things, but you're about to see why!

Awwww yeeeeah. And yes, that's Gary Oldman. (!!)


Mee-YOW. Fffft. Ffft

And that's Willem Dafoe! (The other two guys are actors, too, but I don't recognize them.) [Update: Jamie Bell & Garret Hedlund]

Gentlemen of the world, would you kindly start dressing more like this? And then pose broodingly in the corners of dark English libraries while offering me a spot of Earl Gray in a fine British accent? :D

Getting back to the clothes, though, there's some really interesting stuff happening with the pocket accessories - I need to find a bigger photo so I can get a closer look. I think they're fancy stick pins, plus there's a cool chunky pen in there. Lovely.


Next, how wild is this mechanical switch plate Jess D. found?


It took me a moment to realize the gears actually function; you turn the top knob to flip the switch!

Green Tree Jewelry over on Etsy has lots of different styles of plates, too. I'm especially digging this one:


...but you've got to click over and see the rest of their crazy contraptions. They're all so, so cool. (Plus Green Tree makes those nifty kinetic gear pendants I featured a while back. Lots o' goodies!)



Check out what I found over on BoingBoing - a nixie tube chess set!

Seriously, is there anything nixie tubes can't make more awesome? (Making my own nixie tube clock has been on my craft bucket list for *years* now. Why can't they offer a class on that at my local craft store? Forget sewing a pillow: TEACH ME WIRING, DANG IT!)

(Ahem.)


Any Golden Compass fans out there? 'Cuz you guys are going to LOVE what Beth S. found:

THIS, my friends, is a needle-felted Panserbjorne Armored Ice Bear, complete with his own custom armor. I am in awe. Seriously. How do you stab fibers with a bunch of needles and get...this?

Just look how life-like his face is!

Click on over to StevIt on Etsy to see more pictures, or, if you have a spare $1,800 handy, to buy me a Happy Summer present. No gift wrapping necessary, even.


And finally, for a fascinating read check out this Wired article about a brilliant young woman - described as "a real-life incarnation of Steampunk" - who wants to reinvent the power grid using compressed air. It sounds like something straight out of a steampunk fantasy novel, and Danielle Fong - the woman in question - sounds like the heroine who leapt from its pages:

"Danielle Fong was 12 years old when her mother decided she should go to college. Danielle’s teachers didn’t agree. Though an aptitude test put her above 99 percent of students who had already graduated from high school, her teachers said the move to college would ruin her education. But her mother sent her anyway."

That's just the opening paragraph. Like I said: fascinating, and well worth the read.


Have something steamy to share? Then hit me up in the comments, on Facebook, or via e-mail!

29 comments:

  1. You probably need to spend some time here.

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  2. I think the guy with the facial hair is Gary Oldman. Interesting clothes.

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  3. Jamie Bell and... I don't know the other guy, lol

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  4. Jamie Bell and Garret Hedlund

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  5. Shelley in So. ILJuly 7, 2012 at 8:35 AM

    I kept wondering how they got that polar bear to sit still to put the armor on and then snap a photo, then I read on and am totally flabbergasted! I can't believe that isn't a real polar bear at all! They have some sort of miniaturization process that nobody else knows about. I am sure about this!

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  6. Thank goodness Danielle's mom had a lick of sense.

    ~ Haiku Joy

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  7. Ho. Lee. WOW. Yeah. I'm not even all that into steampunk but that is HAWT.

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  8. Jamie Bell was the boy in Billy Elliot, if you saw that. He was also in the new version of King Kong as an adult.

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  9. Jamie Bell was the boy in the movie Billy Elliot.

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  10. If I saw a man on the street dressed like that, I'd pass out right there. Being well-dressed and put together is so sexy!

    There is a cartoon I think you should watch. It's Legend of Korra on Nickelodeon. It's a sequel to the Avatar: The Last Airbender series that takes place ~70 years later, and the world is heavily steampunkified. All of the residents of the city are dapper, electricity is new and radio is popular. The first season of 12 episodes just ended, and there are only going to be 14 more, so it's easy to get attached and become a tv slave then move on with your life. I think you would really like it!

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  11. I hope Prada does a ladies collection. I would hate to see us women left out of such awesomeness.

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  12. I knew Danielle at Princeton! I'm so glad she's getting all this press!!

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  13. Oh my gosh! I am in love. Now, can I please be wealthy enough to actually purchase the collection for my husband, please?

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  14. That Prada menswear collection has me seriously checking how much overdraft I have left.

    Jen, if I were to be myseriously sent (*hint*) some appropriately sized clothes, I would gladly pose in a corner of an old library (study in Cambridge, lots of old English libraries to choose from) and offer you a cup of my finest Selfridges' loose leaf Earl Grey (note the spelling, you poor Yanks!), in my native British accent.

    In fact, if I cave and buy any of this dapper wear, I promise I will do just so :D

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  15. And Gary Oldman! Steampunk Sirius Black...yes please!

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  16. Garry Oldman and Willem Dafoe, SWOOOOOOOOON!

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  17. Definitely Gary Oldman, with the white briefcase and the roundy sunglasses.

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  18. .....PLEASE tell me that's not what the armored bears looked like in the movie. PLEASE. If it is, then obviously I was totally right in NOT going to see it. Because while it's very shiny and pretty, the main reason we love Iorek Byrnison is because his armor is plain, scarred with battle. Only Iofur wears useless pretty things like that. >>

    .... I totally have a new respect for Prada now, though.

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  19. Oh yummy Prada!!!!

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  20. Oh my. That last photo of Willem Dafoe? Ohhhh Myyyy!

    Is it warm in here?

    And I'm with you, Jen, I'd love for any of these gents to offer me tea while leaning broodingly in an old library.

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  21. That Prada collection is amazing!! If men knew how sexy we find it when they dress like that, more of them would do it. Swoon!

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  22. Jen, check this out!! I was researching doing a penny floor, and YOUR penny desk was featured on this blog!! http://keytoflow.blogspot.com/2011/07/penny-floors.html

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  23. As I was scrolling down, I was already saying "meowwww" in my mind before I got to your caption. Been reading your blog long enough to know that would be what you would say!

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  24. Ah, this makes me hate my husband's gym shorts and tees EVEN MORE. Be still my steamy heart!

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  25. at first glance, i thought the panserbjorne was a costume for a dog, which is its own kind of awesome. =) but the actual felted(!) bear is so much cooler!

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  26. The men look FANTASTIC...dapper and handsome and alluring. But, well, it's reminding me of Seinfeld's puffy shirt...looks really great in the right context, but a little odd if he's dining at the local Dennys. However, Lewis, I'm sure you would look perfectly at home lounging around Cambridge in one of these outfits! :)

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  27. I have to admit that though the men are super foxy, the high layered collars scream "Nazi" to me. I know it's supposed to look regimented and old-timey, but I feel like they maybe got that a little old-timey.

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  28. I came across this site and totally thought of you!!! They even have a steampunk section, and they have a whole bunch of cute steamy hats. Check it out!
    http://www.infectiousthreads.com/HADES.htm
    *Drool* Steeeeampunnnkkknessss...

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