In this exciting episode, “Kernul” Killbuck leads his forces to yet another victory in his campaign against your sense of reality. This time he’s once again marauding along the costuming front by enticing all of us with his beautiful custom couture creations (a few of which are pictured here).  With a battle plan of brilliant design, excellent execution, and a willingness to customize to your exact specifications it looks like his victory is assured.

We’ve been amazed with Killbuck’s artistry on innovative Burning Man art projects for a number of years now.  His ability to simulate patina, texture, blaster marks, or just about any other finish on lightweight, mold-able materials is beyond compare outside of Hollywood special effects. Perhaps this is because he grew up in a theater family building sets and designing wardrobes with his father.

Most impressive though is how startlingly original the things his strange mind comes up with are.  He’s a creative genius operating with all the ease of someone who was born to generate in-your-face freakiness.

Offered for sale on his new site are stunningly adorned hats, masks, coats, epaulettes, goggles, spats, and utility belts.  Examples of each are pictured in excellent detail and there’s also a gallery showcasing a number of his other works at the very bottom.  Click here to get there and see for yourself what happens when an already deviant man inhales a bit too much playa dust and starts using his powers for DOOM!

Despite the recorded 97 degree high temperature that day, ourselves and numerous well-dressed steampunks, bike punks, dandies, debutantes, and other assorted costumed  multitudes enjoyed ourselves and one another immensely.  We hope that this introductory video will allow you to glean at a least a taste of the wonder and amazement we experienced while sharing in the music, fashion (this year’s theme was “India and Beyond“), vending, sideshows, and of course, the Regatta Rail Racers themselves.

We shot a boxcar-load of footage and have been graciously allowed access to use Nemea Laessig aka Lady Cordelia Dashitall’s excellent photos from the event (also her first year) as well as several other photographers (who will be mentioned as their pictures get used in the upcoming videos) so needless to say this is part one of a trilogy of videos reporting on this tremendous event!

In attendance are ladies and gentlemen from the Sacramento Steampunk Society, the Great Basin Costume Society, and several steamy Bay Area contingents. We had costumed fun all throughout the day and the rail workers and patrons especially loved us. If you haven’t ridden on a steam-train before you really should partake! Tickets for this rail line can be purchased here.

*Important Notes:  All the ragtime music for this video was provided by the unparalleled piano playing force that is Squeek Steele.  Many of the pictures in the slide-shows were taken by Lady Cordelia Dashitall aka Nemea, Douglas Hack, and Laura Hack.

In addition to illustrating a host of spectacular turn of the century fashions, the chaos of Market St. with it’s hustle and bustle, bikes, carts, and other vehicles echoes the busier streets of our fair desert City of Black Rock.  Enjoy and expect some Steampunk follow ups regarding our birthday SteamTrain adventure & our coverage of the 3rd Annual Hand Cart Regatta.

Thanks to Ash of Mechanic Organic Clothing for being the first to write in with these five favorite fashion accessories of 2009.  Check back to see more of her designs (like the underbust corset in the bottom-most picture) when her website launches this spring.  We’ll also be doing posts on the other two designers pictured!

#1 – The quirky ‘mini-hat’.  Crowns, tophats, bicorns & fedoras… the mini-hat is likely the cutest head-adornment the world has ever seen.  Worn by steampunks, lolitas, burlesque dancers, & festival freakers, this head piece lets you get your antics up without the hat-hair.

#2 – No longer for running around and waging war… spats keep the ankles of post-apocalyptic artists clean & protected!  Running to photograph deep in a swamp, hopping fences to fancy-up a dull warehouse wall, or simply to keep your ankles warm while dancin’ in the rain.  Fashion and function, spats got it all.

#3 – Vests for everyone!  Over a collared shirt, tank top, t-shirt, blouse or straightup on its own, vests can pull off a huge variety of different looks!  What’s your style? Equestrian? Teacher? Faery? Victorian? Scenester? Freaker?  Everyone needs one of these bad-assed badboys!

#4 – The leather utility belt.  A ‘fabric’ becoming more and more widely accepted as eco-friendly, and by far the most sustainable as it only gets more supple and formed to your body with age.  The meat industry isn’t dying out anytime soon, and our leather is simply making use of a byproduct.  While caravaning across dusty plains, trippin’ around a summertime festival, or merely going for coffee – the purse and backpack can prove bulky, they can throw out your back, and just plain become a nuisance.  The utility belt solves all your carrying needs in a stylish, and comfortable way.

#5 – Underbust corset.  Not much need be said. Comfortable to wear, keeps your back straight when sitting for long periods of time, and all will agree: bloody sexy.

We’re excited to continue this series on your top five favorite fashion accessories of 2009 so email us with your words and pictures at the email address below the Follow Along links.

One of the most anticipated and popular events in the default world fashion community, the annual VS fashion show has a reputation for being a sensational smorgasbord of perfect bodies in sexy undies.  This year’s presentation, however, is generating even more buzz than usual due to a bevy of the buxom barbies sporting pieces clearly inspired by alternative fashion sub-cultures, most notably Steampunk.

VS continued their angels-wearing-wings theme but added a daring new twist by replacing feathers with balloons, gears, patchwork quilts, and other nontraditional  items.  It will be fun to see who from our community will one-up these designers with the wings they construct for this coming year’s burn.

This show reminds us how effective skimpy undergarment outfits are on the Playa.  They’re also easy to pack and practically keep themselves organized.  Just imagine only needing a medium sized purse for all your Playa outfits! (Well, that and a really warm fur coat.)

Plus, consider the off-playa benefits: cleaning them is a breeze, they’re great for the bedroom or the beach/pool/hot-tub, and they almost never go out of style.  The bottom line is, they create a titillating opportunity for adding potent sexual energy to the atmosphere of any situation.

VS’s notable departure from their typically blase’ style campaigns of the past resulted in Playa-worthy looks that are every bit as glamorous while being immensely more fun!  Whether or not this is a continuation of the BRC-inspired trendsetting announced during the Milan fashion show is unclear at this point but we’ll take this as a strong indication that the paradigm shift isn’t over yet …

If you’re interested in wings, we’ll be posting soon about a radical pair we are currently crafting.  Click the subscribe links to the right and you will be notified!

UPDATE: Watched this show online (click here) 3 times yesterday with a large group and everyone LOVED it.  It’s great entertainment in addition to the incredible fashions (many of which I had not seen pictures of yet).  I recommend that you skip the “reality show” portions but plan on watching it more than once!

For the sixth year in a row, Burning Man (under the guidance of Danger Ranger and Kernul Killbuck) chose to enter the Nevada Day Parade in Carson City to celebrate the day Nevada attained Statehood: October 31, 1864. Each year there is a new global theme participants are encouraged to incorporate (sound familiar?) into their parade entries.  This year the theme was a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator”.  In true burner fashion, our community put its own unique spin on this banal guideline with “Steampunk Lincoln”.

There are some important considerations to bear in mind when fashioning an outfit for a parade.  Among these are: Comfortable Footwear, the parade route is X miles long but how many times will you also go back and forth from one side of the street to another?; Interactivity, you want to be able to memorably engage the parade spectators in some way(s), visually is fun but can you also go beyond that?; Movement, in addition to being able to march comfortably you may also want to bust a dance move or get in and out of a tight spot, consider the experience you want to create as well as the tricky situations you could end up in the middle of.; Fun, you want to have fun too so don’t go and put something on that’s going to make a glorious celebration seem like a grueling or dangerous task!

Burning Man did very well this year handily defending their position as the top Novelty Division entry.  Further, the outfits were extraordinary!  From finely accoutremented tail-coat lapels to 50-lb backpacks of brass home-furnishings, we strutted our stuff along a three-mile route through the heart of town to the delight of thousands.

We were all surprised to discover how easily a good stovepipe hat can be fashioned out of sturdy poster paper.  I was also impressed by the fact that such paper can be hand sewn onto fabric (note, throw in at least a stitch per inch).

The fact that the October 31st date of Nevada Day coincides with another popular costume holiday can definitely set the stage for an alter-ego identity crisis.  However, as you can see in the picture below, at least one participant had this tricky dichotomy well in hand.

But it seems some of the world’s other top designers are taking their inspiration from playa-riffic sources as well!  Scope these snapshots from the recent fashion weeks in London, Paris, and New York.

Christophe Decarnin of the Balmain label designed the fashions shown on the left and right of these words.  They are dubbed “military” by the default fashion world but seem to be more a very sexy take on Steampunk mixed with a little post-apocalyptic desert organica.  It’s easy to imagine a Black Rock Citizen rocking either of these on Playa.  Some playa dust might get these models smiling too!

Of course we’re not  implying that these fashion designers are “stealing” designs from off the playa.  That wouldn’t be nearly so thrilling as the truth of it: that there are beautiful similarities emerging between what is considered avant-garde at the heights of default world fashion and what has always constituted beauty in our own dusty couture community.

There is a paradigm shift occurring and the particulars of who did what or took  inspiration from whom are losing significance, giving way to the beauty of synergistic and spontaneous combustions of human creativity without judgment or the need for credit.  That’s what this site is all about!  Sharing ONLY the intention to inspire and provide helpful tools that will assist you in manifesting the fashion experience you choose to create for yourself and others with no judgment or concept of authority.

The fact that we arrived at the idea for this blog just days before this story broke is a great example of the metaphysical mechanics at play.  A nod in our direction from the global fashion industry verifies that we are not alone in feeling this shift.  Stay with us and share in the creation of a fashionably new paradigm by clicking on the Subscribe links to the right.