<steampunk gets second wind>

Retro-futurism is a hot trend in fashion and graphic design. The aesthetic, spawned by the steampunk fiction subgenre, combines romanticism for old technology with do-it-yourself punk sensibility.  Clockwork, locomotive steam engines and even obsolute computers are strong visual components.  For the look, add a polished brass plaque to your pc, then lounge about in a corset or britches reading vintage copies of Jules Verne.

Steampunk rose to prominence in the 1980s as a variant of cyberpunk.  Considered as nerd-lit by many, it is heavily influenced by the Victorian science fiction of Verne and H.G. Wells.  More up-to-date examples include novels by K.W. Jeter (who coined the term) and William Gibson as well as comics like The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and anime like Steamboy.

As the look goes mainstream it is likely to ignite further interest in the fiction, which may even come to rival gothic literature in its appeal.  Meanwhile, the subgenre's boundaries are porous enough to allow wide interpretation from science fiction, fantasy and horror writers.  Almost anything goes, except cyberpunk, that is.  The latter's dystopian outlook is simply the wrong look, whereas steampunk gives technology a more positive and personal spin.