http://www.racialicious.com/2009/06/...pective-essay/ (Put here because it goes beyond Fashion in spite of it being largely about aesthetics and it's not important enough for Politics)
A fascinating essay highlighting all the possibilities and problems that folks of color have with participating in a subculture that revolves around an era that has horrible overtones of racism, sexism, classism, violent crime and disease but is obnoxiously revered and imitated for its fashion and aristocracy. Especially in the goth scene.
Included in it is a wonderful response to "Take the enemy's trappings and use them," how do you appropriate such an era without simply accepting the oppressors' ways, and concepts to explore as a steampunk of color.
As much as I still don't really care for steampunk (I wish they would have taken a look at dieselpunk and retrofuturism) because the large part of the big Victorian obsession still irks me, the literary aspect has been almost totally abandoned, I find it both overrated and more than half of it to be uninspired and poorly done, it's still worth a glance. And it has The Harlem James Gang.
And none of that "Don't like steampunk? Don't look." poutiness if you gotta debate about this.