Even on Saturday’s ‘nor’easter, during the 2nd Annual Jewelry City Steampunk Festival, more than 1,000 of the best Victorian clothing customers can be seen around the city – some without umbrellas.
Many of the festival’s events, including the morning tea at the Attleboro Public Library and the Splendid Teapot Racing at the Attleboro Regional Industrial Museum, have to be moved indoors due to bad weather. Most of the events took place in the Ezekiel Bates Lodge, one of the sponsors of the event.
In the five-storey building, there are more than 20 suppliers and enthusiastic customers who communicate with each other and greet each other, only paying attention to the wind and rain outside. The steampunk outfit is a creative blend of Victorian clothing and trinkets from the 20th to the 21st century, with minimal impact from bad weather.
Samuel Sarette of Manchester, New Jersey, is known as the “handsome guy” for his elaborate wooden manipulator and a redesigned lantern set, just adjust his long coat to Protect his “evolving props” from the rain.
“It will be better when it’s cool,” Sarette said. “There are more levels of clothing in steampunk.”
Sarette’s hand is part of the steampunk small circle, re-imagining in creativity and Victorian era, and if there is modern technology, this is how the local celebrity Bruce Rosenbaum describes the subculture theorem.
Rosenbaum, known as the “Steampunk Master” by the Wall Street Journal, gave a speech at the library’s Balfour conference room, showing his steampunk influence artwork in a PowerPoint slide.
One of them is a computer workstation that consists of an old pump tube and early photography equipment.
“For me, steampunk absorbs all the passions of my life – history, architecture, antiques, art and technology,” Rosenbaum said, living with his wife Melanie in a church, they are becoming a Palmer’s house, studio and gallery. The house appeared in the eighth episode of the Netflix series “Amazing Interior Design”.
Although many members of the steampunk community have their own interpretations of subcultures, Rosenbaum describes it as “the best of the two worlds”, combining Victorian aesthetics with modern technology.
“It tries to creatively combine these two things as if they should always be like this,” Rosenbaum said.
Melanie Rosenbaum wears her own corset, petticoat, petticoat and hat Victorian clothing, and also says that the customer’s clothes can be adjusted to suit the conditions of rainy weather, because some customers’ clothing choices are not so gorgeous.
“You hug it a bit,” Rosenbaum said. “You take out your umbrella and have fun.”
Tycysboro’s Tracy and Gene Buckelew did just that, because Tracy Buckelew changed her hairstyle from a long curly hair to a shackle with a small hat, and of course, brought an umbrella for herself and her husband.
“We like it. We won’t miss the world of (festival),” she said. “‘There is no rain or shine,’ they said, we are here.”
Dedicated customers like Buckelews are crucial to festival co-director Heather Rockwood, whose explanation for steampunk is “surreal quality, allowing us to believe like adults.”
“Rain makes everyone feel like we are all on the same boat – we are all together,” she said.