I would hate to have to draw that pistol with that sight sticking out of itâŚ
Just put some gears on 'er and call 'er steampunk.
Thats amazingly beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.
Pretty much.
One of the facets of cyberpunk and steampunk literature is that the characters are equipped in a functional way, not simply in a decorated way. If anything, excessive ornamentation is a hindrance.
Iâm not terribly impressed with many of the steampunk costumers that Iâve met. Gluing some gears on a rub-and-buff-painted squirt gun or painting a set of goggles gold and putting them on a top-hat doesnât do it for meâŚ
This! I just opened my Laptop to make the exact same comment.
One of these days Playboy will publish a Steampunk magazine, in which the nude models will be covered with strategically placed gears.
Thatâs the days Cory will implode from the stresses.
What boggles my mind is the actual reply section basically washes heaps and heaps of praise on this âdip it in glue and roll in clock partsâ approach.
The lady modeling the outfit is nice, and the non-gear sections of the outfit are also nice⌠but this is anti-steampunk; decorative with no functional value.
Sorry. Downvoating.
If theyâre nude where are they gonna keep their bananas?
I actually quite like the jewellery The plastic props are meh, but 'twas ever thus.
What are you all talking about, ânon-functionalâ? Obviously she´s a steampunk warrior mechanic and has spare gears all over her body to fix all the steampunky devices she encounters on her adventures. The only thing I hope is that her gear bling doesn´t get caught in a turbine or something, that would get ugly.
Nice to see Steampunk breaking away from its Western Colonial influences. I really like this, and I look forward to seeing African, Arabian, and East Asian steampunk costumes in the future.
Google âBrass Goggles Forumâ we have discussions over ORiental, Indian, Native American, and âotherâ regions and flavors of steam.
That said it is nice to see such represented⌠but would have liked less gears and cogs.
It doesnât have to look horridly complicated or overly ornate to be steampunk. A Winchester rifle and Colt Peacemaker are both steampunk and outside of maybe some decorative etching or inlay should both be left well enough alone. Just as example. 
I bet there are many aspects of life in the streets and hinterlands of India that are quite true to a sort of Steampunk âethosâ. The important differences being that much of it is probably not so aesthetically pleasing as this imagined version (faults and all), and that itâs all outside the conversation.
Can someone please explain exactly how this is Bollywood?
The model is an American of African decent (but arenât we all?). The photographer is an American. The jewelry isnât particularly evocative of Mumbai. The costume does not meet the standards of films from Mumbai. Is it the bindi?
Iâm not terribly into steampunk, so all I know is what bubbles up to my level. This is the first non-Western-based steampunk Iâve seen, and so I celebrate it. It may not be the actual first, it may not be the âbestâ â however that may be judged â but itâs what I saw first, and I like it.
As to gears and cogs, I donât see what the objection is to using them as decoration. Cogs and gears are as beautiful a thing as might be found in mundaneity. As precisely made as any diamond, as shiny as any diamond setting, with mathematical symmetry; whatâs wrong with that? Especially as MakeupSiren has made the gears into actual Indian-styled jewelry and not just glued them to the side of her sandals or wherever.
Pretty much anything vaguely âIndianâ gets labeled Bollywood - as though Bollywood is the ultimate end and pinnacle of Indian culture. There are some cultural appropriation questions here, but it doesnât appear to have been done disrespectfully.
What standard is that? The standard of a leading Bollywood starâs costume, designed by a highly paid stylist, assembled by a platoon of seamstresses, financed by a major media production company? Itâs cosplay, yah? Put together on the cheap, in the modelâs spare time, with enthusiasm, for love and not money. For fun. Remember when you had fun that time? Like that.
To more directly answer your question, âBollywoodâ is clearly being used as a synonym of âIndian styleâ, to evoke a feeling. Just as âParisâ or âHollywoodâ might be used to denote the style of something thatâs never been within a thousand miles of either of those places.
oh gears as a motif arneât nessicarily bad. ITâs the âit has gears! Steampunk!â. At least this piece uses gears as actual jewelry elements instead of slapping gears onto the side of something (the âdip it in glue and roll in clock partsâ method i mentioned earlier.)
Given the indian nature of the outfit having gears and cogs as chakram/throwing weapons seems wholly appropriate too.
And hey whatever works man I donât want ot try disliking people for finding a thing interesting (that would be snobbish.) I donât even want to knock the lady or the rest of the outfit, itâs just âthis has gears so it must be steampunk.â
Donât forget the corset and goggles! 
Anyway, itâs âSteampunkâ because thatâs what the cosplayer says it is. If she said it was a genderswapped historical Sumbhajee Angria costume, then thatâs what it would be, regardless of how well it conformed to anyone elseâs idea of Angria style.
