Grab your top hats: steampunk is here to stay. Jessica McAllen explores a subculture that's polarising people in the capital.

Steampunk philosophy is about mixing old and new, merging the usability of modern tech with the aesthetic and philosophy of the 19th century.

The term was allegedly coined by science fiction author Kevin Jeter as a way to distinguish retro-tech sci-fi writers like himself from future-obsessed cyberpunks.



Paula Lester-Garcia owns Clockwork Steampunk Emporium, which originally opened in Christchurch last year. She moved to Wellington for personal reasons and the store came with her.

ROSS GIBLIN/Dominion Post Paula Lester-Garcia shows the steampunk gear, including corsets and ray-guns, that will be for sale in her new store, Clockwork Steampunk Emporium.

Think: typewriters turned into robotic pets, iPhone docks that let you answer your phone with an old brass and wood receiver, and fantasising about floating towns held up by dirigibles in Victorian-industrial times. More whimsy; less slavery.

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But steampunk seems to attract more haters than your average nerdy niche subculture. When an article reported that Clockwork was moving from Christchurch to Wellington, there was a social media outcry. One tweet: "Remember before the Colonial Steam Punk store, when Wellington's status as 'universe's #1 trash town' was seen by some as a debatable point."

Some steampunkers adopt special names, but Lester-Garcia says she is a time traveller therefore "always myself". She got into the culture through her husband, Mike. "He'd been following steampunk since reading some of the original books in the 80s. He introduced me to it and we got into it in a big way, dressing up, making things, and engaging with the splendid and enthusiastic people.

"People who like the aesthetic don't necessarily have to dress steampunk all the way – or go 'full steam' as we say," says Lester-Garcia.

"But there is always the chance to incorporate details of it into an everyday outfit, like wearing some unique jewellery, a corset and jeans for a night out, or cuff links and a waistcoat to make an outfit more interesting."

The first steampunk convention took place in 2006 and the word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010. It truly hit the mainstream in 2012 when America's Next Top Model did a steampunk photo-shoot. It's yet to fizzle out. Willow Smith, modelling Marc Jacobs' fall 2015 collection, was recently photographed as a steampunk princess in a black lace dress with sheer panels. Greg Broadmore, a conceptual designer from Weta, is making a name for himself as the creator of "colonial-styled raygun-toting planetary explorer" Dr Grordbort.

Clockwork Steampunk Emporium owner Paula Lester-Garcia and assistant manager Florent Cone. Photo: ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ

The paraphernalia is sought after by fans worldwide. Stephen Fry even has one of his ray guns – which range in price from $80 to $11,980 (if you're after the very limited 4th Law Matter Mangler and Disentangler Beam).

"For the longest time I wasn't aware what I was doing was steampunk – that's an outside label that got applied," says Broadmore. "I just thought it was science fiction, but inspired by the 1920s and 30s."

Since creating ray guns and the world of Dr Grordbort's, he's become involved in the steampunk scene and says it's a "really great community".

"It's very centered around making things, sewing costumes, building cool props like steampunk weaponry. It's a chance for people to step out of their ordinary life and inhabit a character from a romantic bygone era, but laced with science-fiction gadgetry and adventure.

"In New Zealand I've been inspired by the scene in Oamaru – the whole township there has embraced steampunk and made it a part of their culture."

The romanticism Broadmore speaks of is part of what shapes the negative perception of steampunk. People masquerading as Victorian globetrotting adventurers with wild tech tend to ignore dire realities of the 19th century in favour of cogs! Steam! Gears!

There's not much engagement with the sexism and imperialism of that era, says one of the subculture's haters, Jordan McCluskey, who recently finished studying history at Victoria University.

The Steampunk the Thames parade, which took place earlier this month. Photo: CAMERON MASSEY/FAIRFAX NZ

He was one of the people who tweeted angrily about the Wellington store's opening ("The only thing that makes a historian madder than Godwinning in an argument or excessive WW1 patriotism is steampunk").

You can't talk about the romance of exploration, says McCluskey, without talking about colonialism – the two topics are too intertwined to pretend otherwise.

"The foundation of their mythos is high Victorian imperialism, which was great... for upper-class white people, and no one else.

"I've heard steampunk people say very racist things while 'in character'. "

This doesn't mean all who enjoy steampunk are racist colonial glorifiers. There's a blog, Silver Goggles, dedicated to dealing with this exact problem and suggesting that said goggles are "worn by the steampunk postcolonialist when engaging with issues of race, representation, diversity, and other such exciting adventures as one might find in our genial genre".

Then there are those who, according to a wholly unscientific Facebook poll on my page, hate it because: "it's really ugly and it just sucks", "it's for rich white kids", and "it's polished brass narcissism".

A writer for Vice wrote a scathing column in 2013 titled, "If Steampunk is the Future, Please Kill Me Now".

Steampunk teapot racers at Wellingon's CubaDupa festival. Photo: CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ

Bad news for people who think they've found a hobby or subculture to identify with, like the woman who messaged me after seeing those comments saying she was mystified at their intensity.

"I don't really care what they think, it's just snobby people thinking they're cooler than dumb uncool people like me."

One person who took to Facebook to express his hatred of the trend was Aucklander Ben Thomas, though he has a nuanced take on it. "It's the same reason some people hate teenage-girl selfie culture," he tells Sunday. "Hipster types, who are the same sort of people who say, 'I used to be a geek', still can't bear to see unrepentant nerds looking like they feel good about themselves in photos.

"What is a dork who rides his fixie to get shaved by his barber with a cut-throat razor and then drink out of a jar, but who is also always on his iPhone, except a real-life steampunk?

"Like, if 'ray gun' became a slang term for smartphone, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. High tech society with throwback Victorian aesthetic? Check."

As for Lester-Garcia's response to the furore? "It is the internet... To paraphrase a particular pair of time travellers, we would just rather 'be splendid to each other' ."