The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences describes the Steampunk Fashion Craze as “an inspired movement of creativity and imagination. With the backdrop of either Victorian England or America’s Wild West at hand, modern technologies are re-imagined and realized as elaborate works of art, fashion, and mechanics. If Jules Verne or H.G. Wells were writing their science fiction today, it would be considered “Steampunk”.

 Although many works central to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term Steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue-in-cheek variant of cyberpunk. It was coined by science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for a style of science fictions novels which generally took place in the 19th Century.

 Since then, Steampunk has trickled down into more than just Victorian-Era futuristic science fiction. It now occupies territory on the landscape of our engineering, music, and even fashion. It has become a lifestyle brand and is celebrated as an artistic adventure by millions around the globe. In fact, the Grand Canadian Steampunk Exhibition will again be held at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake from September 23rd to the 25th.

With Steampunk’s migration into fashion, hats have played a supporting role for the elaborate costumes and uniforms that make up the essence of a SteamPunker. With details like gears and clocks on Bowler hats to even more exquisite pieces like replica 19th Century Revolvers mounted on Top hats, this fashion is as inventive as it is interesting. There really is no right or wrong aspect to the fashion of Steampunk so long as it’s creative and harkens back to the Optimism of Ingenuity of the industrial era’s.

 At BeauChapeau we have searched the globe for Steampunk hats with ingenuity and attitude. So step inside and lose yourself in the world of Science Fiction as you try on some of these magnificent hats.