Geekdom moving on to high tea in Burbank

Steampunk may be losing some of its, well, steam, according to Donna Ricci, founder of Clockwork Couture in Burbank, which specializes in the retro-futuristic sci-fi subgenre inspired by Victorian-era fashion and technology and figures such as Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla and H.G. Wells.

In January 2013, based on an analysis of more than 500,000 public posts online, IBM predicted that “steampunk” would be “a major trend to bubble up, and take hold, of the retail industry” and “pervade pop culture” shifting from craft production to mass-production.

But mentions of the term on Google have declined significantly since last year, Ricci said, and while she ponders the fate of the fantasy fashion business she founded online in 2008 and in brick-and-mortar at 707 S. Main St. in 2012, she’s also made the pivot to trivets, and other things tea-related.

Last month, Ricci moved the clothing shop upstairs at the Main Street location and opened in its place Geeky Teas, a tea shop — or shoppe — for nerds and Anglophiles, which she believes is the only tea-themed gathering space for nerds in Los Angeles. The shop’s calendar includes events like tabletop game nights and ’80s movie nights.

This Saturday, geekdom, tea and Anglophilia collide in the shop’s parking lot when Geeky Teas hosts the Art of the TARDIS Craft Faire, a twice-a-year celebration of the BBC series “Doctor Who” previously hosted by Clockwork Couture. Ricci said, weather permitting, she expects around 800 people to attend the event.

Outside the shop, conveniently, there is a life-size “Time And Relative Dimension In Space,” or TARDIS, which looks like a blue 1960s London police phone box.

Inside the shop, along with British food stuffs and specialty teas like Dowager Tea for the “Downton Abbey” fan, there’s a screen-used prop Dalek — one of Doctor Who’s adversaries.

The event will feature a band playing a rock version of the series theme, “along with other geeky songs, too,” Ricci said, plus a Halloween-themed Franken Stand food truck serving vegan hot dogs, and the arts and crafts of “Whovians.”

Ricci said she expects lots of costumed fans of the series, which has been produced by the BBC since 1963 and launches its latest season also on Saturday. She said they’ll project the season premiere onto an outdoor screen during the event.

In the Doctor’s universe, the TARDIS looks like a phone booth, but the inside of the time machine expands perhaps infinitely. The art fair is a bit like that, said Caitlin Holland, a photographer from Glendora who has been to the event four or five times — “it gets bigger and better every time.”

For folks who happen by without their scarves, bow ties or sonic screwdrivers, Holland will have props for people posing in front of the model TARDIS.

Steve Hanlan of Sawdust Woodcrafting in Pomona said he’s bringing a “Bigger on the Inside” cat tower, a 4-foot high cat tree made to look like a London police box. Mike Collins, an animation artist at DreamWorksTV said he’ll be brining artwork to show and sell, as will his 5-year-old son, “a huge Doctor Who fan.”

Lauren Bancroft, whose day job is at an information technology firm in Torrance but whose creative outlets are comedy and doodling, said she’s planning to show up as Doctor Who’s latest companion Clara Oswald. Bancroft said she’s been to the event twice before, but this will be her first time displaying her art, which she calls “Doctor Whoodles.”

“They’re quick little drawings of some of my favorite characters,” she said.

Bancroft’s reasons for loving the show — “adventure and friendship and acceptance” — echoed the sentiments of many fans. She said what keeps drawing her back to the Art of the TARDIS is the sense of community among fans.

Holland said there’s a sense in the show that everyone’s a bit flawed, but that together they achieve great things, plus, “who doesn’t want to go whirling around through space and escape from the mundane.”