One of the most recognizable facets of the Steampunk genre is the hat. Whether someone prefers bowlers or top hats, fedoras or pith helmets, Steampunk comes from a time before John Kennedy almost single handedly removed the hat from part of the daily and professional attire that people had to wear. However, for those looking for a unique hat that will last, and which will make sure people remember them, Head N' Home Hats is the place to go.

Head N' Home Hats, located at www.headnhome.com, are purveyors of some of the finest handmade hats in a wide variety of different styles. If folks are looking for unique Steampunk hats the site makes vested top hats, hats with watch chains, tall hats, short hats, hats with buckles and hats in a variety of different colors. There is a specifically Steampunk section on the website, but there are also sections like Voodoo (for lovers of aggressive top hats), Project Fedora or Project Outback, which all have high quality hats that fit a given theme. Of course, depending on the persona one is affecting, something from the other sections might be a better fit. Or maybe someone just wants a really nice, day-to-day hat that also happens to work at events and conventions, who knows?

When it comes to art you pay for what you get, and that goes double for the finely made products that Head N' Home offers in their various collections. That said, the cheapest models that someone could get are still going to run over $100. For some of the really snazzy hats customers can be expected to pay more than triple that price. On the other hand though, these hats are sized just for your head, and they are not only attractive, they're also durable and comfortable. With changeable bands, along with wires in the brims so wearers can bend and twist them as they need to, these hats are, hands down, some of the best out there for Steampunks that want to make one purchase and have a hat that will last them for years and years to come.

For the record (because you should state things like this) I made a single purchase from Head N' Home many years ago; one of their El Dorado top hats. This hat is comfortable, easy to to wear and it fit exactly the size I provided down to the last fraction of an inch. Though it gets a bit loose when I cut my hair, the hat has always been an eye-grabber. I was not a Steampunk when I first made the purchase, but now that I've joined the culture in my own little way I find that being a black hat gives me just the edge I need when portraying a slightly villainous character. It's made me more than memorable at the cons I attend, and I'm always easy to pick out of a room. That is the power of a hat from Head N' Home Hats. If every other part of your Steampunk garb is as eye-catching, then no one is ever going to forget having met you.

While there is a great deal of fantasy and whimsy in Steampunk fashion, the style and feel comes very solidly from the 19th century. That being the case, much of the really period influences call for multiple layers of clothing. For men that can men shirts, vests, jackets and coats, and for women it can mean a bevy of slips, skirts, blouses, corsets, jackets and overcoats. While that can be frustrating during summer time conventions, with Fall and Winter coming it's prime time for those warm, layered looks.

For your main protection from the elements, long winter coats are your best bet for cold weather Steampunk styles. For a military look traditional trench coats, with shoulder epaulets, is your best bet. Gabardine or faux leather work well for rain coats, and belted coats provide a more period look that also sculpts your shape. Alternatively though, greatcoats, capes, stoles and shrugs along with dusters and riding coats are also attractive, period pieces that are more than functional. They can be left intact, or slight modification like clock gear buttons, patches and ranks on an airship, or other things can all be added to grant the garment an air of something from the world next door.

Hats are also a major feature of Steampunk that was inspired by the historical requirements of fashion. Everyone wore hats during the Victorian era, and afterward until nearly the 1960s (at least in America). So whether you choose to wear a top hat (stove pipe or shorter), a newsboy cap, a riding hat or something else entirely you have a wide variety of headgear to choose from. And if you want to accessorize your hat then all you have to do is decide your Steampunk persona. Are you a daring pilot that needs her glasses on her cap? A gunslinger with a bullet band over his right ear? Perhaps a spy who keeps a veil drawn over the left side of her hat brim, tilted to the side to tantalize anyone that looks at her. It's all a matter of taking a period piece and customizing it for your needs.

The last major article you should turn your attention to is your footwear. While high heels and lustrous leather are fashionable, they aren't always practical in the great outdoors. However, it is always important to keep to your theme whenever you can. Spats, for instance, provide a very easy way to cover modern boots and give them a period appearance. They can also hide zippers, which can be the bane of people trying for a truly period look. If you wear boots then blousing your pants into them is an option, particularly if you want to draw attention to your footwear. There's no sense in spending a lot of money on a pair of tanker boots for no one to ever admire them, after all.

Beyond these major points what's left are accessories. Scarves are particularly good, and you can tie them in a number of ways to lend character. Putting a pin on your scarf, whether it's a crimson eye or the Medal for Ignoble Gallantry (sold in some of the finer Steampunk Emporiums), gives you just one more touch of the fantastical. Your gloves, whether they're dress whites, gentleman's leather or fingerless wool can all add character and keep you warm while you walk through a winter wonderland.

Alice in Wonderland is one of the most well known of Victorian stories, particularly given how the whimsical can become horrific with a simple matter of tone or the turn of a page. It is the very familiarity of the Wonderland cast, and how truly bizarre they can be made (or have been made) that makes them perfect targets for Steampunk Halloween costumes. But the question remains; who is most appropriate for your persona? And how will you add the necessary sci-fi to your fantasy portrayal?

Perhaps the most popular character for players is the Mad Hatter. Containing everything that is Wonderland in a single personage, the Hatter is both successful and proper, while at the same time completely off his rocker. The hat would obviously be the most important mark of the character, and it could (and should) be made as complicated and complex as possible. Instead of just one card in the band, why not half a dozen, some of which are upside down or which have marks that make no sense? Also, why not put a vest on the hat? Or, for costumers that love the ridiculous, a hat on the hat? It's also a good idea to keep the tools of the hatmaker's trade on your person, such as a measuring tape, magnifying loupe (a monocle would do in a pinch) pencil, pins, etc. And if you really want to be in persona, measure people for hats, and tell them to bring money that doesn't exist to pick it up on days that have already gone by.

Maybe you prefer someone a little more sane for your costume? Alice is always a popular choice, especially if you can find the Disney version's blue dress and apron. However, if you want to spice it up, try playing Alice with an adventuring look. Wonderland is a dangerous place, and you get tough or go mad. Perhaps Alice has traded in the dress for a blue corset and dungarees, and the sensible shoes for a pair of tanker boots? Add in a map case and a spy glass (perhaps draw out a map that keeps changing, or which has directions no one's ever heard of?) and she's the same lost girl trying to find her way back home.

The same basic theory works with nearly any of the Wonderland cast. For instance, if you're the Queen of Hearts then you want to focus on the color scheme and the correctness of the time period. A black and red corset, the proper skirt and shoes make for a good start, but why not add in some opera glasses or goggles? Perhaps a perched and intricate cap instead of the usual crown? Perhaps you're playing the White Rabbit... why not find the most intricate looking time piece that you can? Or carry multiple pocket watches on their own chains and set to different times? A pilot or cyclist's goggles would also be a great idea, since he does tend to move at a fast clip wherever he goes. Or, perhaps you're lucky enough to have a partner and you could get a Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum then maybe you might want to go for the bully boy look? Striped shirt rolled to the elbows, identical tattoos underneath. Walking sticks and bowler hats, some snappy suspenders and heavy, workman's boots?

There are endless little touches that you can do, and practically endless characters that you could play. Whether you want to turn a playing card guard into a British regular (putting his suit on the unit patch and his number where his rank goes, mayhap?) or you want to put together your own, sleek Cheshire Cat as a man about town (all done up in purple, tufted ears sticking up out of a dashing hat) then the options are all available to you. All you need is the inspiration, and the proper accouterments to bring off just the right effect.

With October on its way, all the creative girls and boys are turning their minds to Halloween, the day where not just any Steampunk look will do. Oh no, when the pumpkins are carved and the old Celtic celebration draws nigh, it's time to pull out all the stops and do... something splendid! But what? Well, to help you decide there are half a dozen different categories, and tips and tricks for each of them. Keep reading and see if it sparks an idea or three...

Steampunk Your Monster

Halloween traditionally calls for ghosts and ghouls, but Steampunk as a genre isn't shy about pulling back the curtain and doing the horrific. As a quick for instance, Frankenstein could easily fit as one of the foundations of Steampunk, with science going too far and creating a monster. Instead of stitches, use big, brass staples, and add additional accouterments to make the monster just as much machine as it is man. A horrid, clockwork monstrosity that no one but god could ever stop.

There are plenty of other monsters waiting for this treatment as well. A werewolf done up in brass restraints and leather collar, keeping his transformations in line, perhaps. A Mr. Hyde with an auto-feed of his formula, one part patient, one part doctor and all around sociopath. An aquatic Creature from the Black Lagoon with a fish bowl on his head and a land suit, allowing him to traverse among men for long periods of time... these and many others are all options!

Steampunk A Character

We have known the Spanish fashion designer Viveka Goyanes for many years. She explores the intersections between fashion and art through her alter ego Amoelbarroco.

As we share common interests, we started to think about further collaboration possibilities and an idea popped-up: Victorian occultism and spiritism! So we decided to go ahead with a photo session, but covering this topic in one session only would be complicated; this is why we preferred to focus on fortune-telling, as this was a very popular discipline in the Victorian era.

We are most pleased to share with you the result of this collaboration:

This is a summary of the original blog post, further details, more pictures and even a short behind the scenes video is available for you here: http://www.decimononic.com/blog/amoelbarroco-decimononic-and-fortune-telling

Steampunk fashion trends tend to reflect a given era in history. Some stick with the London fashion of the Victorian era, and others reach to the railroads that criss-crossed nations all over the world as the most efficient transport of the time. However the Great Wars (World War I and II) changed everything. They changed culture, weapons, technology, borders... and they also created many of the iconic fashion statements that steam lovers are intimately familiar with.

Perhaps the most famous garment comes from the first World War, circa 1901 in England, and that is the infamous trenchcoat. You see, up until that war, officers wore greatcoats made of serge. Burberry, after the creation of gabardine fabric, submitted a design to the British army, and was awarded with the contract. The original trenchcoat had D rings for attaching gear and equipment, and there were also shoulder straps for placing markings of rank. The coats were optional, and could be privately purchased by officers that desired to have one. The coat survived into the Second World War, but shorter field jackets that offered greater maneuverability became the order of the day and the trenchcoat was slowly phased out. Many men, after the war, kept their coats and that was how they became a civilian style as well as a military one.

In addition to war on the ground, the World Wars brought air combat to the forefront of combat. However, while the machines to put pilots in the air were being designed and redesigned, there were no such advancements being made for keeping pilots warm in the frigid temperatures of the skies. As such pilots began looking for coats that would keep them warm and functional while they fought in the clouds, and this lead to a lot of pilots adopting leather jackets with high collars, tight cuffs at the wrists and a belt at the waist to hold in warmth. Leather gloves, flying scarves, caps and goggles were also items that helped provide warmth and keep the wind from distracting a pilot, and as such they've become cemented as the uniform of any daring ace. Even into the second war, when fighters had closed cockpits, many of these items remained because the planes still weren't heated. Over time the heavy coats were also adopted by bomber crews and gunners, hence the name bomber jacket in addition to flight jacket.

Lastly, the Great Wars featured the phasing out of standard cavalry, and the creation of the steel juggernaut of the tank. However, tanks could be just as much a threat to the men in them as to the enemy if they weren't careful. One way to fix this was the invention of tanker boots, which should be a favorite of any steampunk out there. These boots, still issued by the armed forces today, are combat boots that attach with straps rather than with laces. The logic was that the belt straps would hold the boots on tightly, but there would be nothing to get caught in the gears and teeth of a tank's mechanisms, and thus fewer tankers would have their feet chewed off in the course of their duty. Additionally, tanker boots are chemical resistant and come with steel toes, just in case accidents do happen.

Steampunk and Vaudeville are two very distinctive genres with attributes that are easily recognized, but most people wouldn't automatically connect the two. Steampunk centers around the time period of Queen Victoria's reign in England and the "Wild West" time frame in the United States, action, science fiction, steam power, and future technologies seen through Victorian eyes. Vaudeville on the other hand, spans from about 1880 to 1930, is all about traveling side shows, magicians, cabaret singers, minstrels, one act plays, and the circus. However, I believe that it is their differences that make them family.

 Steampunk conjures images of airships and clockwork gadgets, mad scientists and anachronistic inventions. Men in three piece suits with lasers in their canes, and ladies in petticoats with ray-guns in their garters. Vaudeville brings you into a world of trained animals and tightrope walkers, burlesque dancers and minstrel shows. Women reciting Shakespeare while dressed as men, and men performing feats that defy the senses. 

From leather and lace, to corsets and tulle, you know a Steampunk dress when you see it. Taking all the best parts of the "Wild West" and Victorian Britain, Steampunk gowns are a mixture of the feminine with masculine details. While it may be relatively easy to incorporate Steampunk attire into your everyday wardrobe, gowns are another story all together. The sheer voluminousness of some of these dresses make them suitable only for special occasions.

Sites like Clockwork Couture, Steampunk Emporium, and users Etsy are doing an amazing job at showcasing their wares. With the rise of Steampunk's popularity and its aesthetics slowly but surely creeping into everyday society, I believe that it soon won't be too unusual too see the SP infiltrate the formal side of style too. Weddings and proms are two of the obvious places that this style can be worn without too much "to do".

The well-dressed man must not only look dapper in his fashions, but also maintain the masculine air of capability. With that in mind, I present to you a Steampunk Guide to Dressing Well on the street (because, as we all know, you dress very differently for the parlor, opera, or airship).

A gentleman should never be without a hat outdoors, and this brown bowler accentuated with cogs (feathers in your brim are so last year) is ideal on a chilly spring or autumn day.

Trivia: The bowler hat dates back to 1849 when a customer requested a close-fitting hat that wouldn't get knocked off by low hanging branches while on horseback. Top hats had been sailing everywhere. London hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler came to the rescue.

Scoundrel and gentleman both can appreciate the romance of the tailcoat, especially in a rakish yellow pinstripe. Trivia: The morning coat, with the severe cutaway in the front, got its name from men's morning riding exercises. The cut was originally intended to make it easier to ride.

In another incarnation, I’m a wedding blogger, and I’ll tell you right now that there has never been a steampunk wedding on Style Me Pretty. Not yet anyways. Yes, we have our own aesthetic, and here are five ways to incorporate it a little, or a lot, into your wedding plans.

 Steampunk Invitations

Royal Steamline is my favorite source for vintage/Victoriana Save the Date cards and invitation sets. You can shop by style, either Vintage, Steampunk, Retro, or Gothic to get just he look you’re going for. Personally, I love this old timey postcard of Picadilly Circus in London.