So, anybody who knows me IRL is probably aware of how much I adore steampunk. I've been interested in the Victorian era as long as I can remember and was thrilled when I discovered steampunk a few years ago, and I've falling in love with it more and more as it's popularity has grown.

But I can't even BEGIN to tell you how fucking disappointed I am with the steampunk "scene" lately. I hate how it's nothing more than a simple costume idea for kids wanting to dress up for the local anime/sci fi/whatever convention. If you can come up with a good steampunk outfit for some convention, cool, but 75% of the outfits I've seen consist of cheap, generic Halloweeny crap, such as:




and




[before I get bitched at, let me just say that I'd totally rock those fake spats, but with a NON STEAMPUNK OUTFIT.]


I'm not saying that people can't go to conventions all steampunked up, but god damn, atleast have a genuine interest in it. & If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.


Now I'm going to complain about how EVERYTHING is jumping on the steampunk band wagon.

First, there's the new Neopets world that, of course, is steampunk:
http://www.neopets.com/magma/?sc9ejf2=94838

.....ok, I love Neopets and I'm secretly thrilled that I can buy clockwork things for my pets. I'm just more pissed off that Neopets was able to find one more thing to get me even more addicted to their site. Assholes.
so I'm still on the fence on how I feel about steampunk neopets.


And of course, every major alt. clothing company has to have their own steampunk clothes.

Let's look at Lip Service's Steam Machine line:



So, you're going to get something that looks more of like a pencil skirt, typically worn in the pinup/psychobilly community, add a few straps on it and call it steampunk? uhhh...


ok. I personally love military themed jackets, and this is cute and everything, but I don't think this deserves a tr00 steampunk label.

I'm not going to post every article of clothing from that line, but pretty much every piece is a plain, black item with a few brass buttons on it and a few straps. HOW IS THIS A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF STEAMPUNK?! THSRFTHSRFTHSRFHS

Oh, Tripp has this lovely gem too:



Again, cute, but it looks more of like MCR's Black Parade jackets, or some kind of Tim Burton/circusy hybrid.


----------


And that's my rant.

ALSO. Before anybody tries to start some damn Myspace fight with me over my bitching, let me say this:

- No, I'm not saying that if you like any of the pictures I posted, or if you don't dress steampunk 24/7, you aren't a "true" steampunk.
- I don't think I'm hot shit and the most TR00 steampunk ever
- I love steampunks who stray away from the traditional cliche steampunk look and make it their own [ex: lolita steampunks, I think they're adorable]. So this is not a "IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE TRADITIONAL STEAMPUNK GUIDELINE, THEN YOU ARE A POSER AND YOU SHOULD GO DIE" rant.

- I get 'over protective' over things I love, and I'm glad that steampunk is getting popular and that more people are interested in it, but seeing 15 year old mall goths wearing Steam Machine head to toe who know nothing of the literature that inspired steampunk pisses me off.



and this is the part where I make a really corny joke about how ranting really helps a person let off some steam, AHAHAHAHAHA. /womp womp waaaaah.