Meiji period fashion was some of the best in the world, speaking purely from an aesthetic standpoint you can really see the collision of European and Japanese standards of beauty and how their broad agreement even in particulars (the similarity between Japanese and Gibson girl bouffants, the obi vs the corset, the obi knot vs the bustle, the mutual covetousness for exotic textiles, the feverish swapping of both art styles and subjects) combined and produced some of the most interesting cultural exchange we have this level of documentation for. Europeans were wearing kimono or adapting them into tea gowns, japanese were pairing lacy Edwardian blouses with skirt hakama and little button up boots. haori jackets with bowler hats and European style lapels. if steampunk was any good as an aesthetic it would steal wholesale from the copious records we have in both graphic arts and photography of how people were dressing in this milieu.

«The botany professor,» from Kkokei Shimbun, October 20, 1908.
she's wearing a kimono blouse or haori, edwardian skirt or hakama, gibson girl bouffant, a lacy high-collar blouse with cravat and brooch, and a pocket watch with chain

1910-1930 (Taishō era, right after Meiji, which I should have included in my OP) men's haori with western lapels

I have a love for both kimonos and bustle dresses, so I love seeing how the two fashions influenced each other over this period.  And thanks to Pinterest, I have pictures!

Victorian tea gown that clearly started as a kimono.  It still has the long furisode sleeves, but now they’re gathered at the shoulder and turned around so that the long open side is facing the front instead of the back.  Similarly the back is taken in with curved seams to fit the torso and pleated below that for the skirt.

Woodblock of a woman in a a bustle dress made with colorful patterned fabrics and examples of how a woman could style her hair with it.

More prints to showcase hairstyles, two women wearing western wear and two women wearing kimonos.

This next one’s modern, but it involves hoopskirts so I’ll add it in because it makes me so happy.  There’s been different styles of wedding fashion that take kimonos and give them a more modern look.  Often this involves taking a kimono and then cutting and resewing it into a new dress.  Very pretty, but it can’t ever be worn like a traditional kimono again.  But now there’s another trend where the bride wears a hoopskirt with a white skirt, then you take the kimono and drape it on.  The back of the kimono covers the front of the dress, the long sleeves fall across the sides or the back, and you still wear an obi with it.  The result is pretty and the kimono itself doesn’t have to be altered at all.

And because you mentioned steampunk, I have to add in these two:

Personally I’m a big fan of Taisho Meisen kimono, which are what happen when the Japanese textile industry abruptly gets access to aniline dyes, new spinning and weaving technology, and the concept of Art Deco:

Awesome worldbuilding. There's nothing quite like an alternate-history Meiji era-samurai wearing a bowler hat and a Tasho with lapels, possibly paired with two six-shooters on top of his katana and wakisashi.

I know that none of the above is fictitious, but it really makes my Steampunk mind-goblin cackle with glee.

The Blonds fall 2023

Does anyone remember My Size Barbie?

She's from the early 90's and her appeal was basically that you could also wear her clothes, like an Allan and a Ken. It was awkward and kind of creepy but also amazing.

Anyway. I think GG missed the opportunity to have My Size Barbie existing in Barbieland being whatever the size ratio of normal barbie to My Size Barbie is IRL. She would be a giant. Maybe you'd only see feet and a pink ruffle. She'd be Weird Barbie's friend!

she's doing the imagining 🩷

as a kid i used to be obsessed with these barbie books from the 80s/90s and i remember that i always wanted to be able to draw like that so here's me healing my inner child by doing just that

i like the freaky ones :DD

BARBIE (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig

Barbie (2023) ✦ Dir. Greta Gerwig

BARBIE (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig

obsessed with Her.

what was i made for?

“ophelia” by john everett millais but it’s barbie and for the sake of this concept let’s pretend that there is in fact water in barbieland

Working at a movie theatre and a male coworker being like ugh all these guys being forced to dress as Ken for their girlfriends but every couple I see is just beautiful excited girls and their absolutely adoring boyfriends looking at them glowing in the sunlight from the theatre sunroof in the popcorn line and like

This is why you don't have a girlfriend man. Men in fact love and adore their partners wake up we love men sound in their masculinity

“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You’re so beautiful and so smart. And it kills me you don’t think you’re good enough. Like we have to always be extraordinary. But somehow we’re always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin, and you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin! You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money, because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about you kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior which is insane but if you point that out you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood but always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged so find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old. Never be rude. And never show off. Never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory! And nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong but also everything is your fault! I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie ourselves into knots so that people will like us.” -Gloria (America Ferrera, BARBIE)

BREAKFAST???

For reference,

The Thylacine in Captivity