Where to start?

[Ascent]

I'm new to Steampunk and want to start working on a costume. They're seems to be lots of people out there providing lots of accesories but where do you start with the basics?

I'm thinking things like shirt and trousers suitable for a base for other elements to go onto. I've got ideas for the look I want to acheive, and the detail stuff appears to be out there but I don't really know where to start.

Hopefully the members here can help me. I should probably say I'm in the UK as well.

Ascent.

[Miranda.T]

So much depends on the persona you wish to create - an intrepid explorer or dashing man about town, or prolific inventor or ground breaking engineer or hero of the Martian Wars or...? Once the persona is decided, the look can evolve.

Yours,
Miranda.

[E.J.MonCrieff]

As you have probably noticed from other posts here, you can get some excellent bargains from charity shops, and these can easily form the basis of a costume.  Most towns have somewhere selling fabric by the metre, and these often have a bin with remnants. 

As you will have noticed (if you have attended any Steampunk events), you MUST have a pair of goggles.  If you are to be a Zeppellin engineer, or indeed involved in the maintenance of a steam engine, then the most basic goggles - such as welding goggles - will do for a start.  If you intend later to be the dapper 'Man About Town', then you might consider upgrading to something a little more outré.

I've recently bought a copy of Steampunk Gear, Gadgets, and Gizmos : A Maker's Guide to Creating Modern Artifacts by Thomas Willeford; I've found it full of good ideas.  Jeff Vandemeer's Steampunk Bible - An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature can also give you some inspidration.  I bought both from abebooks.uk. 

Charity shops can be a source not only of costume items, but of accoutrements too.  Kitchen equipment can be repurposed for your 'weapon'.  Just hope, when you visit, that some other Steampunk hasn't been in before you!

[J. Wilhelm]

I'm new to Steampunk and want to start working on a costume. They're seems to be lots of people out there providing lots of accesories but where do you start with the basics?

I'm thinking things like shirt and trousers suitable for a base for other elements to go onto. I've got ideas for the look I want to acheive, and the detail stuff appears to be out there but I don't really know where to start.

Hopefully the members here can help me. I should probably say I'm in the UK as well.

Ascent.

Many people start by creating a persona. You don't have to, but it helps to "pick the attire"  and accessories for you. It makes your decision process much easier.

[Synistor 303]

Look at pictures of Steampunk events - Pinterest has a few... Choose the outfits you like the best. Save pictures. Analyse which bits you like and go for it!

[Rockula]

You don't have to invent a 'persona' unless you really want to.

But I would start by looking at some photos of Victorian and Edwardian dress and decide which style speaks to you.

Then I'd look in the charity/thrift stores with that in mind.

You can often find things that you can adapt or add to.

And it doesn't have to cost the Earth.

[Ascent]

Thanks for the replies. I have two ideas for persona's. One is a scientist type, the other was inspired by The Cog is Dead and I can only describe it as 'The Bad Guy'.

[Sorontar]

Little things can make a difference. Add to your jacket with objects poking out of pockets, like tools, goggles/glasses, testtubes, pamphlets etc. Add things to a hat, like tickets, piping, springs etc poking out. Combine mismatches of clothing, like work clothes and finery.

Over time you may want to change them, but if you keep it simple, that is easy.

Just make sure none of them may be misinterpreted as actual weapons.

Sorontar

[E.J.MonCrieff]

If you are thinking of two different personae, you might want to look at Nephele's postings on this website, where she offers to take the letters of your name and anagram them to find your secret steampunk name

[Miranda.T]

Thanks for the replies. I have two ideas for persona's. One is a scientist type, the other was inspired by The Cog is Dead and I can only describe it as 'The Bad Guy'.

For the scientist, maybe an old lab-coat, suitably scorched and with some interesting stains? You can indeed have great fun with accessories - throw a few bits and bobs together for a personal time-machine? The old 'things in jars' thread (http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,746.0.html) might also give some inspiration.

Yours,
Miranda.

P.S. I hope will get to see some piccys of your creations as they develop 

[J. Wilhelm]

Jars with specimens in formaldehyde and biological powered weapons always make convincing evil scientist props. Wire frame spectacles, and remember, scientists of the era (as today) are respectable people. Dress well under the lab coat.

[Synistor 303]

Jars with specimens in formaldehyde and biological powered weapons always make convincing evil scientist props. Wire frame spectacles, and remember, scientists of the era (as today) are respectable people. Dress well under the lab coat.

I have a few things in formaldehyde... sort-of. Slug eyes (some pairs), fairy hearts and toad warts.

Slug eyes are; sago with a dot of black marker pen in vodka with a few drops of green and yellow food colouring.

Fairy hearts; heart-shaped air-dry clay, encased in a glittery red nail polish, suspended in clear oil.

Toad warts; silver beet (chard?) seeds suspended in clear oil.

It is always funny watching people glance at the glass cabinet they are in, then take a closer look, then look disgusted/horrified at the contents.

[von Corax]

Things in formaldehyde? Check out Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories for an assortment of edible "things in jars."

[Gregor]

LOL

I was cleaning out an old house for a lady, soon to be going to assisted living.  She had a pantry / root cellar and I had to clear it
and knock out everything inside.

There were many canning jars of veggies, pickled fill-in-the-blank, and for some reason, rice.

About the most morbidly fascinating ugly, scary, and just down-right wrong thing I have ever seen was in this room (and I did
a stint in a histology lab slicing brains, organs, and preserving tissues). . .

     Decades old, pickled palm-heart.  It had gone south who knows when (The seal was rotted). What was in there was murky<
little bits or rotted flotsam, the 'heart' had become stringy, but the strings swelled and looked like tentacles.  At first I thought it
was a preserved squid ling.  This was before ubiquitous photo-phones so I didn't have a picture.  I have often tried to re-create
this with many items (vegetable, including palm-hearts,  to silicone pasta-like stuff floating in vinegar to vodka). I have gotten close,
but never there.

bon-apatite!  gregor