When the NY Times decides to cover Steampunk, the deliciously neo-victorian aesthetic, you know it has made it out of the realm of indy comics and off-beat web sites. The next big thing? I don't know about that, but I'd love nothing more than to see lower Manhattan awash in top hats and brass goggles. Why not? It is a whole lot more accessible and DIY than a lot of cultural phenomenon that I see around. I love this stuff to death.
The whole movement seems to be a reflex against the tsunami of high tech that has invaded our lives, but lacks a lot of the wonder, style and pure aesthetic extravagance that once accompanied such things. For example, a great new desktop computer comes in a plastic case built for economy. Our modern efficiency has largely robbed us of style. Where better to look than the Victorian era to right this utilitarian shortcoming?
nytimes.com:
The elaborate mourning dresses, waistcoats, hacking jackets and high-button shoes are goth’s stepchildren, for sure, but the overall look is “not so much eyeliner and fishnets,” said Evelyn Kriete, who sells advertising space for magazines like Steampunk, The Willows and Weird Tales, and who manages Jaborwhalky Productions (jaborwhalky.com), a steampunk Web site.
Ms. Kriete and her eccentrically outfitted cohort of teachers, designers, writers and medical students, drew stares last week at a picnic at the Cloisters in Manhattan, but provoked no shudders or discernible hostility.
“As a subculture, we are not the spawn of Satan,” Ms. Kriete said. “People smile when they see us. They want to take our picture.”
Robert Brown, the lead singer for Abney Park, a goth band that has reinvented itself as steampunk, echoed her sentiments. “Steampunk is not dark and spooky,” he said. “It’s elegant and beautiful.”

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