Shared from Seams and Stresses

Ahhh, my bustle. I actually started on this one right at the start of January, but had to leave off to order the boning to go inside it. I got the instructions on how to do this from here. Overall it was relatively simple, though I think if I were to make another I would […]

via Every Day I’m Bustling — Seams and Stresses

Shared from Scrappin’ Stain

Hi everyone, Meet Lucky & Lucy – my new friends:-) I found these binoculars in a fleemarket some time ago. I knew I wanted to have them for a future Steampunk Project but didn’t have a set idea. So last week I sat it in front of me and started thinking, what does it look […]

via Meet Lucky & Lucy — Scrappin’ Stain

Shared from Malice in Londerland

Salutations, For my first post, I really wanted to do something upbeat, positive and a bit geeky…but on a serious note first, I’ll tell you how it came about. You see, for a while now (mostly since I joined the land of social media), I’ve been seeing a lot of silly in-fighting, bitching and complaints […]

via The 15 AWESOME People You Meet in Steampunk — Malice in Londerland

Shared from Beverley Holman Art

The following pieces are now for sale at The Mart Collective in Venice. Stop by to view or purchase any piece! Please note: steampunk pieces are subject to change as items sell and new pieces are placed for display/sale. Thank you.

via Four New Pieces at The Mart Collective (Venice) — Beverly Holman Art

Shared from Richard Due

Carolyn Arcabascio’s sketch of Willa in her Clockwerk costume. Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy, An Idiot Genius Novel. By Richard Due Coming this Fall to a bookstore near you!

via First Sketch! — Willa Snap

Shared from thedementedfairy

Another bit of African print-inspired Edwardian crazy…but less so than some. I think. This is a really unusual fabric- ornately printed of course, in a lush red and black design, but also embossed/textured. I’ve never seen or felt anything quite like it, and couldn’t resist. If I recall correctly, it was the usual 6 yards […]

via Edwardian skirt & Eton Jacket #1 — thedementedfairy

Shared from comicbookman

Today I started a new comic that I never heard of before Clockwerx! Offered as a free comic on Comixology, going into this thinking “how good can this free comic be”? I was blown away!! Right up my alley, with a good story and the artwork, I LOVED IT!! Can not wait to read more […]

via Something new Steampunk style!! — comicbookman.net

Neo-Victorian Movie Fashions – Part Three

 

kinopoisk.ru

 

Bram Stoker’s Dracula may not seem like a Steampunk movie on first viewing. But any movie with Doctor Abraham Van Helsing should be automatically slotted into the Steampunk genre, because he uses modern technology to fight vampires, such as electric lamps which could be attached to a prospective victim to act as a deterrent. He is also one of the original ‘mad scientists’ of the literary world – not the action figure portrayed in some movies and comics. (However, Carl from 2002 movie Van Helsing has my undying admiration for his gadgetry.)

Mina Harker’s green walking dress, worn by Winona Ryder and designed by the late Eiko Ishioka.

Dress designs for the movie were by Eiko Ishioka. There were many gorgeous dresses in this film, but my personal favourite is the green walking dress worn by Mina , played by Winona Ryder, the original Manic Pixie Girl. Dracula was written and set in the 1890s. It is the dress Mina is wearing when she first encounters Dracula.

A fairly accurate replica of the dress, with which we can better see the details.

Since Dracula was published in 1897, we can use that as the benchmark time period for the  movie costume. The most striking feature of the dress is the clever use of pleats to add ornamental details; the fabric is folded like Origami. The multiple waterfall folds of the bustle creates contrasting diamonds of colour. The unusual dag hemline of the white blouse is accentuated with more pleats. Are these features historically accurate?

A waterfall pleat decorating a bustle in 1875.

The above dresses are replicas garments based on historical designs from the late 1800s. Waterfall pleats were certainly used in the Victorian era, and the multiple pleats on the green walking costume is quite likely to have been used in reality. The Victorians were never shy about ornamentation. I was unable to find evidence of a Victorian-era blouse with a similar dag hemline, which isn’t to say there weren’t any.

Walking dresses from 1886

Walking dresses from 1898

As you can see from the two examples above, the silhouette of the green walking dress resembles the 1886 fashions, with the larger emphasis on the bustle. However, the silhouette does lean towards the more slender skirt of the 1898 illustration, and certainly conforms to the jacket-with-blouse combination. The hat on the right in the 1898 illustration also resembles Mina’s hat in style and size, even if the decorations aren’t a match.

A moss green wool walking suit, ca. 1890.

Both the walking dresses above are from 1890. As you can see, there is a flourish of embroidery on the lapels and cuffs of the jackets. The dress on the right is even a similar green to Mina’s green walking dress.

Overall,  I would say that Eiko Ishioka’s creation fits right into the era of the movie. Since we can ‘modernise’ Mina’s character with Steampunk gadgets, feel free to give her a cross bow with a stake for a quarrel, or a sunlight raygun.

Cosplaying Mina

Women in Chains – Suffragette Jewellery; A Steampunk Feminist Perspective

Suffragette Chain Link Jewellery at its finest, as it also incorporates the three colours of the Suffragette Movement: Green, White and Violet (Give Women Votes).

It is a well known fact that suffragettes were targeted by their governments as troublemakers, and often spent time in jail, and they were subjected to some awful treatment. They were meant to be humiliated and silenced by this strategy. Instead, suffragettes saw jail time as a victory, that they were considered dangerous enough to incarcerate.

Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter, Christabel, while in jail.

In previous blog articles, I have mentioned suffragette jewellery. Some people argue that the suffragettes were vocal, and would never stoop to subterfuge by wearing symbolic jewellery. I have to agree with this viewpoint. I believe suffragette jewellery was worn with pride, to support the cause, and I believe some suffragette jewellery supports this hypothesis: the Holloway Prison Pin, Chain Link Jewellery, and Edith Garrud’s Boadicea Brooch.

Holloway brooch designed by Sylvia Pankhurst. Comprising a porcullis symbol of the House of commons, the gate and hanging chaines in silver and the superimposed broad arrow in purple, white and green enamel. Referred to in Votes for Women, 16 April 1909 and first presented to ex-suffragette prisoners at a mass demonstration at the Albert Hall on 29th April 1909.

The Holloway Prison Pin, also known as the Holloway Brooch.

The Holloway Prison Pin  – designed by Sylvia Pankhurst, one of the daughters of Emmeline Pankhurst – was presented to members of the Women’s Social and Political Union who had suffered imprisonment. The first presentation of the brooches took place at a mass demonstration organised by the WSPU on the 29th of April, 1909. The broad arrow – the symbol of the convict – was enamelled in purple, white and green, the colours of the suffragette movement. Some of the brooches were marked with dates of imprisonment. The brooch was first mentioned in Votes for Women, the WSPU newspaper, in the issue published on the 16th of April, 1909, where it was described as ‘the Victoria Cross of the Union’.

Jail Door Pin

The Hunger Strike Medal

After the Holloway Prison pin, the suffragettes were inspired to issue pins and medals for other indignities suffered by the women when they were imprisoned for wanting equal rights. To my mind, it is the Hunger Strike Medal that represents the greatest sacrifices made by those imprisoned; hunger strikers were often force fed. Some of the women were also sent to mental asylums, because being vocal about wanting the vote is a sure sign of madness.

Image from the textbook – Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated History Study

Chain brooches didn’t just symbolise imprisonment. It also stood for the chains that held the women back in society. The chains that held them back from education and legal rights, as well as the right to vote. Mind you, the government was happy to tax women, but not so thrilled to give them a voice in parliament.

Chain brooches came in many shapes and forms. Some were more decorative than others, but even the most simple chain brooch was layered with meaning.

Of course, the suffragette movement was big on pins and brooches. They could be sold to raise funds, worn to show support, or awarded for outstanding sacrifices. It is a form of wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Edith Garrud’s Boudica brooch was also described as the Suffragette’s Victoria Cross.

A Woman in Chains

Chains are often part of a Steampunk cosplay outfit. Never was there a better reason to wear them than to celebrate the Suffragettes.

A Steampunk Guide to Hunting Monsters – Chapter Five

My free online book A Steampunk Guide to Hunting Monsters continues, and you can read Chapter 5. Automatons on an Airship for free online by clicking on the link or picture below. The Hunt is On! When a dissatisfied tourist starts messing with the settings of the automaton crew-members on the airship, the robots become a little too attentive, […]

via A Steampunk Guide to Hunting Monsters – Chapter 5. Automatons on an Airship — One Delightful Day