On Parasol Pockets

These triangular pockets sewn into the sides of Lady's dresses during the 1870s and '80s are called "Parasol Pockets" and have been the subject of much debate amongst costume historians.
The debate is whether they were actually used to hold parasols or whether they were just a style of pocket at that time. There are no historical images of them actually holding parasols which does lend credence to the latter idea.

The "simply a pocket" side of the debate also points out that when ladies are shown with parasols they are always holding them.

This picture, a fashion plate from May of 1876 is a good example.

The ladies are shown outside without parasols and their pockets don't have them either, which can clearly be seen in the illustration. So what gives?

As a parasol duelling aficionado the answer is obvious to me

The fashion plates and early photos are being used to show off the outfits not the parasols. Parasols were for duelling AND for show. If the fashionable parasols which matched or complimented the outfits were to be shown then obviously they needed to be held not hidden in the pocket.

A Lady Duelist would also likely have a parasol specific for duelling and a fashionably decorated one for show. When out and about the duelling one would be carried in the pocket and the fancy one held.
Historians also point to the fact that the parasol pocket often shows up on dresses that would not likely be worn outside so why have a parasol pocket at all?

 These pockets would have been used to hold the smaller Street Duelling parasols of course!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Join Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling league!

So what do you do when you have a piece of epic music and a pile of fantastic photos from Parasol Duelling competitions?

You make a video ad that's what!

Here is the latest ad for Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League on Facebook.



I hope you enjoy it and please pass it along to anyone interested!

As always thanks to the Ladies of Madame Saffron Hemlock’s Parasol Duelling League.

And the great photographers who make us look so good.

Karlo Keet.
Clare Gibson
MetallYZA 
Katie Edwards
Lindsay Dunlop
Phi Vernon

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

"Just another minute" she said!


A month from now Calgary will be host to the world famous event called Beakerhead.
This five day extravaganza of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Music takes over much of downtown Calgary.

This is also where we will be having the Second Annual Parasol Duelling World Championships!

That is if we can get there barring a few technical difficulties...

Me and the talented Monica Willard working on the "Tin Fish"
Photo taken by the brilliant Neil Zeller at about 2:00am

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

This is going to be fantastic!

Update Nov 20, 2013!
This is fantastic!
First episode is out.



Enjoy!



This series starts shortly so keep an eye out.
Details here:
The World of Steam

Ignore the stupid cover photo it should look like this:

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Brilliant!

Found this while writing my post on Pinterest boards.

A nice howto on making a stovepipe style top hat.  The full image can be found here but this is a just a taste to whet yer whistle!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

In more ways than one!

Pinterest is an amazing thing.

I use it to collect Steampunk costume photos the latest of which appear on the sidebar of this blog.

However as Boromir once said...

Like YouTube before it one can easily loose many an hour wandering the beautiful, interesting, funny and scary labyrinth that is Pinterest.

Each board is a collection of "pins" usually photos or images with links to the sources.

My Pinterest Board is mostly for Steampunk costumes, but there are many many boards that also include gadgets, artwork, jewelery, tattoos, buildings and other exotic bits of Steampunk wonderfulness.

There are also Pinterest boards dedicated to historical subjects like real Victorian clothing and artifacts, history, and period photos.

One of my favourite boards is Brenda{SteamCircus.com} which has over 10,000 pins organized into 73 subject groups.
 
Wandering around here one can easily get lost and spend a very pleasant hour or two.

Please check it out when you have some time to spend!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Mmmmm bustles...

Found this on my Internet rambles.

Truly Victorian

Truly Victorian patterns are based on historically accurate fashion styles and seam lines.   With these patterns, you will have the opportunity to create historical clothing which is perfect for reenactments and special occasions when authenticity is desired.

 

A fascinating collection of patterns for all you costumers out there (not me, I can sew buttons and hems but that's it)

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

A collection of Steampunk wings:

"Beautiful Plumage!"



























Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

From a New Zealand paper.

The Thames Advertiser June 19, 1893

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your corset laced (but not too tight!)
KJ

A fascinating fashion video.

Filmed in Cape Town South Africa.

From the site at 1886 Steam Punk on Vimeo

The piece is a fantasy video showcasing the fashion, the hats, the gadgets and the lifestyle that could have been the future of 19th Century steam culture, set in the future.
The decadent nature of this steam era video, is portrayed with strong gun-slinging women, and rough grizzly men.
The music from Moby suits the piece perfectly.

Enjoy!



Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

I say, wot!



Keep you sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

I am a great fan of Steampunk costumes.
Doesn't matter whether the costumes are complex, simple, elegant, racy or straitlaced.
That is why I've been collecting photos of Steampunk costumes from all over the web on my companion Pinterest board, the latest images from which are automatically displayed on the left side panel of this blog.

Several people have mentioned that I tend to concentrate on Ladies costumes and that many of them are pretty sexy looking.  Guilty as charged I'm afraid
Partly that is simply the result of availability of images, photographers seem more likely to post images of ladies in Steampunk fashion than gentlemen. But there is also a much wider range of ladies costumes compared to mens.  Why is that?

Looking over the 1450 photos on my Pinterest board, some common themes appear.  The costumes can be broken down into several broad categories based on contrasting themes.

1. Elegant and Formal / Whimsical and Exotic
2. Upper class / Urchin
3. Straitlaced / Racy
4. Technical / Organic
5. Male / Female
6. Historical / Fantasy. 
7. Young / Old(er)

The majority seem to fall into the Straitlaced/Racy category.
Now I will be honest and say that I LIKE the racy versions, with a particular fondness for "Stripey Socks" and long legs... (and as my alter ego on the book of  faces would proclaim...)
SQUIRREL!

The odd thing about this is that such things are not really historical at all.  The Victorians are notorious for being, at least in public, exceptionally straitlaced when it came to exposing the body!
Steampunk often looks at the lower and darker side of the society, the dirty, smoggy, oil coated side. Along with that comes the slightly seedier, forbidden side of the "Ladies of Questionable Virtue". Now of course not even these working ladies would have been caught dead in many of the more racy outfits that modern Steampunk Ladies exhibit.

But I certainly am not going to complain!

This post from Slap Bookleather on his great blog at http://slapbookleather.blogspot.ca/, describes this quandary quite well:
 
Leggy Victorians and the Quandary of Steampunk Fashions  

If one is an astute observer of history, particularly historical costume (which I confess to being), one notices that the key statement made by Victorian fashions is a complete rejection that any part of the body below the neckline exists.  Coverage is key, and although fashions are fitted, they are rarely close fitted.  The legendary Prince Albert piercing, for example, was said to exist solely to keep a man from spoiling the lines of his pants.  Women’s fashions, in particular, seemed to deny the existence of the leg.  To show one’s ankles was scandalous; American merchants on the Santa Fe Trail were shocked to find ankle length skirts on Mexican women, skirts that rose up to the calf while dancing.  The horror, the horror.  With that in mind, I always find it interesting that today’s steampunk fashions so clearly display the women’s legs.  We celebrate both the buttoned up Victorian fashions and a fetish approach to lingerie with seemingly no contradiction- quite a feat.

To which I must heartily say AMEN Brother!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Lots of pictures of hats and bonnets for ladies from Regency to Edwardian times.
Most are for sale, not sure if the site is still alive though, as it was last updated in 2010.
I wonder what these would look like with goggles

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ
 
Mrs. Parker's Millinery and Mercantile

Some videos showing the Steampunk scene.







Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Found this site in my rambles today:
Steampunk Fashion Resources & More...
Created and maintained by Lady Ruthven, this site is a  fantastic collection of  links to sources for Steampunk, and Steampunk inspired, fashions and accessories.  The Clothing page alone has 55 links in alphabetical order with a brief description of each link.

Definitely worth adding to your bookmarks.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

This is an interesting discussion at Steampunk Empire.
Steampunk Empire: Period vs Pretty
I lean towards the idea that costumes should at least look vaguely period, ie 19th and early 20th centuries, but that really is simply a foundation on which to built anything we want.
To me, Steampunk is fantasy not history, however like in the SCA, where some people were "from the skin out" costume fanatics, I appreciate the accurate as much as the fantastic.  They all add colour to an otherwise drab modern world. As you can see from the vast array of costume pictures at my Pinterest board, and  the many other Steampunk boards, the sky is quite literally the limit! 
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ