Today I'm a guest of The Steampunk Cavaliers, chatting about Steampunk fact vs. Steampunk fiction
http://wp.me/p7eh3t-ad The article is based on an epiphany I had will at the New Zealand Steampunk Festival in Oamaru. I'd be interested to know people's thoughts on the issue.
Cheers,
Gareth
Just to clarify. If I understand correctly, in the context of your treatise, "Steampunk Fact" refers to the Steampunk you see at conventions, and "Steampunk Fiction" refers to the Steampunk you read in a novel.
If I may be so bold to re-define your terms, I would refer to Historically-based Anachronism versus Fashion Anachronism. I carefully chose those terms to be specific enough about what we are talking about.
I suspect the adherence of Steampunk fashions to embellishments is a function of who is doing the dressing. The literary author vs. the Fashionista. In the former case, a literary author has an entire Steampunk universe to convey the message that this character him/herself is an anachronism living in an alternate timeline - embellishments not required. Whereas if you go to a convention, or simply take a stroll around town, the fashionista needs to convey to the public the anachrinism through artificial devices such as embellishments. Otherwise what is there to differentiate a Steampunk from a historical re-enactor?
Such embellishments are completely unnecessary in a novel, so the author is free to try to simply refer to historical fashion by itself. In other words the Steampunk fashion in a novel is a Historical-based Anachronism. The Steampunk at a convention is just the fashion required to identify personally within a group of peers in the Steampunk movement... fashion is fashion.
Or at least it seems to me to be that way
