I'm just a girl...

There is hardly any steampunk in those photos! I think people are confused about what steampunk is. Or maybe I'm just confused. Though my guitarist is in a steampunk band and the person I am dating exposed me to many steampunk movies. I thought I had a handle on the idea of steampunk, but I hardly ever see a genuinely steampunk costume at steampunk events.

Steampunk has a lot of different ideas, they include Victorian clothing, airships (especially goggles), steam power, brass gears, "do it yourself".
I think the outfits in those pics are mostly Victorian style, and not so much airships, steam, or brass.

yeah I know... But victorian is victorian. There needs to be more going on for it to be considered steampunk in my opinion. And no, slapping a pair of goggles on does not make it steampunk. But I realize that to have an authentic steampunk costume you need to put a lot of effort or cash into it... Anyway, just my opinion. I wouldn't have anything suitible to wear to a steampunk ball either.

But like I said earlier, maybe I'm the one who is confused. I guess if a person is going for the victorian steampunk look, being genuinely victorian helps too... I think the guy in grey is fairly convincing that he is steampunk. I'd make a few changes, but not too bad.

To their credit, my dates had a costumer friend make their costumes. But the costumer friend fell behind and didn't get even half of the costumes done in time for the ball. So they were left with no choice but to throw things together from their closets with the few items the costumer did finish.

That's too bad. :/

Yeah, steampunk isn't horribly well defined but some people seem to take that as permission to do whatever the hell they want while being completely ignornant of victorian style and manufacturing technology and call it "steampunk" if it has something in common with some other "steampunk" outfit they saw that was probably made by another person who didn't know what they were doing either. I am annoyed with you and assure you that, while you may be as confused as I, you're not wrong in noticing that other people don't know what they're doing.

However: slapping goggles or antiqued gas mask on top of victorian or neo-victorian, clothing *does* make it steampunk. It's not horribly imaginative, intricate, or unique as you aren't sporting some kind of uber-cool gadget/weapon or trying to filter modern styles and sensibilities through a victorian aesthetic but it is quintessential steampunk as popularized in numerous media. And, actually, having basic examples like that in a group helps to keep a social group focused on what the aesthetic norms are supposed to be (in this case: victorian! not cyberpunk or goth or post-apocolyptic, or 20th century American burlesque. VICTORIAN! 1832-1901 Briton. Read a damn book.) and that can help make a crowd of people with varying levels of steampunkishness seem to fit together.

What I don't like is the random placement of clearly non-functional gears or industrial motifs onto things as though *that* makes it steampunk. Victorian aesthetics did not include an obsession with gears. Gadgetry in steampunk outfits should have the appearance of serving some kind of purpose otherwise it's a half-assed attempt to make something seem gadgety without actually being a gadget which is missing the point. Middle-class Victorians were a rich, self-absorbed, imperial people eager to enjoy the riches of modern technology which why it's believable that they would tote around ugly gadgets (and indeed some of the things they did have were pretty freaking bizarre and ugly). They didn't think that Soviet Russia was beautiful and pattern their clothing after motifs of industrial efficiency.

The guidelines are pretty loose and people try to bend them. For example: cagekitten's attempts at a steampunk belly dancer have been passable. Despite the lack of belly dancers in victorian culture she's made the top look corsety (check) and used lace and bustles for the skirt (double check) and has passable shoe (triple check!)... coin belt, bare midrift, tribal hairdo (somewhat victorianized, they did go for outlandish hairdos, but not really and I don't think the feathers are working with that flower)? Pushing it. Get rid of the coins and non-victorian hair, add some goggles and you'd be asking where her quarters on the airship are completely forgetting that the victorian aesthetic did not support bare bellies.

It's about how many rules you can break without anyone noticing really. Some people don't have the time/money/imagination to get away with breaking the rules and they should just get a tophat and goggles to go with their vest and look into buying a gadget from someone. They make good extras; like on a movie set. Cagekitten is very nearly getting away with 3 (IMHO the hair do could probably be tweaked to look better and more victorian and then you probably wouldn't notice that the coins are out of place. And it doesn't hurt that she looks HOT.).

Thank you. You said what I wanted to say without me having to expend the energy. :)