STEAMPUNK

A Retro Design Movement That's All About the Future

Whether you love it or hate it, it's here to be mainstream-ed. The New York Times profiled it last weekend.

Steampunk style clothes and designers have been around for a long time as have authors, performance artists, and musicians (DeVotchKa, Rasputina, Abney Park) around the world. The local Burlesque reviews and caberet shows are appearing in most every town across the country. Some people are over it and think it's silly but I like the return to this bygone era and admire the beauty and creativity.

Kat Bret has a nice photo portfolio and you can see how she pulls from different periods so skillfully. She really captures the clothing and style of that dark, mad max melancholy, steampunk, whateverthefuckyouwannacallit genre. You're welcome. NSFW

"The term "steampunk" is a play on cyberpunk, a type of near-future science fiction where rebellious hackers use handmade tech to wage virtual warfare with corporations and governments. Steampunk was a term used almost jokingly as a name for science fiction that was set in the Victorian era as opposed to the virtual future, but which still featured rebellious protagonists utilizing strange technology. In steampunk, the punk is not a computer hacker, but a mechanical one. I do believe the pendulum has swung."



Abney Park

for more on Steampunk:
Workshop | PaperMag | Wired | Jake von Slatt | Jeff Vandermeer | Datamancer | Treehouse | Flickr | More Flickr | Maker Faire

Tiffa Novoa 1975-2007 Costume Designer, Performance Artist.

Tiffa was not just a fashion designer, she invented an entire aesthetic style. She was not just one of the founding members of a notorious performance troupe, she helped to create an entire subculture.

She wasn’t just a visionary artist, she was a force of nature whose ripple effects inspired, and will continue to inspire, her closest friends and countless, thousands, of people who are likely not even aware that this is the woman responsible for their inspiration.

El Circo [is credited] with creating the postapocalyptic fashions that many now associate with Burning Man. Most of the original El Circo fashions, which convey both tribalism and a sense of whimsy, were designed by member Tiffa Novoa, who has since hit it big with her Onda Designs.

Tiffa Novoa, the legendary Bali based mind behind fine and exotic couture was teamed up with Evan Sugarman to form the now infamous fashion system, ERNTE Fashion Systems.

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An Example of Her Work