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Shaving and Steampunk

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vroddrew

Today's New York Times Style section had a brief article on Steampunk.

It sort of hard to describe Steampunk, but it combines elements of the technology and style of the late-Victorian through Jazz ages, mixed with dashes of the latest techno-gear from today, and the romance of Jules Verne and Flash Gordon science-fiction. I first became aware of the movement after seeing a computer keyboard that an artist had assembled using antique keys from an old Royal manual typewriter; custom made brass and walnut fittings, all applied to the chassis of an IBM Model M "clicky" keyboard.

It struck me that some of the appeal that manifests itself in Steampunk might also account for the growing interest in wet shaving. They aren't totally the same thing. But I thought this section in the Times article summed it up:

Quaint to some eyes, or outright bizarre, steampunk fashion is compelling all the same. It is that rarity, a phenomenon with the potential to capture a wider audience, offering a genteel and disciplined alternative to both the slack look of hip-hop and the menacing spirit of goth.

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micah1_8

micah1_8

Yeah, I've been aware of steampunk for awhile now, and I've often admired the aesthetics of it, but I'm also starting to grow a little weary of all the attention it garners. After awhile you find yourself going, oh yeah, another steampunk article. I'm afraid that if it grows any more popular we're going to start seeing a steampunk version of Hot Topic-- the store that killed punk.

You are unique! Just like everyone else.
 
trioxin245

trioxin245

I don't care much for it as a fashion movement, but steampunk literature is pretty cool. The Difference Engine by Gibson and Sterling is great, and the LOEG graphic novels are a lot of fun. I started reading it by following through Gibson's work, and found the steampunk worlds as compelling as dystopian cyberpunk; it has most of the same elements, but taken about a century or so in the past. Good Stuff.
 
Mr. Gillette

Mr. Gillette

I guess it must be the American equivalent of the Siberian Express! I can't wait for the "Steampunk Christmas" special on Fox this year!
 
theperfectstorm

theperfectstorm

vroddrew said:
It struck me that some of the appeal that manifests itself in Steampunk might also account for the growing interest in wet shaving.
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Good point. Seriously. Or--we are just 40-something loaves of whitebread who are freaking out and looking for items, touchstones, rituals that are both comforting, and iconic and archetypal enough to offer us a distinctive identity and allow us to differentiate ourselves in a world increasingly dominated by pre-packaged labels and marketing cliques.

We, the aforementioned Western Middle-class men (of all varieties, colors, shapes, etc.) have for decades been treated as a homogeneous, unthinking cloud of never-ending consumption, (for geeks--think Star Trek vampire cloud, for everybody else think biblical plaque of locusts), whose every potentially social decision must be made for them by a consortium of middle-management demographics gurus who think "lowest common denominator" is a band--or worse, a goal.

Basically, we have been a large, thundering, miles long mindless wave of men being carefully herded towards Wal-Mart by cowboys dressed suspiciously like Madison Avenue corporate stooges.

Hopefully, this shaving thing is just a few of us fighting back, trying to establish our own identity beyond car service and mortgage payment provider. John Bly is dead--long live George Trumper.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

micah1_8 said:
Yeah, I've been aware of steampunk for awhile now, and I've often admired the aesthetics of it, but I'm also starting to grow a little weary of all the attention it garners. After awhile you find yourself going, oh yeah, another steampunk article. I'm afraid that if it grows any more popular we're going to start seeing a steampunk version of Hot Topic-- the store that killed punk.

You are unique! Just like everyone else.
Click to expand...

Hot Topic already carries some stuff last time I was feeling masochistic and stuck my head in there. I doubt that it will gain a huge following due to that it is mostly aesthetic. While I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, most subcultures need something a bit more solid to stand on to really come into there own.

As far as Punk being dead or killed by a store, I can only take that with a grain of salt like when people say “There is no good music anymore”.
 
Randy

Randy

I too am a fan. Here's another interesting link for those interested. I've read a number of books in that genre and love the way people who make steampunk items focus on the artistic values of the industrial age.

- Randy
 
micah1_8

micah1_8

royalcrown said:
As far as Punk being dead or killed by a store, I can only take that with a grain of salt like when people say “There is no good music anymore”.
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As prescribed!

What I meant was, that so many kids shop at Hot Topic trying to acheive the look of individuality when all they end up doing is buying mass-produced crap and wearing the "official goth kid uniform." Why, when I was a kid, you had to wear holes into the knees of your pants yourself! And you sure as Aitch-E-Double Hockey Sticks didn't buy a shirt that was held together with safety pins... you had to tear it and pin it yourself. Kids these days, :incazzato

Oh, sorry about that, slipped into old man mode again... that happens more and more these days.
 
A

AsciiSimon

mission of burma shave said:
I would say it's more aligned with using very old single blade razors like stars and gems.
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More like (WO/1994/004106) HAND-HELD, PORTABLE STEAM RAZOR!

I am into making things (not really Steampunk though although some things could be considered close) and I have chatted with a few of the Steampunk people in email and have watched it become more and more popular. It will be the same as everything else.

A small group of people do their own thing their own way just for their own personal satisfaction. Suddenly it becomes noticed and popular (often helped along unwittingly by the people who started it because suddenly they are noticed and popular) and the next thing you know it becomes commercialised and formulaic. The individuality of it all is lost, the originators of it become disillusioned with it all and complain the real meaning of it has gone and go back to doing their own thing just like they did before. Everyone else gets over it as soon as the next big fad comes along.

Tends to be worse these days with the Internet where all these news/blog type sites all want to be in on the 'latest thing'. People like to belong. They like being part of a group. Being 'into' Steampunk is just another thing people can belong to. Like shaving forums :smile:

I think truly individualistic people are hard to find. And they tend to be nutters. Like Theodore Kaczynski!

Simon
 
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