Saturday Steam 12/1/12

I see a lot of amazing steampunk costumes from you readers, but Hilary P.'s is particularly drool-worthy.

First, here's the concept drawing she started with:

 

See more of Hilary's art here

And here's the finished product!

0.0 

Excuse me while I wolf-whistle and my eyeballs pop out cartoon-style. WOWZA.

She writes:

"I made the red coat and over skirt, goggles, & necklace all from scratch. The coat is a hybrid between two Simplicity patterns. The three layered underskirts were from Goodwill and are sewn together. The goggles are from YOUR tutorial, and I added the filigrees (which started out as rings I bent flat) and all the little jewels and gears. 

"The belts were all garage sale finds from earlier this summer. The belt accessories are the Message in a bottle I made [previously featured here], an hourglass necklace I got at The Icing By Claire's, as well as the pocket watch necklace. The old keys were from an antique furniture salvage place owned by a lady I know. My shoes (which you can't really see) look like little victorian style booties I got at Goodwill for cheep!"

Absolutely breath-taking, Hilary! The over coat, the layered skirts, the lace gloves - it's all making me green with envy. I'm also pretty sure I have that exact same belt with the round buckle. Heh.


Next up, you might remember Melissa as the reader who made that fantastic steampunk medal for her fiancé to wear in their engagement photos. (And doesn't he look dapper in it?)

Well, Melissa's fiancé is now her husband (congrats, guys!) and this is the gorgeous steamy boutineer she made him for the wedding:

Her guy is a big VW fan, so she incorporated the logo in with the gears and hand-stitched felt leaves. I love the color choices, and the composition is perfection!

And even though it's not really steampunk, I have to show you guys Melissa all blushing and beautiful with her felt-and-vintage-button bouquet:

Although if you were distracted from the bouquet by Melissa's amazeballs tattoo, you're not the only one. LOVE.

Here's something you don't see every day: a steampunk motorcycle:

Shannon M. spotted this out in the wilds of Daytona, and she snapped several photos with her phone for me. I can't say I'm a fan of the leopard print seat, but that's a minor quibble with amazingness of this caliber:

Those wheel spokes are grommeted leather, and I love all the shiny copper and brass gear accents. The headlight is pretty sweet, too:

I don't have any details on who made this, so if you know, please tell me in the comments!

[UPDATE: Shannon tracked it down! The bike is by Copper Mike - and it's even for sale! Hit the link for more details & pics.)


And finally, Abney Park is the most famous steampunk band out there, and their new(ish) video Steampunk Revolution doesn't disappoint:

 

The actual song is only about three minutes long (the rest is all credits), and there's great footage used of a variety of steampunk art and fashion. Definitely worth a look! (And thanks for the link, Kayla F.!)

Oh, and while we're talking steampunk music: my personal favorite is Steam Powered Giraffe. I've mentioned them before, but just had to plug 'em again, since they're not nearly as famous as they should be. Here's their sweet old-timey ballad, Honey Bee:

 

Their first album gets regular play on our modernized vintage radio - although I just noticed they replaced one of my favorite songs, "I Am Not Alone," on the album over on iTunes - no doubt because the girl who sings it is no longer with the group. Pity. Anyway, hit that link to listen to snippets of all their songs, or go to their website for physical CDs.

Seen something steamy this week? Then please, share the goods in the comments or over on the Epbot FB page!