☞ A Pictorial Scrapbook for Steampunk outfit ideas... ☜

I've had a few ideas for making a Steampunkeque costume for one or more of my dolls, but first I've decided to use this page as a kind of scrapbook to collect all the images I find that I think I could work with or inspire me in some way and that way they'll all be in one place so I can refer back to them at a later date, well it sounds like a plan to me anyway... if however, you find the idea boring, feel free to skip ahead!

First up, some leather gauntlets from 5 different angles, which is always handy, anyhoo, they might work and wouldn't be too hard to make... And may look good with an Aviator type costume...

Kind of Burlesque these ones, but also of interest, I like the style of them, but I'm not so sure about the bright pink or even the leopard print, I think I would make them from black sating and black lace, I guess this would mean they would lose a lot of the definition, hmmm...

These boots are pretty cool too, I like the idea of lace up, calve high leather boots or even ankle boots, but brown and lace up definitely...

I think the skirt should definitely have a Bustle and I really like the striped one below, but I'm not sure what else should go with it, if it were to be made in black and white fabric, perhaps I should keep the the bustle dark, then have it rest against a striped over skirt, with a dark frilled underskirt below...

I think a Bustle is definitely a must at the back of the dress, but I like the idea of it being a more decorative type rather than the "below skirts" type... I envision it being made of think ribbon or shiny material and after a couple of folds (creating the botty padding) flowing down in two long ribbons to the skirt hemline.

 I especially like the ruff collar and top of sleeves in this picture, it's a great way of coordinating the bustle with the rest of the outfit...

This style skirt has all the elements I would like to see in my finished outfit, but having said that I see this style as being more suited to a lower class lady than the more elegant styles worn by the upper classes  I could be wrong though, but for some reason this skirt keeps making me think of Mrs. Miggins!!

I think this dusky rose and grey one is lovely, but at the moment, I'm not so sure as to which type I'm going for anyway! I love the "Vintage Circus" feel, and also the "Aviator" bronze, brown and whites, but then again I really love the "Victorian" style and then there's "Pirate" and "Gypsy" styles too, nagdabbit perhaps I should just make one of each!!

The back of the corset on the skirt below is gathered (thick elastic panel?) and the skirt itself is made up of several layers of wide lace which have been ruffed to form a short over skirt with a longer lined lace ruffed skirt below, it appears to have been hemmed with a thick band of netting at the bottom.

I like this thick corset style waist with buckles and straps,with layers of fabric underneath and the shorter skirt at the front, hmm..

I like the high waist band of this one and the jump clips and loops attached to ribbon which serve not only to "hitch up" the skirt wherever the wearer wishes, but also serve to break up and give extra detailing to the striped fabric used for the skirt itself.

This one has hooks in it so you can hitch the skirt up bit of a weird concept, but a useful idea indeed!

It also has a really nice fitted waist which can be tied corset style at the back, I'm keen on the brass buttons used as decoration on the front of it too.

I really like the neckline on this one and the corsetry on the back, not sure about that panel at the front though!

This jacket is rather nice too, and wouldn't be too hard to replicate, instead of the bow it could have a few links and be tied with a mini corset back, similar to the one below...

This style jacket also goes really well with this style skirt. I love the high waist band and the fact that it is "fancy" without having gaudy colours and very few embellishments, although with the front waistband on it, it would be better suited with a high neck white blouse with a brooch at the collar and a long backed jacket - which stays open.

 I really like the military style of the buttons to the front of the jacket on the left, but the lamb chop sleeves of the one on the right and the high bottom at the front, are really nice too, perhaps I could work out a way to combine them both somehow.

Both the outfits below are lovely, but I'm not 100% sure about the front panel of the one on the right, perhaps if it was ruffled and had a bustle at the back it would work much better for my wants, also I like the striped fabric in combination with the high necked white blouse.

The fabric is very similar to what I'd like to achieve in the dress below and the skirt is very sweet, but the top half of it is not so good, perhaps I should just scrap this one altogether as the skirt half is not as ornate as I would have liked...

I like the way this skirt flows, but I think it would be much nicer with a bustle and perhaps used as an over skirt. The red jacket is stunning and minus the bows on the sleeves I think it would be perfect.

These two items would make a great Burlesque outfit or with a high necked top with a lower corset with or without the shoulder parts would be nice, and for the skirt back a small bustle below the corsetry. I also love the colour combination and the pattern on the red fabric...

 

The skirt above could be coupled with a jacket similar to the one below or possibly this entire outfit could be replicated - including the hat, the hat is very cool, the hair of course would need to be styled differently.

 This type of shirt but with a different styled waistcoat over it, and a similar but not the same style skirt, would also work well, especially with bronze and black striped fabric, and the hat too, if I could get hold of a few small pheasant feathers - I think they would look much nicer and match in with the Autumnal colours of the outfit I'm imagining.

The skirt would have to be much longer and fuller than this one for my outfit to work.

Same skirt as above so not really what I'm looking for but the bolero style jacket, the hat and the high corset are all nice, but personally I think I'd make the corset smaller, going from just above the waist to resting on the hip line.

More ideas, the outfit on the left combines the striped fabric I'm attracted to with the shaped waist and bustled skirt and the one on the right has the high neck that I really like, a full ruffled skirt and an over skirt, so I think I should combine one or both of these with elements i like from the outfits above.

This green dress is such a stunning colour, I hadn't thought about using green until I saw this image, but an emerald green coupled with black is such a striking combination, and something I definitely should consider when I come to fabric choices post design, I like the bustle too and also the black bows holding the skirt up, but I think it should have an underskirt or two... On the right is another over skirt design that I'm really attracted too which could be combined with a full frill bottomed skirt.

Another lovely outfit, very subtle in these shades and one I'm particularly fond of, I love the detail at the neck the fact it has over skirts and the bustle and the tailoring to the jacket, this is definitely on my list of possibilities, if I can work it out, still lucky for me I found a site a years or so ago which had free patterns from the 1800's and so I printed off most if not all of them and with a few tweaks here and there to some of the other patterns I have I'm sure I could come up with something lovely when I make a start, but meh got to get my sketchbook and pencil out first I guess!

I can't chose between these dresses below, they all have elements which would work when combined into the type of dress I'm thinking of.

The dresses in the image below hang really well and show the figures off so beautifully  the one on the right has just the kind of look I would like to achieve but with possibly a smaller bustle as the one on the left's bustle sticks out a lot further than I would like.... I also like the dainty little hats with the ostrich plumes, I'll have to think of ways I can replicate that on a smaller scale.

This image is a bit more "Halloween costume" but it has it's merits, the little hat for one thing, the goggles, the sleeves, the front of the dress, the way it is close fitting around the waist and has the tie up front and the short ruffle attached to the longer back of the skirt are all possibilities .. The collar and cross straps on the front will have to go though!

Similarly the dress in the image below more for "fancy dress" but it definitely has it's charms,and is very close to the type of dress I have in mind, I love this style of corset but I'd have to have the colours more muted or even all in brown leather or fake leather, as the orange is not really working for me, good for a few ideas though...

I'm pretty sure the style below is called a "Riding Dress"  and meant to give extra movement when riding horses, I love this kind of hat too, with the long thick ribbons trailing from the back of it, I can't really think of a single thing I would like to change on this outfit, even the model's hair is perfect...

Another dress with a lot of potential, I love the thick ribbon detail at the neck  but perhaps it would look nicer a littler thinner after all doll's don't have the chest width human's have! the buttoning down the front of the dress is also lovely and the golden or brass colour work very well with the rich purple fabric. I also would like to use this kind of fabric, shiny with a pattern inlaid into it which melts into the fabric in certain lights, the back of the skirt and the lace cuffs are also very nice, as is the rose made of ribbon at the back of the dress at the top of the bustle, and the ruffled edge to the bottom of the skirt, the front of the skirt however is not really what I had in mind, but the fitted look, obvious quality of the fabric used and the other aspects I have mentioned are certainly things I would like to incorporate into my design..

I best add a few hairstyles as no matter how Steampunky or Victorianesque the outfit is it will look silly if not accentuated with a Victorian hairstyle or something Victorian inspired...

I love this style it's so feminine and elegant, ringlets are always a bonus for me too, it makes me think about when i was young and my Mum used to rag roll my hair at night so I'd have ringlets in the morning (after I out grew my natural curls) the addition of flowers is also lovely and this could work really well on a doll or place less hair on the top of the head so she can wear a small hat; that would work for me too.

 

The image above is of a collection of hairstyles worn by children, but for a doll with quite young features such as a Hujoo, who I always think of as being in their early teens or a Dal, these styles would also work a treat - I guess it's time for me to think about which doll will be having this outfit made for her, so i can work out which hair style would suit her best, after all it's a strange fact but in the modern age we (women) seem to forget that our hairstyle is as much part of our outfit as the clothing we are wearing, I suspect this is due to a lot of women having short hair these days, when in the Victorian and earlier eras, that was unheard of except of course the 17th Century but then there was a Hair Lice problem and to counteract that everybody had their hair shaved (except perhaps the common folk) and they wore those elaborate wigs instead, of course for the type of costume I'm considering, that kind of big hair isn't an issue, so I'll move onto the next picture...

More lovely feminine hairstyles and rather fetching necklines too, one or too look a little risque by the standards of the day, but perhaps these ladies are depicted in there undergarments - no wait, that would have been unspeakable at that time... no matter... I suspect one or tow of these hairstyles were designed as being part of the Wedding Costume,  may be wrong, it may be a night out at an important social event, but some of the plants and flowers used in these styles had a "secret" meaning, not so secret as for those in the know one glance at whichever flower or plant a lady or gentleman was holding or wearing about their person, or even giving to a loved one or acquaintance held a certain meaning, I suspect this is where we got the phrase "The language of Flowers" from.

For instance the lady at the bottom of the picture... on the right hand side her head is turned so that we can see the right side of her hair, in it she is wearing Ivy in her hair, and this was given to mean "Fidelity" this is accompanied by what looks to be Forget-Me-Not which had the meaning " True Love" ascribed to it and I'm not 100% sure but the white flowers at the top of her head look to me like they could be Daisies, in which case their meaning would be "Innocence" all of which imply to me that this lady is betrothed or getting married, failing that she certainly has a beau and wishes to make her feelings for him very clear to him and I suspect to other possible suitors to keep them at bay!

I don't think the images above are of the same hair style, but it could work if I combined them..

The image above is of Victorian hair accessories, including clasps, combs, corsages and even hair pieces which would have been made out of human hair, it's an interesting image and something I should bear in mind when working on her hair style..

And now for Some wings and aviation ideas... I like the idea of the balloon or having a balloon attached somehow, but I also love those images I have in my "Illustrated Police News" from the 1800's which shows loads of crazy people with home made wings jumping off things and flapping their arms or running really fast down hill!

I think I like the "Bat Wing" style best, but these images below are also fun, I'll have to scan and upload some of the ones I just mentioned too when I have time...

More balloons and other strange flying contraptions, this picture below contains a number of images and themes which I think could possibly be incorporated into the design, I especially like the umbrella like  parachute type sail? the winged man in the centre is attached too, and all the little items hanging from the bottom of the large airship at the top of the image...

I can't think of a way to incorporate this image into an outfit, but it's a cool image nonetheless, I guess I could  use it as a T-Shirt Logo for another doll, that would be pretty cool...

Something like this image below would work really well, but to use this I think it should be coupled with an aviator's leather cap and some brass googles!

The man in the image below strikes me as being more than a little insane, but it may be possible to recreate his "flying machine" and attach something similar to the doll's back!

The image below shows the wings as being more like bird or Angel's wings and as the left side of the sketch shows how the skeletal structure of these wings would be made I could make something more along those lines than the "full feathered" version, with or without fabric covering them, although I think with nuts, bolts and rivets would be in keeping with the steam punk theme and could look great if only I can find the right kind of bits and pieces to use to make them.

Owl wings could be incorporated somehow or maybe some owl feathers and hmm I don't know a small piece of embroidery in an owl design somewhere on the outfit...

I've always had a soft spot for Bubo the owl from The Clash of the Titans film I loved when I was small, I always wanted one and wished I could get one, it turns out these days you can buy them, but anyway...

 I wonder if it's possible to get a small badge in the shape of Bubo that I could incorporate into the design somewhere or pin to the aviator cap  if I add this to the outfit I make...

I love how his wings look and I think with a little thought  to what materials I can use, I could make the wings the same as Bubo's in this picture and attach them to the back of the outfit...

I could make fairy wings similar to these ones in the Flower Fairy books by Cicely Mary Barker or like the ones below as fairies were popular images in Victorian Literature and on greetings cards and would give the outfit a twee twist... 

Angel wings is another possible chose for wings as these were also very popular with Victorians and used in scrap booking, greetings cards and graveyard monuments of the period, they are also more of a "Grown up" version of Fairies wings and would fit into the Steampunk theme perhaps better than fairies as men of that period looked at birds for inspiration and tried to reproduce bird wings on a human scale which they would then use in their attempts to lift off the ground...

Other things I'll need to collect are embellishments, preferably -small metal wings or clock innards, sprockets, rivets and brass tacks, keys and other rusty bits and bobs - perhaps even a few small rhinestones to sit alongside the rusty bits, these could also be dulled slightly..

 

 And some small items like the one below right, which I could even make out of small parts or I'm sure I've seen them to buy as is ...

 

The image on the right is of a stamping set, which could be used to print a pattern onto the dress fabric if I decide to go down that route, anyhoo that's about all the images I have right now, but I can always add some more if and when I find them..

Even though, I stated at the start of this post, this is just a collection of images for ideas and inspiration and for no other reason, I guess I should make it clear where I found all these images...

***  I didn't take notes of which particular websites they came from originally as the majority of them where found in Google Images with a few of the outfits found on Ebay.

I have collated them for my own personal use, as it seemed like a good idea to place all the images I liked into one place to use as a point of reference.

I have no plans to use any of them for anything other than inspirational purposes.  ***