what got you into steampunk

[Athanor]

I first became aware of Steampunk by way of a 2009 issue of "Make" magazine, the "Lost Knowledge" issue ( http://makezine.com/17/ ); since I've been interested in steam and other so-called "outdated" technologies, and in making stuff, for as long as I can remember, and an avid reader of Wells, Verne, Lovecraft and other such authors almost since I could first read, it seemed like I had suddenly come home. These, I decided, were my kind of people. From there it was but a short step to Googling "Steampunk" and finding my way to the Brass Goggles forum.

Athanor.

[Sebastion clankcog]

hello dear chaps
What got me into steampunk was my general love of the Victorian age,but most of all was my desire to dress and act like a true gentleman.
I always liked the dark and mysterious side of vampires and such in london that i got from books. Also reading the Scott Westerfield leviathan series transported me away into a new world of amazing tech and people.
I am fascinated by the great golems and constructions that appear in steampunk. Unfornunately i could never make any cool clothing so i just got a steampunk shirt.
     

[CaptainMurra]

what got me into steampunk (like a lot of people here) was the amazing attraction to victorian clothing. i've always clothing that is NOT REVEALING and looks amazing. I don't know really. i guess i've always loved old stuff, old stuff that you find in crowded antuque stores at the back of the shelf.
and then i found Brass goggles and fell in love.

AND WE BOTH LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
THE END!
 

[Anicsin]

Greetings!
I first encountered steampunk in a game (most of you might know it) called Arcanum of Steamwork and Magick Obscura. I was greatly charmed by this diction of idiom, so I immediately looked for steampunk wallpapers, films and for a bit of its history.

[Sir Henry]

I suspect that it was a childhood love of Heath Robinson, which led to Professor Branestawm, that sowed the seed. It took a while to germinate (I was 40 before I finally got hold of a first edition of Uncle Lubin), despite an ongoing love of creating bizarre, and usually pointless, creations from technical Lego.

The final fertiliser was the Steampunk Semaphore System at Leeds Light Night last year, from which grew the Gentleman's Personal Telegraphic Apparatus and its modern counterpart, the iSay. Hopefully both will be on display at the Leeds Steampunk Market next month. So finding steampunk was a blooming marvelous discovery.

My only regret is the clothing. When I reached middle age, all the 3 piece suits I had been wearing since my teenage years suddenly didn't fit any more. And now I can't afford to restock my wardrobe (let alone the opera hat I was measured for when I was 18). So I wander the charity shops and dream...

[Dr Fidelius]

Aye, Sir Henry. I hate it that some of my favourite clothing pieces have been shrinking steadily for the past twenty-five years or so.

[Peacemaker]

I can't really remember the time or place I first found out what steampunk was/is. All I know is that it started when I was a kid. I remember building a flash light out of a light bulb wired to some batteries on a piece of wood. For me it was an huge accomplishment and I loved being able to see the working parts. I always hated how things where covered up. I always took things apart to see how they worked.

I always loved the Victorian era, the ornate decor. A home should be a place you feel relaxed, comfortable and cozy. Nothing does that more for me than Victorian interior designs. Having four white walls, a brown couch and black tv just doesn't do it for me. Same goes for clothing. I started wearing a tie and suit coat with coat tails in high school and boy was I the "weird'o" for doing that. I didn't care, it stuck with me and it's what I'm comfortable in because t-shirt and jeans is to common.

So pretty much all my life I've been interested in the Victorian and invention/modification of things. I think I first learned what steampunk really was, it was back in 2006ish when I did a google search for a Victorian style computer because I wanted to see if I could make my computer very ornate. I came upon Jake Von Slatts beautiful computer and it was the first time I saw someone mix old with new. I realized instead of just taking things apart or repainting them I wanted to start building modern day items to look beautiful and Victorian. So lots of research later I can across this world of steampunk and it drew me in like an insect to a light. I loved everything about it already. The sci-fi I was already reading, the movies I've already watched, the clothes I grew up wearing. I found out about Abney Park and since I live in WA and they are from WA I felt like I had this connection. Then one day I went to the mall with a friend. I was dressed in my normal shirt, slacks, ascot hat, waist coat with pocket watch. We walked by a group of people who were wearing top hats, coat tailed jackets with goggles and brass trinkets on their clothes, I thought "are they steampunks? Is this a huge public thing?" as I walked by they looked at me and smiled. I was sold on it, all this time I've been a steampunk and didn't even know it. It's just something I've been doing and enjoying since I was a kid.

It's nice now being able to put a name on it and meeting others with the same interest. This whole time thinking I was just unique or the odd one out in groups, turns out I was just didn't know where to find the other steampunks.

[Marasi]

So interesting to read some of the experiences on here! Thought I'd add my tuppence worth...
For me, it just seemed to be a lot of things coming together from different sources. For a start, there's quite a few aspects of steampunk that I've always liked and didn't even realise it was a 'thing'. My dad's been a big influence on my life and is a real role model, and I've since told him he's pretty steampunk! His style- khaki military or safari jackets, Sam Browne belts, Stetsons, leather waistcoats etc. has rubbed off on me quite a bit, and I was recently googling women's size Sam Browne belts and came across a link to something steampunk-related. Didn't think much of it, but about a week later I was at my singing teacher's house and there was a book of steampunk stories on her sofa, which I sneaked a look at. Then I was art directing a photo shoot at work and when we went to an antiques shop to get props for it, one of my colleagues commented that everything I was going for was "a bit steampunk". So after these incidences I decided the universe was trying to tell me something and turned to the google oracle... the rest is (albeit recent) history!

[Lucius Baxter]

Well, I first heard about Steampunk when I was down the pub talking to a friend of mine about a raygun I was making. I don't know what made me want to build a raygun- I just woke up one morning and said "I want to make a raygun". SO! Anyway, that got me interested in Steampunk, although I have always had an interest in Victoriana and anything straight through to 1950. It does give me an excuse for wearing a frock coat to a BBQ, or a fobwatch to the beach...although many a time I have had rather cruel  remarks made by other less scrupulous persons.

[Rev. Jade]

I have always loved history, so that definitely played a part in it.
But, I was unaware of "steampunk" as a genre until I stumbled across Datamancer's most excellent laptop.
When I saw that, I was immediately hooked.

[Lachlan_MacAuslander]

I seem to recall reading this thread when I first started researching steampunk, but I do not seem to have left my own post - so here goes...

The thing that really tipped me over the edge was the purchase of my second Utilikilt, a Workman's model in brown duck canvas with leather tool loops. While wearing it around the house, it suddenly occurred to me that it would make an excellent centerpiece for a steampunk outfit - and so I started doing my homework in earnest at that point.

There are earlier roots - one of my fondest childhood memories is attending a film series at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, which attempted to replicate the experience of seeing movies in years past by showing an episode of an old Buck Rogers serial, then following up with a classic Sci-Fi film. The films included "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Time Machine", "The Mysterious Island", "War of the Worlds", "Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde", "The Invisible Man", etc., so my love of Science Fiction in general was heavily influenced by Verne, Wells, and so forth.