A Real Steampunk Romance

I introduced Steampunk to the Dallas nightclub scene. Before me, no one else was doing it. While the fandom of that aesthetic has grown far beyond my skills since then, at the time I was very popular for not only my personal Steampunk fashion, but for being a maker of steampunk props and clothing accessories.

About two years into that popularity, I was walking from Dallas' first Steampunk fashion show put on by one of the biggest providers of clothes to Hot Topic at the time. They were trying their hand at entering the Steampunk genre in a mainstream fashion and I was asked to build accessories for the models. I was, in effect, a Steampunk fashion designer (I just didn't do clothes much, though I dabbled).

As I approached another nightclub, dressed in my steampunk style, a random woman called over to me demanding to know what I was wearing and to learn all about it. I educated her about Steampunk - which I was passionate about - and got her MySpace contact information.

It turns out she was a fashion design student from Vancouver, B.C. Canada in search of a theme for her final high fashion line for her graduating project in college.

She made an A on the project, won awards for her designs (which were definitely high fashion instead of costuming like my skills), and even earned some scholarship. We kept in touch.

When I was asked to provide garments for another fashion show at DragonCON, I called her in to provide the clothes and I would provide the accessories. It was a hit.

We started working together then on and she ended up moving to Texas (where I lived at the time) and we began collaborating together officially as the small home-based fashion company House of Mob.

The attached picture was from our first line. We fell in love and, shortly after that line, we were married.

We've been designing ever since. Health issues have gotten in the way of keeping it as a full-on business. But we do make money here and there as we create some amazing art together. Faerie-inspired clothing, swimwear, punk garments, anything photo worthy to create great images and make women feel beautiful.

Crafting, Art, and Fashion are our passions, born of our independent passions, and grown by our love and passion for one another. We now live, semi-retired, on Whidbey Island in Washington where we create as "that odd couple", her with her boho aesthetic and me with my curly victorian mustache and beard. Still making magic. Still making great images...just maybe a little less than we used to...and hopefully a bit more in the future.