Steampunk: What is it?

Steampunk Necklace by Poison Garden

Anyone here follow Regretsy?  If you haven't heard of this site yet, Regretsy is a blog that follows real handmade items which they find to be disastrous, incredulous, etc.  and in particular, items from Etsy (thus the name).  I recently ran across a Regretsy article called "Not Remotely Steampunk".  While the pictures of these so called "steampunk" items are entertaining, the article pinpoints the fact that "steampunk" is popular this season even if people do not understand what "steampunk" really is.

So then, what is Steampunk?  A scan across the internet will provide many different definitions of Steampunk:
      1.  "...it refers to a genre of fiction where steam power, spring gadgets and modern marvels of the 20th  century are thrown back to Victorian aesthetics. Technology in a Neo-Victorian setting." Steampunk Lab.

      2.  "An aesthetic movement based around the science fiction of a future that never happened."  Clockwork Century.

  To us, Steampunk means jewelry/fashion/visuals that resemble Victorian-era styles with technological additions.  It is the blend of romantic Victorian styles with the hard metals and gears of industrial machines.  It is called "Steam" because in the late Victorian era, we see the development of the first steam-powered inventions such as the train and hot air balloons/dirigibles.  Steampunk goes beyond these real-life machines and adds a touch of  the fantastical!  To put it succinctly, "Think Jules Verne, " says Melissa of Poison Garden.

  Check out this video which describes the Steampunk movement and provides some artistic visuals: