A Moment to Clarify

Before continuing with costume and accessories in which to cosplay with, you might want to take a moment to figure out what kind of Neo Victorian you want to dress like. Now what's really cool about steampunk archetypes is the possibilities are endless, as Diana Vick once said "steampunk needs historical accuracy like a dirigible needs a goldfish." In laymen's terms, anything goes. The most iconic ones off hand would be mad scientists, mechanics, inventors, explorer, dandies, the list really does go on. It depends on what the backstory of the character is or what you want to convey to the public. As for myself, I have two definite characters I dress as when in costume: military turned gun for hire/assassin, and werewolf innkeeper by day posing as monster hunter by night. You can be as general or specific as you like as long as you can back up your character when someone asks what you are. The generic archetypes like the ones I have listed above usually have specific accessories and attire needed to look more convincing. For instance my monster hunter should have monster proof weapons of some sort or a mad scientist will have long leather protective gloves and a leather apron of some sort. Mechanics will have tools like wrenches, screwdrivers (manuel ones), sometimes extremely oversized ones too. As long as you have the right accessories and stories to back them up, you should be golden otherwise you might get sour looks if someone asks what you're supposed to be and you just say steampunk. Unless you're in the general public and not at a convention or festival of some kind that has a lot of likeminded steampunk cosplays around. Most kinds of cosplay need backstories for their characters, it's just good business. Both my characters are actually from novels I'm writing, unrelated to each other completely but if they ever go up on shelves or become movies at some point I'm putting small easter eggs in each novel. So to wrap it up, create or pick your own archetype, stick with it, maybe create a backstory, and make sure the outfit and accessories fit the character.