Science fiction meets steam! You’ve got lots of settings to choose from – from historical with British Victorian or American “Wild West” to an imagined future dystopia – or utopia depending on your point of view – which steam power has returned.
You could choose one of your favourite Steampunk books and use that as a starting point – or even allocate characters and reenact it.
Steampunk Decorations
Forget the balloons. Instead of going to a party shop, visit some second-hand shops, antique flea markets or your grandad’s shed or your grandma’s kitchen (or the other way round depending on your grandparents) for old mechanical tools, clocks, watches, scales, mincers, churns etc. Distribute them around the room to set the mood and to give your guests some intriguing things to examine. Heavy fabrics, ribbons or lace can add some tension.
Steampunk Costumes
Depending on your setting, you can sometimes use parts of with wild west costumes like corsets and cancan costumes but really anything goes as long as it is dramatic.
So think coats, boots, hats, copper, leather and machinery.
- Costume Box has thousands of fancy dress costumes, wigs, hats, accessories and masks. Most costumes dispatched within 24 hours. Based in Sydney, they ship at a flat rate across Australia. See their Steampunk costumes and accessories for full costumes, hats, women’s boots, brass bullet belts, gloves and much more.
Party Activities
As well as general hamming it up, you could organise a few activities to make sure people get involved.
- Show and tell – yep – just like at school. Invite your guests to bring along their steampunk treasures that they’ve found or made to show off – and even to swap.
- Trivia – always a good one.
- Best or most imaginative costume or accessory