My Fashion ESP:Steampunk and Trends Forecasting

When you look at the fashion mags and shows on TV and sometimes even the fashion shows, you get an eschewed view of the fashion world and about how things work.

From that glamourous perspective it seem that trends and ideas trickle from the "top" to the bottom. That means that the concept is that fashion trends and ideas trickle down from what is created for the Haute Couture and high end Pret-A-Porter ( ready-to-wear) and from what"celebrities" wear.

Which could not be further from the truth.

As any professional fashion trend forecaster can tell you, this is the exception rather than the rule in fashion and has been so for the past, oh, 70 years or since the 40's more or less.

The tendecies in fashion have been to seep upwards from the countercultures into Haute Couture and then down the echelons.

That is why trend forecasters every year don't go check out the Olsen Twins or Posh's wardrobe to see what is going to be a trend in the next couple of years, but they travel to Reykyavik, Munich, London, LA, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Paris, Hamburg and Copenhagen to figure out what the kids in the street are doing because the new ideas and trends usually emerge from the countercultures.

Poodle Skirts, Mod, Hippie, disco, New Wave, mini skirts, Punk, Grunge, Gothic Lolitas... all of it from the counterculture to the runways and from there to H&M and Zara and Target.

I have been a counterculture kind of girl since the early 80's. I was a Madonna and Cindy Lauper wannabe. I was a shaved head punk. I have gone through Super- Kawaii and hip hop periods. I have always been 2-3 years ahead in what is going to be hot.

Why? I am just wired that way.

I just channel this shit.

Well I have been working on this Sweeney Todd punk Victorian-ish collection for my sketching final.

Why of all things this one inspired me? Beats me. I was going to do something kind of dark and edgy. That is pretty much my nature. I am not physically capable of doing something sunny and happy and frilly and femenine in manner of Laura Ashley or spangly, pageanty shit a la Badgley Mishka or Bob Mackie. I think I would break out in hives.

It was pretty much going to be Sweeney, or "From Hell", or Port Au Prince or Havana or Rocky Horror or something equally dark, musty, sexy and subversive. I leave the pretty flowers and estrogenic outbursts to other people.

That is just how I roll. I am a rebel and I channel revolution in every mitochondria of every cell of my sublime, juicy body.

Well turns out I am hitting the sweet spot AGAIN with this collection.

There is this countercultural movement called Steampunk. Here is the definition

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.

Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.

Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a Victorian setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

Dear Locus,
Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks," perhaps ... -- K.W. Jeter.^[1]

Some prototypical steampunk stories were essentially cyberpunk tales that were set in the past, using steam-era technology rather than the ubiquitous cybernetics of cyberpunk but maintaining those stories' "punkish" attitudes towards authority figures and human nature. Originally, like cyberpunk, steampunk was often dystopian, sometimes with noir and pulp fiction themes as in cyberpunk. As the genre developed, it came to adopt more of the broadly appealing utopian sensibilities of Victorian scientific romances.

Steampunk fiction focuses more intently on real, theoretical or cinematic Victorian-era technology, including steam engines, clockwork devices, and difference engines. While much of steampunk is set in Victorian-era settings, the genre has expanded into medieval settings and often delves into the realms of horror and fantasy. Various secret societies and conspiracy theories are often featured, and some steampunk includes significant fantasy elements. There are frequently Lovecraftian, occult and Gothic horror influences as well.

Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by the science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, 1983), James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986) and himself (Morlock Night, 1979 and Infernal Devices, 1987) which took place in a Victorian setting and imitated conventions of actual Victorian speculative fiction such as H. G. Wells's The Time Machine. In a letter to the science fiction magazine Locus, printed in the April 1987 issue, Jeter wrote:

Dear Locus,
Enclosed is a copy of my 1979 novel Morlock Night; I'd appreciate your being so good as to route it Faren Miller, as it's a prime piece of evidence in the great debate as to who in "the Powers/Blaylock/Jeter fantasy triumvirate" was writing in the "gonzo-historical manner" first. Though of course, I did find her review in the March Locus to be quite flattering.
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like "steampunks," perhaps ... -- K.W. Jeter.^[1]

Some prototypical steampunk stories were essentially cyberpunk tales that were set in the past, using steam-era technology rather than the ubiquitous cybernetics of cyberpunk but maintaining those stories' "punkish" attitudes towards authority figures and human nature. Originally, like cyberpunk, steampunk was often dystopian, sometimes with noir and pulp fiction themes as in cyberpunk. As the genre developed, it came to adopt more of the broadly appealing utopian sensibilities of Victorian scientific romances.

Steampunk fiction focuses more intently on real, theoretical or cinematic Victorian-era technology, including steam engines, clockwork devices, and difference engines. While much of steampunk is set in Victorian-era settings, the genre has expanded into medieval settings and often delves into the realms of horror and fantasy. Various secret societies and conspiracy theories are often featured, and some steampunk includes significant fantasy elements. There are frequently Lovecraftian, occult and Gothic horror influences as well.

Influences

Steampunk was influenced by, and often adopts the style of the scientific romances of the 19th century, by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, and Mary Shelley.^{[citation needed]}

The "Edisonade" stories of the late 1800s and early 1900s, written by Edward S. Ellis, Luis Senarens and others, can also be seen as an influence on Steampunk.^{[citation needed]} Their characters Johnny Brainerd, Frank Reade, Jr., Tom Edison, Jr., and Jack Wright used steam-powered and technologically-advanced vehicles to adventure across the United States and around the world. In addition to providing later writers with early examples of steam-powered science fictional creations, these stories had a direct influence on the "boy inventor" subgenre of science fiction as personified by Tom Swift.

A rather dystopian British alternate history featuring steam-based technology may be found in Keith Roberts' 1968 novel Pavane.

The Moondog comics by George Metzger, published by the Print Mint in 1969 and 1971, embody many aspects of sci-fi/post-apocalyptic steam technology.

Science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock also made several early, and often overlooked, contributions to the genre. The most noteworthy of these are his The Warlord of the Air and its 1974 and 1981 sequels, The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar (collectively republished as A Nomad of the Time Streams). Moorcock's works were among the earliest to remold Edwardian and Victorian adventure fiction within a new, ironic futuristic framework, and also had a strong influence on the later absorption of fantasy elements into the steampunk genre.

Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds by Manly Wade Wellman and Wade Wellman, published in 1975 as a novel but previously published as a series of magazine stories, places Arthur Conan Doyle's characters Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger (who never met in any of Doyle's works) into the events depicted in H.G. Wells's 1897 novel The War of the Worlds, depicting an invasion of London by Martians.

Aside from the fact that he coined the term, K.W. Jeter's 1979 novel Morlock Night (a continuation of Wells's The Time Machine) is cited by most as establishing the genre. However, this novel was preceded by James Blaylock's "The Ape-Box Affair" a decidedly Steampunk story, which appeared in a 1978 edition of Unearth Magazine.

Steampunk as a subculture

Because of the popularity of steampunk with people in the goth, punk, cyber and Industrial subcultures, there is a growing movement towards establishing steampunk or "Steam" as a culture and lifestyle.^[6]

The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies.^[7]

"Steampunk" fashion has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era.^[8] This may include Mohawks and extensive piercings with corsets and tattered petticoats, Victorian suits with goggles and boots with large soles and buckles or straps, and the Lolita fashion and aristocrat styles. Some of what defines steampunk fashion has come from cyberpunk, and cyberlocks are used by some people adopting a steampunk look.

"Steampunk" music is even less defined, and tends to apply to any modern musicians whose music or stage presence evokes a feeling of the Victorian era or steampunk. This may include such diverse artists as Abney Park and Vernian Process and Rasputina.^[9][10]

So, the stuff that I have been designing completely out of my gut, fits into this trend and takes it the next step forward, into a commercially viable form, seamlessly...

I swear to God, I am being possesed by someone who knows this shit. I am not sure who it is but damn, they're good...

..

Anyone not courting me with seed money, offers to back my line or with a marriage proposal is on crack....