Saturday, December 1, 2012

Saturday Steam 12/1/12

I see a lot of amazing steampunk costumes from you readers, but Hilary P.'s is particularly drool-worthy.

First, here's the concept drawing she started with:

 
See more of Hilary's art here

And here's the finished product!

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Excuse me while I wolf-whistle and my eyeballs pop out cartoon-style. WOWZA.

She writes:

"I made the red coat and over skirt, goggles, & necklace all from scratch. The coat is a hybrid between two Simplicity patterns. The three layered underskirts were from Goodwill and are sewn together. The goggles are from YOUR tutorial, and I added the filigrees (which started out as rings I bent flat) and all the little jewels and gears. 


"The belts were all garage sale finds from earlier this summer. The belt accessories are the Message in a bottle I made [previously featured here], an hourglass necklace I got at The Icing By Claire's, as well as the pocket watch necklace. The old keys were from an antique furniture salvage place owned by a lady I know. My shoes (which you can't really see) look like little victorian style booties I got at Goodwill for cheep!"


Absolutely breath-taking, Hilary! The over coat, the layered skirts, the lace gloves - it's all making me green with envy. I'm also pretty sure I have that exact same belt with the round buckle. Heh.


Next up, you might remember Melissa as the reader who made that fantastic steampunk medal for her fiancé to wear in their engagement photos. (And doesn't he look dapper in it?)


Well, Melissa's fiancé is now her husband (congrats, guys!) and this is the gorgeous steamy boutineer she made him for the wedding:

Her guy is a big VW fan, so she incorporated the logo in with the gears and hand-stitched felt leaves. I love the color choices, and the composition is perfection!

And even though it's not really steampunk, I have to show you guys Melissa all blushing and beautiful with her felt-and-vintage-button bouquet:

Although if you were distracted from the bouquet by Melissa's amazeballs tattoo, you're not the only one. LOVE.


Here's something you don't see every day: a steampunk motorcycle:


Shannon M. spotted this out in the wilds of Daytona, and she snapped several photos with her phone for me. I can't say I'm a fan of the leopard print seat, but that's a minor quibble with amazingness of this caliber:


Those wheel spokes are grommeted leather, and I love all the shiny copper and brass gear accents. The headlight is pretty sweet, too:

I don't have any details on who made this, so if you know, please tell me in the comments!

[UPDATE: Shannon tracked it down! The bike is by Copper Mike - and it's even for sale! Hit the link for more details & pics.)


And finally, Abney Park is the most famous steampunk band out there, and their new(ish) video Steampunk Revolution doesn't disappoint:

 
The actual song is only about three minutes long (the rest is all credits), and there's great footage used of a variety of steampunk art and fashion. Definitely worth a look! (And thanks for the link, Kayla F.!)

Oh, and while we're talking steampunk music: my personal favorite is Steam Powered Giraffe. I've mentioned them before, but just had to plug 'em again, since they're not nearly as famous as they should be. Here's their sweet old-timey ballad, Honey Bee:

 

Their first album gets regular play on our modernized vintage radio - although I just noticed they replaced one of my favorite songs, "I Am Not Alone," on the album over on iTunes - no doubt because the girl who sings it is no longer with the group. Pity. Anyway, hit that link to listen to snippets of all their songs, or go to their website for physical CDs.

Seen something steamy this week? Then please, share the goods in the comments or over on the Epbot FB page!

17 comments:

  1. So ... many ... shinies!!! Also, I am so gaga over Melissa's tattoo. I wanna see the rest of it!

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  2. I'm so mad that I missed Steam Powered Giraffe play TWICE this year due to lack of money to get to Detroit. UGH! First world problems.
    "I Am Not Alone" is also one of my favorite songs too! I hope to one day, if I ever get married, to have that be a song to play at my wedding.

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  3. Hi Jen! I had totally forgotten about the Steampunk Motorcycle, but I was excited to see it! I was able to track it down, here's the info on it.

    http://www.gravesendcycles.com/bikes.html

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  4. Steam Powered Giraffe always deserves a mention. Happy to see them again!

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  5. OOOOO, just spent half an hour listening to various Steam Powered Giraffe videos - what fun!

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  6. Love the dress, the badge, the boutineer and the corsage!! Amazing all!

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  7. This is going to sound all fangirly, but Steam Powered Giraffe is my absolute favorite band. Not only do they make fantastic music that almost never leaves my car stereo, but they're the friendliest group of awesome, creative people I've ever met. They're very interactive with their fans via Tumblr and Patronism (which does require a fee, but it can be as little as $2 a month) and sometimes Facebook. I also wanted to mention you're the one who introduced me to them back in 2011, Jen... so thank you for that! :)

    (Also, I'm not sure if you know this or not, but The Jon is no longer a part of the group. They have a new robot, named Hatchworth, now, and he is absolutely amazing.)

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  8. Oh my goodness... You just introduced me to my new favorite band. I love you for this...

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  9. Hilary looks lovely! And just like the actress Busy Philipps (anyone else notice the resemblance?)

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  10. You'll be pleased to know that Steam Powered Giraffe is playing at TeslaCon 3 in Wisconsin next November. I just got back (literally) from TC2 and SPG was THERE promoting for next year (no performance). I did fan-girl squeal and hop up and down a whole lot, and got a very poorly-lit photo with them. I so did not act my age.

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  11. Last time you mentioned SPG I dismissed them, honestly. I think I thought they would probably be very gimmicky.

    HOWEVER.

    Oh my goodness. They are absolutely phenomenal musicians as well as actors and mimes. Their beautifully developed characters make me miss acting. I'm completely floored by them. Thank you so much for introducing me.

    Now excuse me while I go make the rounds through their videos again.....

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  12. SO HAPPY to see all the love for San Diego's own Steam Powered Giraffe! There are a lot of folks out there claiming to be steampunk that are just about The Look (honestly, I don't get the love for Abney Park. *shrug* Saw them live, and it was just World Music in steamcostume. But whatevs), but these guys put on a whole steam SHOW; they're like a robot band that just woke up when you dropped in a coin, and the illusion is uncanny, and never drops. Their make-up is to DIE, especially how he does the patina on the copper; VERY hard to do well, very detailed up-close. SEE THESE GUYS LIVE AT ALL COSTS! Recordings do NOT do them justice.

    Also, while Hilary's costume is awesome, I recognized immediately that the top part was from those Simplicity patterns I mentioned here back before Halloween. No T, no shade, no read, and much respect to Miss Hilary (WORK!),I'm just pointing it out so Miss "I Can't Sew" Jen (and others) will know that it's not that hard, patterns are available and VERY easy to follow and modify! As much as it pains me to say it as someone who makes costumes for a living, too many of y'all are spending WAY TOO MUCH money on pre-made outfits from "steampunk clothing companies" that are starting to look a little... generic. I've done as Hilary has for over 30 years now; use patterns where needed, thrift for the rest! Mix it up, alter bought/found stuff, make it your own. No one knows but you how much/little you spent, and then you have extra money left over to buy other steamjunk. GO ON, MISS HILARY!
    /endcostumingrant ;)

    Cheers, thanks a lot,

    Storm

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  13. my roommate is insane about SPG's "Honeybee". I showed it to her after watching the DVD at a friend's party and so now we have to listen to it once a day. It's very loaded with melancholy but I kind of want to dance to it if I ever get married.

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  14. Ah Steam Powered Giraffe... I never get tired of watching them in action, so amazing! Most talented (and cutest) automatons I've ever seen ;) and I never get tired of their song Brass Goggles.

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  15. SPG!!! I <3 them! And I live near San Diego, so I get to see them live! =)
    And I was going to mention that 'The Jon' is no longer part of the group, but I believe someone beat me to it!

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  16. Steam Powered Giraffe...TeslaconIV, a total immersion steampunk fan convention...Madison, WI...Halloween Weekend 2014. It would be SO worth the drive for you and THOJ and you can bring Lady Vadore! Bobba fett was here this year!

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  17. I'm always delighted to see steampunk costumes with *colour*! The cliche that "steampunk is what happens when goths discover brown" has had the unfortunate side effect of missing how very, very much the Victorians *adored* colour! Want a truly Victorian inspired costume? Think mauve (first formulated in 1865), teal (first used to describe a colour instead of a duck in 1917) and chartreuse (1884)! Think about using all of them together! Along with stripes, polka dots and plaid!!!

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