It's a subculture with a massive following, but still underground enough that it's rarely recognized outside of its own circles. Steampunk is a roiling wave of fresh fashion just waiting to burst onto the surface, but despite a steady growth in the last few years, it has yet to break away from the underground scene or withstand the test of the mainstream.

My first brush with steampunk came with reading Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2000. I loved being exposed to a world that was a futuristic echo of our past. It was after that, that I began to witness the rise of steampunk online and in our culture. At first it seemed novel and exciting, the idea that people were dressing in waistcoats and corsets and attending public functions, looking as if they had stepped out of a Jules Verne novel. But as time went on, and the prevalence of brass and steam worked its way into every bit of nerd subculture, I began to ask myself, is their more to this thing than cogs glued to top hats? (Read More)