I just realized that what most steampunk cosplay accessories remind me of is Cargo Cult art made by interdimensional travellers who’ve briefly visited a steampunkish world or two, and saw all this vast, complicated gear-driven tech.
The visitors never quite understood the all-mechanical tech they encountered, so now they attempt to invoke it through acts of symbolic, imitative magic.
That’s why all the hot-glued gears do nothing. They’re magical symbolism, not functional tech. (-:
