Why is Steel-Punk Not a Thing?

I saw the piece above entitled Pauldrons and Arm Braces by deviant artist vofffka and wondered to my self why there wasn’t a subculture of people who dressed up like knights? The concept of chivalry and honor are quite big in some geek sub circles, George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series is hitting it off big time both in the bookstore and on the small screen and it involves wearing armour!

Why is this not a thing? I’m not talking about LARP (Live Action Role Play) style costumes, dressing up in full plate would make day to day tasks completely impractical, I’m talking about incorporating things that look like armor into everyday outfits, a little like this Hoodie by Etsy seller SOFworks which was so successful it got the poor guys shop shut down…

Grey Knight Armored Hoodie

We have Steam punk, that’s a thing that’s been a geek subculture for quite some time, arguably for some people it just involves wearing brown goth clothes and gluing on some gears, but it’s a vibrant subculture.

Likewise there is cyber punk, cyber goth, and hundreds of other subcultures consisting of people who want to for one reason or another dress like they come from another time period be it the past or the future, people even dress up as anthropomorphised animals and believe that that is their true form (Weirder still there are double furries who believe that they are animals dressed up as humans…)

Why don’t we have Steel Punk?

Like I said I’m not talking about people wearing full suits of armor, that’s impractical unless you are LARPing or Cosplaying.

So wondering about with swords is probably out of the question because you will probably get stopped by the police pretty sharpish, but accessorizing normal clothing with pauldrons, bracers, maybe a knitted medieval helm or a knitted chain mail jumper (There is a pattern for this here)?

Or knitted armor:

I have found a few projects scattered about the web The following are undergrad projects:

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Undergraduate Lydia Hanchette created this cuir bouille cincher,
pauldron, and vambrace entirely of hardened leather.

 

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Body armor and pauldron/vambrace rig by second year Adrienne Corral
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As above but worn

They are all leather and maybe steel would be a little but less practical, but I still find it strange that there aren’t more people wondering about with bits of armor accentuating their outfits.

As I said actual metal would be preferable, and it’s not like modern fashion designers haven’t tried this like these costumes by designer Naty Chabanenko which are supposed to be android like but lets face it look like stylized armour:

Or this design from Alexander McQueen’s 2007 collection which has a lot of armor inspired designs but this is really the only one that fits what I’d call steel punk:

Or even these armored jeans by Acne Jeans:

Acne armoured jeans Acne make armoured jeans, world wonders why

Or these plate high heels by Nigel carren? He does armor fashion!

Maybe not this plate bra though…

All I’m saying is it seems really weird to me that despite there being a niche for this subculture and there being people who would fit into that niche the subculture doesn’t exist.

And no wearing articulated claw rings does not count, that’s just lame…

 

More Roy Lichtenstein Costumes

Sarah Hoke Thomson (Click Image For link to Facebook Album)

90% of my traffic comes from people looking up Lichtensten costumes, that’s a fact. I thought I’d pander to anyone who is looking for more Roy Lichtenstein costume images who isn’t satisfied by my other two posts

The image above is I think of a Redditor, the images below are taken from the Neatorama and reddit comment threads.

Also special mention goes to Robots in disguise’s music video for featuring themselves in Lichtenstein esque make-up (23 seconds in):

 

Shannon Brook

Neatorama Commenter Britanny
Redditor xSubmerged's Facebook friend...

 

Neatorama/Reddit

These images are of Ashley B from Passedina Texas:

Homemade Lichtenstein Comic Book Pop Art CostumeHomemade Lichtenstein Comic Book Pop Art Costume

Homemade Lichtenstein Comic Book Pop Art Costume

After too many years of the same tired ‘ole remakes and trashy costumes everywhere, I decided to liven things up a bit! This Roy Lichtenstein comic book Pop Art really pops to life (get it?) with this homemade ensemble.

I spent hours polka-dotting myself silly and adding bold comic lines around my features. I sewed heavily colored fabric together to make the dress and lined pleats with fabric paint. I painted heavy lines on high heels and created a foam poster board “thought bubble” that read “Later that night…”GEE, I HOPE I WIN” (a nod toward any costume contests I would enter 😉 and hot glued it to a headband that I bought at a local craft store.

I created another foam board sign that read “GASP” to complete the comic look! On my legs I drew in knee-caps and added a “cross-hatching” effect. It took a good while, but I was stoked with the end result!

These by Erin English of Littl falls NJ:

Homemade Roy Lichtenstein Comic Girl Costume

Homemade Roy Lichtenstein Comic Girl Costume

Homemade Roy Lichtenstein Comic Girl Costume

Homemade Roy Lichtenstein Comic Girl Costume

This is a picture of the woman in the Roy Lichtenstein painting as an actual comic book character.

For this homemade Roy Lichtenstein comic girl costume I purchased a yellow wig and painted black lines in it. I also purchased white stockings and painted polka dots on it. The earrings I made out of cellophane balls. The dress was just a polka dot dress that I have laying around the house. I coated my face with white paint and put red polka dots. I outlined all my features with black liquid eyeliner. I continued the polka dots on my arms with red acrylic paint.

I printed out one of Roy’s paintings and attached it with black ribbon with ribbon arm bands.

And these are by Lupita From Sacremento California:

Homemade Comic Book Pop Art Costume

Homemade Comic Book Pop Art CostumeHomemade Comic Book Pop Art Costume

 This Homemade Comic Book Pop Art Costume was inspired by Roy Lichtenstein pop art. Every year my goal is to wear a costume that’s original. I hate spending too much money on costumes sold at the store for two reasons, (1) the material is cheap, (2) 87 other people will probably be wearing it as well. This year I decided to do be Comic Book Pop Art which involved paint, make up and markers. I used some clothes that I already had and painted my wig yellow at the ends. It took me about 2 hours to create this cartoonish look. The dot placement and black outlining were key to creating the pop art style seen in comic books. I outlined my eyebrows, eyes, lips, nose, collar bone, cleavage, chin, cheeks, ears, arms, elbows and even my feet and created a “POW” out of markers and poster board paper.

This costume is for sure one of the coolest costumes that I have created.