Madame Askew and The Grand Arbiter

Over the many ages time travelling together as the Temporal Entourage, we have developed more than a few cheeky little traditions. From the Sacred Celery at Tea Duels to the Winged Shrew, we have more than a few inexplicable but nonetheless delightful artifacts of our adventures together. One of my favourite annual traditions, however, is indubitably the yearly sartorial themes.

The great choosing of the theme starts with a conversation in our Steampunk CommuniTea Discord. We collect the sundry nominations and wrangle them into some sort of poll. This year the first poll had so many nominations that we knew we would need a run off between the top contenders. (Well done, Steampunk CommuniTea! Your nominations are legendary.) The competition was fierce indeed. The Year of Arsenic Green prevailed against the powerhouses “Year of Botany” and “Year of Gothic Romance.”

From Sheele’s Green to Paris Green, this verdant shade has quite a harrowing history; but oh my, what a gorgeous shade! With modern dyes, we time travellers needn’t put ourselves at risk to include such luxurious hues in our wardrobe. We can instead embrace one of the grand Steampunk traditions of learning from history and then turning these dodgy inventions into something whimsical, wonderful, and worthy of our discussion.

These yearly sartorial themes are always meant to serve as a fun bit of inspiration. There is no obligation to incorporate the theme into your projects or costume builds. However, please know that the Grand Arbiter and I shall be truly overjoyed for every teapot racer or accessory that we see which includes Arsenic Green–or green in any shade!–and we are likely to be quite fervent in our admiration.