Steampunk has been happily chugging along as a sub-culture for some time. Up until now it has been some might say very much the world of partly bonkers individuals having fun & being creative.
However, even I (
not known for being observant to trends) have noted the growing number of mass produced items being described as 'steampunk' entering into the consumer market and often with their source of origin being a factory in the far east of the world.
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| Beautifully crafted Steampunk bookstand lectern |
Even the media
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/steampunk-introducing-britains-latest-fashion-craze-8458861.html have been making predictions that steampunk is the next big thing in fashion & design, with big business & manufacturers watching solid market trends using all the gubbins of web analytics to keep an eye to profit from us.
Until recently Steampunk has been primarily the preserve of crafters & the individually creative to a great extent with fashion couture element, skilled painting daubers, comic book creators, furniture designers, model makers & tinkerers, literary writers, even a genre of music, (
although I must confess to be mystified about that last one). The more hand crafted works often being made available to a wider audience in the know via sites like Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=steampunk&search_type=tag_title
For most interested in the genre it is far more than just a few watch cogs glued on but a look at the website Regresty
http://www.regretsy.com/category/not-remotely-steampunk/ does show a glimpse of some of the worst (
but amusing) abuses of steampunk used as a description.
The sub culture of steampunk does have further sub-cultures, making diversity & individuality of expression within a theme one of its broad appeals.
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| Even the sub-culture of steampunk has sub cultures of its own |
One of its other merits to me is it has caused many people to join in & be creative, be it in costume cos-play, or tinkering to create things!
...but where to get ones inspiration?
I found Pinterest to be a most edifying resource
http://pinterest.com/boffinsbunker/ where I have been happily gathering images that inspire me
(& plugging a few of my own creations)
...but for a rather large single collection of several thousand steampunkesque images for inspiration one could not do much better (
for simplicity) than to visit the Pinterest pins boards of Brenda of Steampunkcircus.com
http://pinterest.com/steamcircus/
I recommend a visit, but give yourself some time to peruse through all her numerous pin boards.
