Steampunk fashion

An example of steampunk fashion

Steampunk has a very specific fashion code.

Headwear

Headwear is an important part of steampunk fashion. A steampunk may often don a top hat, a leather flight helmet, a bowler hat, a straw boater, an Arctic flap hat, a pith helmet, a deerstalker hat (in inspiration of Sherlock Holmes), a pirate-style bandana, or a newsboy cap. These were common during the Victorian era and were often considered stylish. However, headwear is not limited to Victorian styles. Hair may be adorned with braids, feathers, beads, wire, yarn, dreadlocks and other punk-like elements to juxtapose elegant Victorian clothing.

Lolita

A steampunk lolita

Lolita is a Japanese fashion style that came into being in the 1980s. Because the idea behind Lolita is also inspired by Victorian England, Lolita can be considered the cousin to steampunk fashion, albeit a more girly, modest one. There are subsets of Lolita fashion, including Classic Lolita, Gothic Lolita, Punk Lolita, and even a Steampunk Lolita. The Lolita fashion, however, is much more focused on purchasing clothing from commercial vendors rather than following the steampunk tradition of thrift stores and found objects.

Because the term "Lolita" brings to mind the Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same name, the fashion is sometimes mistaken by Westerners for fetishism. On the contrary, Lolita fashion is childish, girly, and seen as a rejection of sexualized clothing and the meaning of the term was most likely lost to the Japanese in translation.