The Sea of Wishes ~ online portfolio of Meg Couch, fashion designer and illustrator

steampunk inspired collection

(click to enlarge)

I've always liked the aesthetics of steampunk--in theory, anyway. But I've also always been somewhat dissatisfied with steampunk fashion. When I was doing research for this project, the examples of steampunk clothing I found online were mostly cheap, excessively costume-y, or otherwise ill-fitting, and even when I found things that were made well, they tend to overly sexualize the Victorian aspects of the style by combining tightly-laced corsets with cleavage-exposing tops and miniskirts so short that the wearer can hardly bend in them without baring everything. With this group, I wanted to try to resolve both problems by creating a collection of high-quality steampunk-inspired garments that would be appropriate outside of the realm of sci-fi/fantasy conventions. Some of the outfits are admittedly more wearable than others, but I wanted to play around with the idea of designing different looks for different occasions, such as the last three, which are evening and cocktail looks.