Steampunk kilts

[Strings]

Heh... see? Something will mitigate your mean tendencies. Nothing helps with mine... ;)

[wildrover]

This sure turned in to a cool thread! I could very, very easily find myself in that subculture, tho maybe with a more modern bent. I always liked the raw look of the interior of the hovercrafts in The Matrix, Geiger's biomechanical art, rat rods, retrofuturistic video games like Fallout...I think this was the money quote:

For some of its adherents, steampunk also offers a metaphoric coping device. “It has an intellectual tie to the artists and artisans dealing with a world in turmoil at the time of the industrial revolution,” said Crispen Smith, a Web designer and photographer in Toronto, and a partner in a steampunk fashion business.

Sounds about right. There's very little art to a bunch of black boxes, regardless the lights and sound they make. The retrofuturistic (is that a word?) style incorporates some art, some romanticism, some beauty, to a bunch of otherwise boring appliances. I identify very strongly with this type of style.

Back to the kilt, I can totally see me wearing it in the garage, as long as a) it's long enough not to drop my landing gear on a piece of sharp metal when I sit down, b) it's flame retardant, c) it's durable, and d) I'm not welding or grinding (which I usually am). It sort of looks like leather, and I wonder if it wouldn't be even better made from the same type of leather that welding jackets & aprons are made from...it literally looks like my welding leathers, or the bottom half of a machinist's apron, and I could definitely see hanging a bunch of tools all over that kilt/MUG/whatever you want to call it. To be proper in the garage, and comfortable, it would also need a flame-resistant, non-synthetic liner. Finally, it might require the fortitude to enlighten some people that as alternative as steampunk fashion might be, you're not crossdressing, kilts are for men, and that they may take their Bruno dreams elsewhere.

Something that occurred to me while reading this thread is that you don't necessarily need a steampunk kilt...all it would take is the right sporran, and your tank is immediately classy steampunk fashion.

...I would recommend, tho, ditching the Napoleon Dynamite boots ;).

-Sean

[string]

I think if you made the front panels made of apron leather then it might be more comfortable than the whole kilt out of leather. Its not like welding aprons are buttery lambskin.