Retrofuture DIY

I'm not steampunk but I know where to get it: Tailors and retailers of ClockworkCon 2012

Clockwork Con pulled out all the gears and chambers for the Steampunk gatheringtaking place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel this weekend. Panels, bands, clothingstores and demonstrations brought their best brass and clockwork couture to thescience ficition sub-genre con. Honey Hackwrench, of Airship Delirium of Grandeur, aka The Sky D.O.G.s.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Capt. Whittaker, of Airship Isabella, who "left his business cards in his otherarmor," led the Dark Steampunk panel.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Dark Steampunk was a panel exploring a new storyline in the LARPing community.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Dark Steampunk follows an Orwellian struggle between The Order and S.C.A.R.S,with many of the participants playing dual characters on both sides.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Tiffany Hinnen created & wore an item she coined the "bustle bar," (picturedhere) which served drinks to con goes.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Steve & Deb Liptak make up husband & wife team Soldier of Sojourn, which designs& manufactures various wares for their characters.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Ms. Madd, of Airship Lollipop, with adornment crafted by Madam Julez Deity.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Cut Thrust & Run performed a long set which mixed comedy, costumes and stagedcombat.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Cut Thrust & Run performed a long set which mixed comedy, costumes and stagedcombat.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Con goers Isis & Czarina try on clothing made by Pendragon Costumes. Manyvendors came out to show off handmade wares, from corsets to armor to medievalmasks.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Alexster Kidd II showing off her character's costume.
Photo by Jon Shapley
Cadence, who stayed in character for most of the con.
Photo by Jon Shapley
A mustached con goer.
Photo by Jon Shapley

Clockwork Con kicked off on Friday morning and proceeded to shake its neo-Victorian moneymaker clear through three days and two nights of time-traveling airship pirates and tiny steam engines. Currency was earned and spent. A good time was had by all (including, presumably, the woman passed out asleep in a nook beside the entrance to the central room on Saturday night, decorated neck to wrist in magic-marker autographs).

The convention going crowd were a jolly, convivial lot. We got some photos of a few of them, for posterity. I could rattle on for paragraphs with details about how friendly and fun were the folks I met this weekend, but there was another feature of Clockwork Con that had me pleasantly astonished throughout the event. To quote Professor Steampunk: “There’s all this cool stuff!”

On Saturday afternoon, the central convention room was home to the Gadgeteer Festival, a venue for artisans and hobbyists of steampunk art and sculpture to gather and display their labors. Steve Liptak, half of the husband-and-wife gadgetry duo Soldier of Sojourn, transformed a household vacuum cleaner into a telescoping shotgun and a personal flight device with working propeller. You can find Steve, installed on his steampunk Segway, in photo number 6 of our slideshow.

The room also featured feats of metalwork—such as classy hairpins 'n' things by Bill and Deborah Jezzard of Plantersville—and electricological trickery by Professor Steampunk (my personal favorite: a railroad signalman's flashlight in which he'd swapped a red/white switchable LED for the original kerosene reservoir) and Marco Dernal of San Antonio’s Steam Engine Intrepid.

The greatest and most pleasant surprise of Gadgeteer Fest, though, came from "analog tele-phonographer" Christopher Locke of Heartless Machine. I will say this once: if you ain't down with tablet/smartphone amplifiers made from antique brass instruments then you ain't down with a dang thing. His photo gallery is cool, sure, but the sound! Hear it for yourself one day if you can.

The vendor's room stayed open all weekend, providing extraordinary finery of several varieties. Time-traveling textile work from Victorian and Renaissance clothier Raven Albrecht, leather pouches and trifles fashioned by Grimm Sister of San Marcos, and wigs and headpieces brought to market by Prince Pez, Austin's own gothic go-go Lolita of Ta-Ta Tuesdays at Headhunters.

An inspiring story came from Brian Griffin, proprietor and principal artisan of Griffin Leather. "I quit my job a while back and just started doing this," said Griffin, whose work includes masks, armor pieces and a wicked awesome skull box. "In six months, I was making as much as I had at my old job. Five years later, here I am."

During one of the panels I had a chance to visit, a presenter spelled out what I would come to realize as the common thread that tied together all this crafty complexity. "The bottom line is creativity," the clock-punk pirate told the room, "Take whatever you can do and have fun with it."

Heed the pirate, Austin. Whether it’s steampunk or clock-punk or cyberpunk or yarn-punk or paint-punk or not-punk-at-all that you're after, whether you make things for love or money, that’s some good advice.

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For more info on the mountains of cool stuff displayed at Austin’s steampunk-o-rama, check the vendor list at clockwork-con.com

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Recycle Materials, Not Ideas

Austin designers transform trash for spectacular fashion show

A Model preps for the 2023 Trash Makeover Challenge

Image courtesy of Zina Harding

In the Trash Makeover Challenge, at least 90 percent of the garment must be made from recycled material.

On Saturday, September 7, fashion and environmental advocacy will come together in a spectacular showing of flora and fauna at this year’s Trash Makeover Challenge.

The Trash Makeover Challenge, now in its 14th year, is a unique fashion show and live auction event supporting the Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE). Amateur and professional designers alike will send garments down the runway, where at least 90 percent of their materials must be recycled. Past shows have featured designs made entirely from Coca-Cola bottle caps, 600 fish scales sewn into a skirt, and once, live ladybugs released onto a garment.

This year’s theme is Avant-Garden. The entire night will be a whimsical and playful twist on avant-garde art and fashion combined with the natural world. Attendees (who are also highly encouraged to dress up on theme) can expect to see designs by artists Megan Pinto, Melissa Prentice, Myrna Lewis, Halima Abdul-Jaleel, Robyn Scully, Cindy Rellin, Teresa Klein, and Greg Lara.

There will also be a live auction featuring some truly delightful prizes: SXSW Music Passes for next year, a Thai cooking class with dinner for six, weekend getaways, jewelry from local artists, massages, and much more. One big-ticket local item is 40 dinners for two at some of Austin’s best restaurants including Bar Peached, Eddie V’s, and Moonshine Patio & Grill.

The live auction portion of the event from 2023 The event includes a live auction, with items like SXSW passes, dinners for two, massages, and more. Photo courtesy of Zina Harding.

Throughout the evening, guests can sip on themed cocktails (like the Tito’s Bee’s Knees with honey syrup and fresh lemon juice) and enjoy a delicious dinner, as the designers' fantastical creations march down the runway.

Some of the designs this year include garments made from hundreds of Scantron tests and clothing made out moss and live flowers.

Designer and teacher Teresa Klein says, “I have taken the used tests and exam Scantrons from hundreds of students and transformed them into thousands of beads that make up the base of my dress. Notes, paper, an old textbook, and other school-related paper makes up the flowered bodice. If we count all the hours my students spent studying, this look took thousands of hours!"

Teresa Klein's Trash Makeover Challenge design includes hundreds of recycled tests and scantrons Designer and teacher Teresa Klein is showing a look made from hundreds of recycled scantrons and tests from her students.Photo courtesy of Teresa Klein

Klein has participated in this event three times now, and her team came in third last year. She says this year, working with paper feels more "freeing."

"In past years, I've worked with plastics," she says. "This feels less toxic, but at the same time it has caused me to look at the usage of paper at my place of work. I am seeing the colors of a classroom in a different light."

Another designer, Greg Lara, has also participated in the event several times. In fact, his team won the People's Choice Award in 2023 and 2022, and was the overall winner in 2015. Lara says that he "love[s] that every year is a different theme." This year, Lara's design will feature materials like recycled poultry fencing, moss, real flowers, and garden netting.

"I love this event," says Lara, an amateur designer, hairstylist, and salon owner. "I will always participate."

Guest judges for this year’s fashion show include BiNi Scoor, the CEO and Founder of 212 Catalysts; Ilonka Soto-Pelyvas, owner and director of Austin School of Fashion Design; Patty Hoffpauir, owner of The Garden Room; and Sugar Gay Isber, owner and founder of Gay Isber Designs. The evening’s emcee will be KXAN’s Jala Washington.

And you better believe these judges have a lot of responsibility this evening. At stake for the winning designers’ teams are a grand prize of $3,000; a second place prize of $1,000; and prizes from $350-500 for third place, a People’s Choice, and “Seedling Awards” for new college designers.

"[Last year] my model was a co-founder of the Gulf of Mexico Youth Climate Summit," Klein says. "We donated the winnings to that organization to help bring young people to their annual summit in the Coastal Bend."

The winning looks will be donated to TCE and reused for promotional purposes next year.

Trash Makeover Challenge winning design in 2023 The winning design in 2023, made by Megan Pinto.Photo courtesy of Megan Pinto

This fairytale-like event will take place at the Texas Disposal Systems Wildlife Ranch & Pavilion in South Austin. Tickets are $75 and include dinner, complimentary cocktails, the fashion show, and access to the live auction. Proceeds will go toward TCE’s work to protect public health and the environment in communities most affected by pollution from oil, gas, and petrochemical plants.

To learn more about the grassroots advocacy non-profit, Texas Campaign for the Environment, visit texasenvironment.org.

sustainability fashion